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The name triple sec apparently refers to the liqueur being triple distilled. As I just found out, distilling it multiple times improves it greatly.

My reading told me that this is a liqueur made by steeping dried orange peels in neutral alcohol and then distilling three times, sometimes aging with oak, and adding sugar (usually 1/3 sugar W/V), and the ABV ranges from 20-40%

So I take 1 gallon 40% neutral spirits and an empty gallon jar and fill the empty jar up halfway. I buy a 3# bag of navel oranges, a 3# bag of tangerines, and some other assorted citrus fruits (1 grapefruit, a lime, some smaller seeded oranges). Every time I eat one of them I chuck the peel into the empty jar and add enough neutral spirits to cover. Tonight I filled up the jar with peels and decided that the time was nigh and I fired up the pot still, dumping the whole jar into it, including pickled peels (wanted to get all the alcohol that was in the piths out of them!). I took about 2/3 gallon of distillate, even after all the alcohol left it since it was still pulling essential oils out of the peels. In the end I had an almost milky white distillate with oils floating on top. The taste wasn't quite what I wanted, but I intended to redistill anyway. The next two runs I cut off the tails when I decided that I didn't like the flavour (didn't lose much alcohol that way). By the third run the smell and flavor had greatly improved and it was clear.

In the gallon jar I added 1/3 of a gallon of sugar by volume and poured the distillate over it, added some heavy toast oak chip extract (equivalent to ~10g of oak chips), and topped off with water.

I like what I have so far, the aroma is amazing, like fresh oranges, but not. Its more complex than just oranges and orange soda. I could probably double the oak extract without a problem, but I want to let it age and mellow first to figure out what I have on hand. I also want to get some soda water and mix it with that on the rocks.

PS, the aftertaste is strongly remniscent of roses. Orange roses. Ironically its way better than the aftertaste of my first attempt at rose vodka.

did something similar a little while back.
grated the peel of 6 navel oranges and the juice from 4 into 2 litres of UJSSM(white)

it was hugeley strong on orange flavour so I ran it through the pot still.
first 100ml came off white and cloudy with huge drops of orange oil
the rest came off clean and clear with bright orange flavour.

I did notice that there was a distinct progression of flavour components throughout the run.

I think I'll give it a go your way next time.

I whould not thank you whould want the pith in it.

The pith flavour doesn't carry over in the distillation. There is a bit of a cooked orange flavor since I distilled with the peels in the still, but its an enjoyable flavour. I think adding the juice to it directly is a waste since the reason we drink the juice is for the acids and sugars. The zest has the essential oils.


Also, another thing I noticed was that if the peel is unbroken the oils will remain, largely, in it even if you cook them.... Next time microplaning the skin to break it open should help.

I'd like to get a comparison of zested vs fresh peels vs dried peels.

Commcercial triple sec uses dried peels, I used freshe

This might seem like too much of a newbie question but....would running the mix through a reflux still (column packed 50% with copper and 50% with ceramic rings) be the same as distilling 3 times in a pot still or do you think it will clean out too much orange flavor? i ask because i am only getting a reflux column and triple sec is one of the things that I most want to make. Would less packing be better in the column to retain some flavor or does the nature of the height of a reflux column and any packing just remove too much flavor?

also, for senor brand curacao, (visited the curacao factory when i was on vacation down there this summer) that the peels are steeped for 24 hrs then the product is distilled for bottling. how long did you let your peels sit in total?

finally...what were the temperatures for your cut points?

Thanks!!!

-CB

Call_Back, your questions are kinda hard to answer as presented, but here's a go at them...

There is no way to know how an individual reflux column will respond with various packings without experimenting... And whether comparing to a reflux column or a pot still... What we can answer is that a packed column strips flavor so the better the reflux, caused by better packing, the more flavor that will be stripped...

As far as cuts by temperature are concerned, with a reflux column that depends on how efficient the column runs... You are better off making cuts by smell, feel, and taste, than by temperatures... Same goes for a pot still... Sure, temperatures are an indicator, but the temperature change may be too late for proper cuts for clean neutral spirits if there is any smearing... The use of parrots beak and an alcometer will get you closer to making precise cuts...

Thanks for the quick response.

how do you feel about the triple sec essences out there...I don't generally find ANY essence that appealing.

I have had home made rum and whiskey where apparently the person made a neutral spirit and just added stuff from Liquor Quik and I found it to be a poor substitute so that's why for home brew triple sec, I'd like to start with a high proof neutral spirit (because it seems easier to obtain from a reflux still) steep the orange peels and redistill to clean it up. i wanted to do this all in a reflux tower but the more that i read these forums, the more i come to the realization that i guess i do need both a pot still for the redistillation to get what i want.

i guess the only answer is that i have to try it for myself.

-CB

Hi all

Very interesting thread for me, I have easy access to citrus - mostly lemons and limes. Oldtimers in RSA used a lot of lemons but they allways discarded the peel. They say it is to oily. How much peel in a 20 L wash?

Setsumi

I have no idea how to recommend how much peel yet. Just to let you know when I did my maceration I used 40% neutral. I would probably strip and take your cuts (while you can smell them!) before you macerate the citrus. If you use too much peel then you'll get essential oils floating on top of the distillate - just keep adding neutral to it until the oil goes into solution and turns clear! That's your saturation point. Take more notes than I did

As for the reflux... just turn the reflux down so its not refluxing too much and give it a rip. You've gotta experiment with this - if you don't like it it can be fixed.


Here's my thoughts on it - I collected everything that came out of the still until it got to the tails and became very oily and developed those bitter off flavours - I don't think that there are any off flavours in the heads (but you're welcome to make your own decision there), so just collect everything until you don't like the taste, then redistill again and take another cut of the tails.

Thanks for the info.
I had a run with 4.5l fresh lemon juice and 3kg sugar for a total of 17l. Was difficult to ferment but it came out a very nice gin from a pot and thumper. The flavour is very subtle citrus and you can taste the lemon when diluted to about 50% ABV. Not Triple Sec though.

makin 5 gallons of my own version for burning man...I am doing a grain based (because I got it bulk priced through a brewery). Doing my strip with stainless mesh in the column...then soak in sweet orange peel with lemon balm, lemon verbena, another citrus herb and stevia...then run that through the ole still filled with the column filled with sweet orange peel and mesh..loosely pack the peel because the peel will swell...maybe presoak the peel...