Home Distiller

This recipe has received amazing feedback with everyone that has tasted it. Even sipping it next to other brands.

I started with 10 liters 85%

Macerated with...
500-grams Wormwood A.A.
300-grams Fennel Seed
700-grams Green Anise
50-grams Star Anise
50-grams Coriander
45-grams Angelica
40-grams SECRET INGREDIENT!
30-grams Caraway Seed

Colored with...
10-grams Hyssop
10-grams Lemon Balm
12 Cardamom Pods
10-grams Mint

My Process...
I ordered all my herbs off line. I made sure they were all organic. However they were all dried cut and sifted. No biggie.
The Wormwood smelt amazing! (at least to my California nose)

IMG_8117 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
After weighing the herbs out for my formula. I then ground up what I felt needed to be finer, for example the coriander seed and star anise.

IMG_8120 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
I gave them a few seconds in my coffee grinder.

I then tossed all my herbs in my still along with 2 Liters of distilled H20 then stirred them almost to make a paste, but just enough to get them a little damp.

IMG_8130 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
I let this “paste” sit in the sealed still over night for around 10 hours.

Next morning I tossed in my 10 Liters of 85%. Ready for maceration I stuck the sealed still in my bathroom with a small space heater with a thermostat. This way if it got too hot in the bathroom the heater would shut off.

IMG_8132 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
10 Liters 85% and 2 liters of water (used to make the “paste”) The highest the temp inside the still was around 120F the coolest was around 80F. I unplugged the heater when I had to go to work and then my lady turned it back on. So the temp DID fluctuate.
The sealed still sat like this for 24 hours.

IMG_8134 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
Now ready to distill! I added 7 liters of distilled H20 to my 10 Liters of 85% and the 2 Liters of Distilled H20 used for the “paste.” (9 Liters of Distilled H20 all day) I also left all the herbs in the still even with me running a propane burner.

Then I distilled, collected 9.6 liters of Distillate. The reason I only collected 9.6 as opposed to 10 was because the last 1.6 liters came out a little different in shade and I didn’t want to get greedy. I collected the tails. Set them aside for the future.

IMG_8138 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
I ended with 9.6 Liters of 160 proof distillate. I didn’t want it to be too high in proof so very slowly I added 1 Liter of distilled H20 to bring the proof down to 140, and my yield to 10.6 L. I then took 1 Liter of this 140 stuff for coloring.

Took my coloring herbs and threw them in my Erlenmeyer Flask (I like to swirl in this thing)

IMG_8150 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
Heated the 1 liter of 140 proof very carefully in a glass jar sitting in hot water. I brought this temp to 131F or 51C.

IMG_8147 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
Then poured heated distillate into the Flask with herbs. Let it steep for 5-6 mins then strained and squeezed used herbs to get all the distillate out. It came out super dark!

IMG_8154 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8157 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8158 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8162 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr

Let it cool back down to room temp then added to the rest of the distillate.

IMG_8166 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr
It wasn't as dark as I thought it was going to be, however I was thrilled with the end color! The louche is thicker than Lucid or Pernod. All my fans love the taste and were shocked on the quality! The only thing I didn't like was the initial odor it gave off. It smelt almost "green" or veg-ital, I don't want to say it but it smelt almost like farts! HAHA! now a week later this smell is practically gone. Its only gonna get better over time. I am stoked to put a bottle of this in the archives, to be opened when I am 60. HA!

IMG_8171 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr

Here is some pics of the louche... and of course a photo session with my dog. I call it... My Pooch with My Hooch.


IMG_8177 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8222 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8252 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8258 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8261 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8265 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr


IMG_8284 by Top Shelf Pictures, on Flickr

It was hard pouring and holding the camera. HA!

If we only we knew the secret ingredient!!!! LOL

If we only we knew the secret ingredient!!!! LOL

Ya.....Great pictures, great instructions, but why post a recipe with missing ingredients?????? What’s the point????

WIski wrote:

If we only we knew the secret ingredient!!!! LOL

Ya.....Great pictures, great instructions, but why post a recipe with missing ingredients?????? What’s the point????

1+ my guess is chamomile or tarragon

I guess I could have just removed it from the listing of ingredients.
But in my opinion Absinthe is pretty open when it comes to ingredients. As long as you have the main players you can add all kinds of other herbs. I really just wanted to show the "How To" side of it. It really turned out great and I think that "secret ingredient" had very little to do with the end flavor. I already know I am gonna pull that ingredient for next batch. Thanks.

Looks like a great recipe and thanks for the excellent tutorial. I never in the past considered making absinthe, but I just might give it a try. I do have a recipe that a white witch gave me over 25 years ago, but it doesn't involve distilling, just maceration. I took an oath to secrecy, but I guess there must be a statute of limitation with that sort of thing. What a cute dog. Is that a JRT?

