Cloudiness upon dilution

[picker13]

I am flavoring 65% ABV spirits with orange peel. After getting the flavor to where I liked it, I diluted down to 45% ABV. The solution became cloudy around 50-55%. I suspect this may be due to the oils from the orange peel. Any thoughts?

[Paulinka]

Yes, those precious oils. If you want a clear spirit just dilute with higher abv neutral until no cloudiness occur. It also means less fruity character. I keep my citrus-liqueurs at around 50% abv, they will cloud the cocktail but at least transparent in the bottle.

[Mikey-moo]

Could well be. It's the citrus oils that make limoncello cloudy once it's diluted down to drinking strength.

How long are you leaving the orange peel in for?

[Paulinka]

I macerate three medium size orange's peel only for a day at room temperature, in a liter of 70% neutral spirit, then I distill it without the peels and with the same amount of water. No heads, hearts end at 30%.

[picker13]

Thanks for all the input. I think I can live with the cloudiness as the flavor is just about perfect. I haven't tried mixing it with anything -- have been sipping it neat as I would any fine brandy. I shot for 45% so that the alcohol content wouldn't be too strong or overwhelming. Maybe next time I'll try stopping at 50% or so. The spirits were distilled from an orange juice based "mash" so there was a hint of flavor to begin with, although I didn't collect too much of the tails on this run. As far as the orange peel, I took one orange, cut the peel off, then "filleted" the peels so there was only the rind or orange part left. I then soaked the large pieces for about a day and a half. I stopped when the flavor was just distinct but not overwhelming. My friends want more than I have to give away. This fall I'll use our satsuma fruit -- we have way more than we can eat or give away -- as the base and flavoring.