Home Distiller

I read through this excellent post and don't believe I saw this anywhere, but if I'm making some of this SPD, do I need to filter it ? I just got two jars started today.

coffee filters...Brown ones...

Hey all, I just wanted to add that I have just started the process of making a mulberry panty dropper. I just picked fresh mulberry's today, and I am currently soaking two qt jars full with some 95 proof that I just distilled this past Sunday. The color is amazingly deep purple already,(added the lemon juice too), and I plan on doing the sugar coating of the berries to make some syrup to add after straining out the fruit.

Anyway, I will update this with the result after finishing the brandy up.

I plan on making a banana liqueur next so when I go to the key's in july I can make totally homemade frozen rum runners, (except for the grenadine and lime juice). I got the recipe for the banana liqueur on this site also.

I have been reading for a month on here and just completed my first reflux run on Sunday and all went well. Thanks to the many that post all this amazing amount of knowledge!!

you can also make something similar(though not near as good)

Take frozen strawberries, crush them up well. Put them in a container and pour vodka on them, add sugar(as sweet as you'd like it) stir it, strain it and drink it.(let it sit a few hours before straining for even more strawberry flavor and color)

makes a light pink strawberry syrupy drink.

I've got 5 gal of strawberry and 4 gal of chokecherry wine that didn't turn out the way I wanted. I'm going to throw it all in the still and run it off and then I think I'll do a little PD with some/all of it. Kind of a salvage operation where I'm hoping to get different layers of fruit flavors.

Most folks soak fruit in 60% (120 proof) then cut as needed ..

well i can say thankyou tater and others for this super easy recipe.

my first try went alright but my second batch was dead on, never thought you could have that much flavor . Needless to say i need bigger gallon jars, as the quart jars arent gonna cut it, cause the couple of bottles i made disappeared rather quickly, typically my friends and myself only ever touch alcohol when we have a get together or dinner party, but his stuff didnt even last a week.

Of all the people who tried it, they loved the stuff and wanted more.


heres a pic of a now consumed and thoroughly enjoyed bottle of strawberry-rhubarb panty dropper. The cloudyness is only condensation as it was in the freezer as room temperature around here is 35+ degrees C

Revisiting this stuff now i got some proper neutral to try it with. Took 3.5l of 50% and added three punnetts of fresh strawberries. I can't believe i missed the whole thing about the citric acid/lemon juice the first time i tried these recipes with craisins/cherries, with blackberries and with an apple pie type one.

I just cored the berries and cut into quarters, they're cheap in the markets at the moment $1.50 for the large punnets of big tasteless berries at Coles.






I'llBeBackPunkin

Its a shame that they come out with all this hybrid fruit/vegetables that look pretty but taste like crap . nothing like old fashioned home grown

I ran across some dried sliced pears at the local market that makes a very nice liquor. They're already sugared and have citric acid for stability. One bag flavors a gallon of vodka in about a week.

MANY thanks to pothead for this recipe. I made a batch recently and my girlfriend and sister-in-law LOVE it. G/F especially likes it poured on top of ice cream.
She demanded to know each and every step so that she can make some at home as well.

Can't yet vouch for the accuracy of the name, though.....my g/f seldom wears them

using pear or peaches also work excellent instead of the strawberries .. pear is my favorite though .. I m really not crazy about pears but tater convinced me to give it a try some time back .. sure does make for a fine drink I must say .peaches not bad either .

Hey guys,

I've got my strawberries soaking now! I'm just wondering, Is there any harm in adding the lemon juice while the strawberries are soaking? or will the red/pink colour stay bright until a week later when I'm adding the sugar syrup?

Thanks!

David

I added it to the finished product just before a final pass through the coffee filters.

Hey guys.
I've done a strawberry pd and a raspberry pd. I've just added the lemon juice and the syrup to the alcohol and I want to cut it back to 40% but I can't get an accurate reading of the alcohol content. it actually says there is 0%. I assume it's the sugars and solids messing with my reading.
So my question is...how are you guys getting accurate readings so you know what to cut back to?
I soaked my fruit at 60%...how big a drop in % can I expect from the juices from the fruit?

by SuperDavid on Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:39 pm

Hey guys.
I've done a strawberry pd and a raspberry pd. I've just added the lemon juice and the syrup to the alcohol and I want to cut it back to 40% but I can't get an accurate reading of the alcohol content. it actually says there is 0%. I assume it's the sugars and solids messing with my reading.
So my question is...how are you guys getting accurate readings so you know what to cut back to?
I soaked my fruit at 60%...how big a drop in % can I expect from the juices from the fruit?

My advice would be asumme it is 55%-60% still and work from there.
Cut it to how you like it, it is you and friends/ missus that'll be drinking it, cut it at roughly 40% 30% 20% or whatever and see how you/ they like it

This isn't an exact science after all

Me

yeah your right!
thanks mate!

Got my first round of SPD in the jar right now. One question is the soaking of the berries in the alcohol just to get the color from the berries? The berries turned white in less than 24 hrs. Should I still leave them soaking for a week or drain them and add the sugar now?

billy_bob_95 wrote: One question is the soaking of the berries in the alcohol just to get the color from the berries? The berries turned white in less than 24 hrs. Should I still leave them soaking for a week or drain them and add the sugar now?

