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kinda interested in concocting a mushroom liquer, anybody got info on this?

I've thrown some raw wild forest mushrooms (Lithuanian boletus, aka porcini) in a rye whiskey (white, not oaked). I washed them and sliced them to fit into the bottle (I bottled in a nice bottle, because the view of mushrooms soaking in whiskey is novel enough to want to display it).

The color came across as a wooded whiskey, while the taste was very earthy, very foresty and, of course, quite mushroomy. The SMELL was FANTASTIC -- great for remembering the autumn during the dark and cold winter.

It's not something I'd drink every day, but it does have its novelty appeal, and nice for the smell.

Aidas

If you are not VERY sure of your mushroom identification abilities, do not go picking them. 1 or 2 of the wrong shrooms can kill you. Just a word of caution. So I've heard

we'll if the stems are grey purple and the little green man in a tinfoil hat comes to visit when ya eat 'em, you could maybe masticate the item in the alch to obtain a flavor as to any other. I am settin chipotle and dried ancho peppers in 90% right now, It's good if you like it. No harm in tryin. Oh, just kiddin bout the mushrooms, never met the little fellow

"we'll if the stems are grey purple" Just because they bruise purple does not mean anything. Just means that there is a CHANCE that they are hallucinagenic. They could also be poisonous. This is not a reliable method of ID.
And I know damned sure one of us was wearing a tinfoil hat for sure, for sure!

Agreed. If you don't know what you're picking - DON'T pick!

That said, as a Lithuanian, it's in my blood Also, I always have the mushroom book with me when I'm out mushrooming -- just in case I come across something that I don't recognize. Boletus, the king of mushrooms, is impossible not to recognize, especially if you've been picking them in all living memory.

Those of you who aren't mushroom pickers, I suggest buying them at the store.

Chantarelles (available at stores) will not add much flavor to liquor, but they're great with bacon, onions with some scrambled egg on top, eaten with a glass of whiskey on the side. Seriously, it is ambrosia.

Aidas

That is a serious breakfast...

Might try this one out WhiteLightning. Can't take credit for this , but I can't give credit either, I forget where it comes from.


This technique describes how to extract psilocybin from magic mushrooms with pure 200 proof ethyl alcohol and make a magic mushroom liqueur of concentrated psilocybin to effect a powerful psychedelic dose as potent as desired. The entire process involves only the shrooms and alcohol.


ALCOHOL EXTRACTION
1. Acquire quality psilocybe cubensis shrooms (harvested before or just as the veils open and cool dried with desiccant). The more shrooms used in the beginning, the more potent the concentration can be when finished. Use at least several grams of dried shroom material to make the process worthwhile and effective. The shrooms need to be thoroughly dry (rock hard) to allow pulverization. To pulverize the shrooms, put them into a small strong zip lock plastic bag (freezer bag), cover the bag with a magazine (for protection of the bag) and pound it with the rubber heel of a large shoe. After pulverization, pour the shroom material into a bottle that has a tight fitting leak proof cap. Add enough alcohol to cover the shroom material to make a loose slurry. Shake the bottle well and let it sit for 24 hours. Shake it now and then to activate the extraction.

2. After 24 hours of soaking, filter off the alcohol. Fashion the filter over the mouth of a drinking glass. Shake up the bottle of slurry, and pour some slurry into the filter. Squeeze the filter and slurry to extract the alcohol. There are many details to deal with, but doing it once reveals them all. Experience is the best teacher. Store the extracted alcohol in a fresh bottle.

3. Retrieve the shroom material from the filters and resoak the extracted shroom material with fresh alcohol and repeat steps 1 and 2 (secondary filtration and reclamation).

The concentrated shroom liqueur will have a pungent mushroomy aroma (like fungi perfume). Store it in small screw cap bottles or vials in the freezer. Alcohol doesn't freeze solid and will remain liquid.


SUPPLY LIST
shrooms
200 proof ethyl alcohol
drinking glass (spoon - knife ect.)
funnel
bottles with tight caps (whiskey bottles - pop bottles - ect.)
filters

I wonder, has anyone ever tried good-old fashioned puffballs? I remember finding one that was more than 10kg when I was a kid.

I don't remember the world record, but I think it was in excess of 20kg.

I've made two different chantarelle aquavit for our strange midsummer rituals herre in Sweden Quite nice to our pickled herrings or crayfish boiled with dill.

Quick and simple:
750 ml vodka
3-4 chopped chantarelles
let them macerate for three days

Better IMHO:
Dry chantarelles with a little salt for three days on a newspaper. Dry as much as you can fill into the bottle of vodka. Fill the bottle with mushrooms and vodka and let it macerate for three days. Filter and let it mature for a week or two. Add a little more salt if needed.

The vodka shouldn't be too strong. 35-38% is best. And it should be VERY smooth and neutral.

junkyard dawg wrote:That is a serious breakfast...

It's more of a lunch During mushroom season, one tends to get up early, have a small sandwich, a cup of coffee and head into the woods. When you've picked as much as you can carry (about 4 hours or so), you go back home to clean the mushrooms. It's boring work, and the whiskey keeps you going

BTW, eggs aren't just for breakfast anymore at least in Lithuania...

Aidas

Vin said crayfish. I've heard you can eat the puffballs before they get powdery. I'd have to read on it. gettin a book, or at least printin off some pics would help. When I was young we used to pick pounds of the naughty ones. I'm so old I see things anyway

yea, the naughty ones grow like crazy around here... Once, I was working on a ranch nearby and there was a pasture that was so thick with them that you couldnt walk without stepping on them. Absinthe fairies have nothing on a good old bastrop county cow pasture mushroom

My one - and only - experience with Swedish pickled herrings almost turned me of food for life, and I only only heard the psssst as the can was pierced and the disgusting smell that was released. The contents of said can was impossible to describe

The Swedes must all drink to excess to consume - and ENJOY - 'pickled' herrings.

msrorysdad wrote:we'll if the stems are grey purple and the little green man in a tinfoil hat ................ Oh, just kiddin bout the mushrooms, never met the little fellow

I bet it was an alfoil cap!


The real LGM would use silver!