One question - is green anise just another term for aniseseed or Pimpinella anisum?

BLuTO wrote:... other herbs.

sounds like a hint, California guy. You dont happen to reside in Medocino county?

Anyway.... Outstanding post, thank you for taking the time to detail the recipe and process out! Ive always loved Ricard and Pernod Pastis, and been curious as hell about Absinthe for years. This one just made the todo list!

Cheers!!!

blind drunk wrote:One question - is green anise just another term for aniseseed or Pimpinella anisum?

Yup

Just watched an episode of "how it's made" featuring absynth.
What disgusting conditions everything was being done in. The "lab" they did their quality control in looked like it had black mold growing everywhere!

Perhaps they discovered filth added to the "effects"?

I love cooking and over the years i have found that the cheapest places to buy bulk spices are in indian grocery stores. In america, latino or mexican stores do offer some good bulk spices, but you can get a lot more bang for the buck in indian stores. Coriander definitly. Do a search in your area and go check one out before you invest in these spices. For instance, what you pay for turmeric at a regular grocery store would almost fill up a quart jar from some indian stores, and its good quality because they take their spices rather seriously.. and indian food rocks.
Let me add that star anise, fennel, and cardamom can be found in bulk in those stores.

Drunk-N-Smurf wrote: The "lab" they did their quality control in looked like it had black mold growing everywhere!

Interestingly enough there is a particular black mould that grows in areas that have a high proportion of alcohol in the air.

I read a paper? Post? some time back about a whisky distillery and ageing joint that was covered in the stuff and so was the town near by, despite repeated water blasting and spraying, when the locals made the connection they got the distillary to move their aging operation somewhere else, the mould problem was greatly reduced in the town and sprang up at their new site.
Tiny little black fungal angels

frozenthunderbolt wrote:

blind drunk wrote:One question - is green anise just another term for aniseseed or Pimpinella anisum?

Yup

Thanks thunderbolt.

frozenthunderbolt wrote:

Drunk-N-Smurf wrote: The "lab" they did their quality control in looked like it had black mold growing everywhere!

Interestingly enough there is a particular black mould that grows in areas that have a high proportion of alcohol in the air.

I read a paper? Post? some time back about a whisky distillery and ageing joint that was covered in the stuff and so was the town near by, despite repeated water blasting and spraying, when the locals made the connection they got the distillary to move their aging operation somewhere else, the mould problem was greatly reduced in the town and sprang up at their new site.
Tiny little black fungal angels

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/05/ff_angelsshare/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

blind drunk wrote:

frozenthunderbolt wrote:

Drunk-N-Smurf wrote: The "lab" they did their quality control in looked like it had black mold growing everywhere!

Interestingly enough there is a particular black mould that grows in areas that have a high proportion of alcohol in the air.

I read a paper? Post? some time back about a whisky distillery and ageing joint that was covered in the stuff and so was the town near by, despite repeated water blasting and spraying, when the locals made the connection they got the distillary to move their aging operation somewhere else, the mould problem was greatly reduced in the town and sprang up at their new site.
Tiny little black fungal angels

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/05/ff_angelsshare/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

That's the one! Cheers BD

Excellent read. Thanks for that!

BLuTO, great post. Thanks for the detail. Couple questions. Can you please share the online herb source you used. And do you bottle this at 160 proof or water it down? ive read the anise terpenes are soluble in solution of greater than 30% alcohol. Is this true, it can be watered down to 80 or 90 proof without it clouding?

jimdo, I get my herbs from either Starwest Botanicals or Mountain Rose Herbs. They both have certified organic.

Big R

excellent thank you Big R

Edit: Order placed

Yes It can be watered down. I didn't really want to push it during my H20 add. So I just brought it down to a more... enjoyable proof, if you will. I felt 160 was just way to Hot. It just goes by personal preference. I haven't officially tried, but I think you can H20 add it down to 110 without it louching.

Bluto,

I have my herbs together and ground up, gonna macerate today. But I dont have angelica or caraway seeds. Do you think they were important in the flavor profile? Ill hold off and find some if they are. Thanks much.

jimdo64 wrote:Bluto,

I have my herbs together and ground up, gonna macerate today. But I dont have angelica or caraway seeds. Do you think they were important in the flavor profile? Ill hold off and find some if they are. Thanks much.

Hey jimdo64,
What I gathered from making Absinthe is your ingredients may vary depending on your personal preference. I loved the aroma of the angelica when I added it. I might even add more angelica root for my next batch. What I got from the caraway was, a little goes a long way. Caraway adds some unique flavors. However I'm thinking about not using it at all for my next batch. I once did a rye whiskey with some caraway added. I charged my still with grain and all. The end result was a spirit that smelt like bananas! It was actually pretty cool, I kept a bottle of that for the archives.

