Home Distiller

Hi folks I have been lurking on the forum for a while and in the mean time made a gorgeous 3 ft Bok with a 12 inch Liebig all on top of a 15 gallon keg.

I made my first batch of absinthe two nights ago:

For the alcohol, I used a 170 Proof triple distilled simple sugar wash.

I then found a post by Grim listing the following ingredients:


20 grams of aromatic A.a. 6 grams Star Anise
60 grams Green Anise
40 grams Florence fennel
3 grams Coriander
2 grams Calamus
5 grams Hyssop
0.5 grams Licorice Root
1.5 grams Angelica Root
5 grams Melissa
5 grams spearmint (which I added to the recipe)

I was traveling a bit and had stopped off in Boulder Colorado. I pick up all the ingredients from Rebecca's Herbal Apothecary and Supply (which imo, has a really pretty girl behind the counter helping gather herbs).

I followed the post and put all the ingredients into a liter of ethanol.

I let it sit overnight about 12 hours before macerating it on the stove. This part was difficult because I had a challenge keeping the temp stable. So my temps ranged between 120 and 155 degrees F. After about 12 hours on the stove I took and mixed it with an equal part purified water and begun the distillation process.

I ended up only collecting 500 ml at about 150 proof, I thing that a lot of the maceration evaporated off. I continued to collect the remaining distillate in a tails container up until 10% but I really only got 200 ml tops!

The smell of the 500 ml was great, although I have never had Absinthe, I loved what I made.

I decided to stop here and call it a Blanche.

I made a quick cocktail with sugar and equal parts water but I was disappointed because the louche was only slightly cloudy.

But the taste was great, it was not bitter at all, and it left a numbing sensation on the back of my throat, and a slight aftertaste of the spearmint. Overall, I’m very pleased with my first effort.

My next run will be photographed I’m usually a bit lazy about taking pictures.

I would gladly accept some input on my process. Does anyone have any recommendations for me on how to improve or change what I have made?

I add the both anis and licorice in the boiler when distilling.

The cloudiness is coming mainly from the anis oils and will be much stronger if you do it that way.

Joe

rednose wrote:I add the both anis and licorice in the boiler when distilling.

Are you saying that I should add more anise and licorice in the pot prior to distillation, or not to add them at all to the maceration and wait till the final distillation?

Thank you

I would macerate anis beside of the other herbs and throw it in the boiler when distilling in your receipt.

I distill with all herbs after a 24h maceration but add new anis and licorice to the boiler, beside of the basic receipt.

Just try different ways, absinthe is tricky and needs a lot of patience to produce something good.

I'm still in the developement phase but getting pretty good.

la Bleue wrote:

rednose wrote:I add the both anis and licorice in the boiler when distilling.

Are you saying that I should add more anise and licorice in the pot prior to distillation, or not to add them at all to the maceration and wait till the final distillation?

Thank you

Update:

I had been mixing the absinthe with equal amount of water and a trace amount of louche was present. Tonight I mixed one part absinthe with three parts water and there was a drastic clouding in the louche!

On another note, does anyone grow their own ingredients?