Color and flavor. A week is maybe a bit long; give it 2-3 days if you're in hurry to drop those panties. The sugar will draw out quite a bit more color and flavor even though the berries are discolored. I took some to a party last night; the women started to... damn, why'd I bring the wife

I've only made 2 batches, but i've noticed a bitterness can be drawn from the fruit.
I'd say less is more and that the flavour will still be drawn out better by the sugar.

I know what you mean, punkin...
Almost a chalky-like bitterness?
The right amount of lemon or lime juice can help take care of that.
Experiment with the amounts.

Well I have been bugged by her in doors to knock out a batch of SPD since I read her the recipe in the first post, so it is now under way.

I have 5 punnets of fresh strawberrys and a litre of 60% neutral in a large jar as of last night, and like others have experienced, the fruit has gone white (and the likker pink) after 24 hours.

If I am reading you right Punkin, you are suggesting a period of less than 7 days on the neutral? Maybe 3-4-5?

I am thinking it will make a good champagne cocktail. Has anyone tried this?

Cheers

Skeeta.

That's all it needs, but like Pothead said, play with the acid to acheive balance.

Thanks mate!

Well,
I made my first batch, and it looked fantastic.
I used 50% abv. to soak 2 punnet's of strawberries, but i might have left it for too long as the taste wasn't the strawberry that i had expected, like it had picked up an off sort of taste. Was quite average in my opinion.
I left mine for about 4-5 days, possibly a little longer as it was over Christmas, then made the sugar batch as per the initial post of covering the strawberries. I have a feeling that i might have made an error mixing in too much of the sugar syrup with the main batch, then adding the citric acid last. Probably should have gotten rid of the chalky or bitter taste then add the sugar

I still have the bitter taste, or chalky taste but that didn't seem to be there when i did it first up. Now it is like it is too sweet as well. However i didn't notice it until i added the citric acid and let it all mature for two weeks. The jar i used i had to put cling wrap under the lid to stop it evaporating because it was a crap jar, would this have made any difference to taste or added any impurities?

So, knowing this is my first batch and i've probably screwed it up, does anyone have any suggestions to fix it? The only thing i can think of is add more water to dilute it, and hope it doesn't affect the taste too much, then add a bit more lemon juice or citric acid to fix up the bitterness.

Is this drink meant to be taken stand alone, or is it more of a mixer with the smoothies.

Also, because this thread is getting really long. Does anyone have a true Measured recipe that they are willing to put up so people can follow a detailed list of instructions? Or should it be confined to Personal trial and error? Just a suggestion.

Cheers

I've been leaving the stawberries in the mason jars and pouring spd back in after dilution, most times it doesn't stick around long enough to be an issue. I've read 3 months self life with the berries. Anyone have spd go bad? Is 3 months really the safest time? Seems like they would preserve longer in 40% alcohol. Does anyone put the berries into a straining bag, squeeze the juice out, filter and store longer?

As I said somewhere on hear, there's a "window" that it is "good" at. dont know as it goes "bad" just does not tasit as good, like it was made with
stale rain water.maybe some additives whould prevent this?

After testing several batches I've found lemon juice (couple squirts per jar) instead of citric acid yeilds a darker red and cleaner strawberry taste, more in the aroma than the taste. Maybe The amounts of citric acid I was putting in (couple pinches each 1/2 gal jar) is wrong.

smeag wrote:After testing several batches I've found lemon juice (couple squirts per jar) instead of citric acid yeilds a darker red and cleaner strawberry taste, more in the aroma than the taste. Maybe The amounts of citric acid I was putting in (couple pinches each 1/2 gal jar) is wrong.

I'm trying to figure out the correct amount of lemon juice or citric acid also. How much is a couple squirts?

First batch I did was with 1 TBSN of lemon juice per bottle (750mL). Was a little chalky tastin'. I got some citric acid now so if anyones figured out a good dose per bottle(acid or juice), how about a heads up.

If it matters- I soaked the strawberries in 35%ABV and didn't do any diluting.

I just made my first batch of SPD. But being the sort of person I am, I made six jars and ran trials on what I believe was the most varied recommendation throughout this thread: acid content. I used two quart mason jars each of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Of each fruit I added 1/4 tsp and 1/8 tsp of granulated citric acid respectively. I added 40% vodka to the blackberries and blueberries and 40% white rum to the strawberries. I used frozen fruit for all jars because I have no source for fresh fruit and the produce section of the grocery is overpriced as well as a collection of fruit picked far too early so that it will ripen on the shelves. The frozen fruit is prepared as such because it ripened at picking time and was frozen because it would not survive the journey to the produce shelves. The spirits were on fruit for five days, then I added 1/2 cup (4 oz) sugar to each jar. Two days later I poured off the resulting syrup. Here are my observations 1 week after mixing the single addition of syrup:

-The blueberry with 1/8 tsp citric acid was hands-down my personal favorite of the six jars. YMMV
- All three fruits tasted better on the lesser amount of citric acid (1/8 tsp). The 1/4 tsp jars all carried an unpleasant bitter taste that lingered after the fruity sweet flavors fell off. The bitterness was most noticeable in the blackberry and blueberry, and less so in the strawberry.
- The blueberry and blackberry tasted great at this alcohol concentration, but I would personally use less for the strawberry as the flavor seems to be a bit more thin and would be better complemented in a less potent mix. Again, YMMV
- Next time I do this, I'm going to try the strawberry jars with lemon juice in them, I believe that would complement the flavor better than citric acid.
- This recipe works as advertised, greatly multiplying gravitational forces on women's undergarments. One last time: YMMV