Diluting during Tasting - How much is too much?
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:55 pm
Let me preface this by saying I'm aware of the calculator on the parent site, which tells you how much to dilute a product from X% down to Y%. 
However, what about when sampling in small, micro amounts for taste tests? How do you dilute such tiny samples? Perhaps I should recap where I am at:
I just finished my first ever SPIRIT run (after collecting about 6 batches of Low Wines). And boy, let me tell you, that final spirit coming out of the still was so strong and potent, it makes your LIPS NUMB just from touching the stuff! Most of my collection was coming out at 80+% ABV, and I collected down to about 70%!
So right now, it's been airing out for 2+ days in my 250ml collection jars. I took a little SAMPLE SIP from the middle jars, and WHEW DOGGIES! That's some strong stuff!
Anyway, my goal is to blend it and then dilute it down to about 55% for aging. However, in all the reading I've been doing, they say that when you want to blend it, take a little bit from each jar, dilute it down with water, and then see how you like it before moving to the next one.
So how does that work? Do you grab a small sample from Jar 1, 2, 3, etc., mix it all together, and then dilute that combined amount? Or do you take some from Jar 1, dilute that only and taste......move to Jar 2, dilute only that and taste, etc.?
If talking about the latter, when dealing with that small amount of blending samples, how much do you dilute? For example, if you want to see how a certain jar tastes, do you just squirt a little sample into a clean glass, and then add (what, a few drops?) of distilled water, swirl around, and then see how that feels in the mouth? We are only talking about enough for tasting here, so do you normally just eyeball the amount of water to add in this example?
I guess to summarize, I assumed that parent calculator (link above) is for when you want to dilute larger amounts, but how do you dilute a MOUTHFUL just to test and see how you like it? I hope that makes sense!
However, what about when sampling in small, micro amounts for taste tests? How do you dilute such tiny samples? Perhaps I should recap where I am at:
I just finished my first ever SPIRIT run (after collecting about 6 batches of Low Wines). And boy, let me tell you, that final spirit coming out of the still was so strong and potent, it makes your LIPS NUMB just from touching the stuff! Most of my collection was coming out at 80+% ABV, and I collected down to about 70%!
So right now, it's been airing out for 2+ days in my 250ml collection jars. I took a little SAMPLE SIP from the middle jars, and WHEW DOGGIES! That's some strong stuff!
Anyway, my goal is to blend it and then dilute it down to about 55% for aging. However, in all the reading I've been doing, they say that when you want to blend it, take a little bit from each jar, dilute it down with water, and then see how you like it before moving to the next one.
So how does that work? Do you grab a small sample from Jar 1, 2, 3, etc., mix it all together, and then dilute that combined amount? Or do you take some from Jar 1, dilute that only and taste......move to Jar 2, dilute only that and taste, etc.?
If talking about the latter, when dealing with that small amount of blending samples, how much do you dilute? For example, if you want to see how a certain jar tastes, do you just squirt a little sample into a clean glass, and then add (what, a few drops?) of distilled water, swirl around, and then see how that feels in the mouth? We are only talking about enough for tasting here, so do you normally just eyeball the amount of water to add in this example?
I guess to summarize, I assumed that parent calculator (link above) is for when you want to dilute larger amounts, but how do you dilute a MOUTHFUL just to test and see how you like it? I hope that makes sense!