Good luck! And be creative.

Thanks Bluto. Your herb bill is 3.7 pounds. With 1.5 pounds of anise seed. Really? WOW! My recipe turned out to be a lot less poundage of herbs per liter (based on what I bought), and I added a few other items, based on research all over. I wont bother posting it or going into detail until I run it and see if its good. She's macerating now. Wish me luck

Wow that wormwood bitterness really slams ya. I took a small bit of each herb to chew on and understand its flavor before I ground them up into the maceration. The wormwood is REALLY bitter. Ive been macerating now for a few hours, and with 75 gr wormwood in 6 liters of 70% neutral, I took a sip and WOW, bitter. I hope that particular character stays back in the distillation? Did it stay back completely BluTO or did you see it it come out in one of the collection splits? Thanks. Im gonna macerate till Monday then run it. Cant wait to see what I get!!

Hmmm, me wonders if that "secret ingredient" had some T, a little H, and a tad more C in it?

He is from Cali afterall....

Jimdo - The anise is the flavor that will prevail when you re-distill. The wormwood bitter will be there a little but mostly in the background. It also depends on how you drink it; I notice the bitter shows up more on the back of my tongue and is also more noticeable the lower the abv of the drink. I find 1.5 oz @ 70% + 3.5 oz chilled water+ 1/2 t sugar is what I prefer.

Big R

rtalbigr wrote:Jimdo - The anise is the flavor that will prevail when you re-distill. The wormwood bitter will be there a little but mostly in the background. It also depends on how you drink it; I notice the bitter shows up more on the back of my tongue and is also more noticeable the lower the abv of the drink. I find 1.5 oz @ 70% + 3.5 oz chilled water+ 1/2 t sugar is what I prefer.

Big R

Thanks Big R. If it turns out anything like pastis, I drink that with 1 ice cube and a splash of water. When the ice cube melts I have a cool drink at about 50/50 mix. Use to bring back liter bottles from the duty free at the airport for dirt cheap until the damn al-Qaeda screwed up my pastis habit. Bastards.

jimdo64 wrote: Thanks Big R. If it turns out anything like pastis, I drink that with 1 ice cube and a splash of water. When the ice cube melts I have a cool drink at about 50/50 mix. Use to bring back liter bottles from the duty free at the airport for dirt cheap until the damn al-Qaeda screwed up my pastis habit. Bastards.

Well, I haven't a clue what pastis is. I keep my absinthe at 70% and then dilute to drink. I have tried various combinations and found that the anise can be overpowering if not diluted enough. That might be due to my herb bill so your results may be different. I also found that if it's diluted too much the taste is just yukky.

Big R

rtalbigr wrote:

jimdo64 wrote: Thanks Big R. If it turns out anything like pastis, I drink that with 1 ice cube and a splash of water. When the ice cube melts I have a cool drink at about 50/50 mix. Use to bring back liter bottles from the duty free at the airport for dirt cheap until the damn al-Qaeda screwed up my pastis habit. Bastards.

Well, I haven't a clue what pastis is. I keep my absinthe at 70% and then dilute to drink. I have tried various combinations and found that the anise can be overpowering if not diluted enough. That might be due to my herb bill so your results may be different. I also found that if it's diluted too much the taste is just yukky.

Big R

Pastis is French anise flavored spirit, Ricard, Pernod are the 2 big ones. Essentially the same as Absinthe, without the wormwood. Try a bottle, they are very good. Ricard was always my preference.

Yes agreed, diluted too much and it loses it for me too. I like Ricard at 50/50 so drinking it at 45 proof or so. For my own I'll bottle at higher ABV like you do, and water it down accordingly. Half tempted to go run it now, 24 hours into maceration, but thats just me being impatient as usual!

Edit: Some more on pastis and the differences to absinthe, from wiki: "Pastis is often associated with its historical predecessor (absinthe), yet the two are in fact very different. Pastis does not contain grand wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), the herb from which absinthe derives its name. Also, pastis obtains its anise flavor from a distillation (or industrially prepared distillates) of star anise, an herb of Asian origin, whereas absinthe traditionally obtains its base flavor from green anise, a European herb. Furthermore, pastis traditionally exhibits the distinct flavor of licorice root (another herb of Asian origin), which is not a part of a traditional absinthe. Where bottled strength is concerned, traditional absinthes were bottled at 45–74% ABV, while pastis is typically bottled at 40–50% ABV. Finally, unlike a traditional absinthe, pastis is a "liqueur", which means it is always bottled with sugar.