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My (very tasty) gin is ready to dilute. Tap water or bottled or doesn't it make any difference? I'd be grateful for any comments.

Buy some distilled water from the grocery

Other water can cause louche or clouding.

Thanks Chauncey.
It's not easy to get distilled water in the UK. Can get deionised easily, but not distilled. I guess I could make some myself though.

Most druggists and grocery stores have it here.

Looks like a trip to New Orleans then!

Look for nursery water, like for babies

Why not use your still and purify your own water?

v-child wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 5:37 am Why not use your still and purify your own water?

Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.

cnk wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 2:36 am My (very tasty) gin is ready to dilute. Tap water or bottled or doesn't it make any difference? I'd be grateful for any comments.

Firstly, I don't believe that distilled water is the answer; try drinking some and you'll quickly find it doesn't taste right, and in my opinion/testing doesn't fit best with the final product spirits. So next, consider there is a huge variety in tap water (Hard, soft, varieties of minerals dissolved). What type of tap water do you have? If you very hard water or don't like the taste, use bottled (aka spring) water. Else, just use your tap water.

i always use reverse osmosis water. it adds no flavor and has a nice mouthfeel.

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Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.
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It was about availability, not cost. I buy mine at Wallyworld, but if I couldn't source it local, I would make it.

v-child wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 am

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:12 am Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.

It was about availability, not cost. I buy mine at Wallyworld, but if I couldn't source it local, I would make it.

In either case, its not the most appropriate water to dilute spirits with.

RO water is cheap and is very good. Because there are no nutrients in it, it doesn't develop off flavors if you have it sitting around for a while.

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:49 am

v-child wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 am

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:12 am Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.

It was about availability, not cost. I buy mine at Wallyworld, but if I couldn't source it local, I would make it.

In either case, its not the most appropriate water to dilute spirits with.

I find it and RO water tend to cause louche less often than most tap and spring water but ymmv i suppose

Chauncey wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 5:14 pm

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:49 am

v-child wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 am

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:12 am Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.

It was about availability, not cost. I buy mine at Wallyworld, but if I couldn't source it local, I would make it.

In either case, its not the most appropriate water to dilute spirits with.

I find it and RO water tend to cause louche less often than most tap and spring water but ymmv i suppose

Any basis as to why or how trace minerals would impact the solubility of essential oils in alcohol solutions?

In my experience louching is proportional only to the volume and concentration of alcohol relative to that of essential oils.

Its what ive always been told and every time ive used spring water and tap water in different places causes an instant louche for me. As for the reason, idk. Distilled and ro always stay nice and clear unless theres alot of oily tails then louche occurs under 45abv or so. In my experience.

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:49 am

v-child wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 am

Expat wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:12 am Because the energy and time costs vastly outweighs the $1/gallon store bought version.

It was about availability, not cost. I buy mine at Wallyworld, but if I couldn't source it local, I would make it.

In either case, its not the most appropriate water to dilute spirits with.

You are probably right, but when you run out of your favorite Fiji Natural Artesian Water, you'll just have to scrape by. I usually use filtered, not RO'd or distilled and it seems to do OK.

I use bottled water. I've looked for the ones with least mineral content and then tasted those to see which one tasted most neutral. In some cases bottled water is filtered water with minerals added to it.
I've read about minerals causing louching, but haven't experienced that.

A bit pricey but has anyone ever cut with FIJI water, the bottled (expensive) from most gas stations or groceries in the US?

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply and comment. I think I am going to trial small quantities for taste with different water. I have distilled a small amount of water, have a filter jug for the tap water and am going to try and purchase some ro water and then see what tastes best. I suppose to some extent it is down to individual palates and also what botanicals are used. This is my third gin having started with a traditional gin recipe, then one that has more orange and cardamon and this one is lighter with chamomile.

Thank you again.

cnk