Freeze dried raspberry powder. 100% fruit

[Avo]

Raspberry vodka/gin are becoming popular beverages. I wonder if any readers have tried freeze dried rasberries in a concoction.
The powder contains all the original goodness, flavour, colour, vitamins etc, in fact it is stated as being 100% fruit. I am expecting to get a 100 gram sample today to trial. 100 grams of powder is the equivelent of 700 grams of fresh raspberries. I would assume one could bypass the normal maceration/vapour infused methods, and mix directly with the alcohol; possibly, rehydrating the powder in a little water. This method would give a good colour to the alcohol. I noticed a well known raspberry vodka on the market is clear, no hint of colour at all. I'm looking forward to experimenting, and getting the added amounts of powder right, in order to make it viably economical.
I would be interested in any comments you might have.

[8Ball]

Sounds like it might work. Give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

FWIW, I’ve soaked frozen raspberries in 50% neutral for a month or so, then strained and sweetened with a little simple sugar. Great sipping on ice.

[NZChris]

There are a lot of tricks you can do with raspberries, but I haven't found the powder to try ... yet.

I suspect you would have to do something really bad to make bad liquor or liqueur with the powder, like a mismatched base spirit.

[Avo]

Sounds like it might work. Give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

8Ball & NZChris

Just made up a sample It actually came out quite well. I tried a few dilutions and came up with 50 grams to a litre of good neutral.
This makes it reasonably economical. I can smell & taste the raspberry, and the colour is good. I disolved the powder in 45% abv and then filtered it three times through a fine 'silk screen printing' mesh. It removed a certain amount of non-flavoured mush and some seeds. I was going to dehydrate the mush and see what amount of waste there would be. However, there was enough good stuff to make a viable brew. I sampled it happily, with and without addition of 'Monin's' sugar cane syrup (could use inverted sugar) I bought a 100 grams of powder on line so will make up a litre of unsweetened vodka for my son to try and comment on. Amazon do a good range of the powder. I initially got mine elsewhere and paid postage. It worked out at £5.47 per litre. If approved I will be able to get the price down (using Amazon prime) to $3.76 (£2.83) per litre. There is a 1 kg offer of SUN dried powder on Amazon at $39.86 (£29.99) enough to make 20 litres - which will bring it down to $1.99 (£1.50) per litre. In conclussion, I was working to a small left over dreg in the vodka bottle; I felt this was near enough, but one could modify to personel taste.

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[Avo]

There are a lot of tricks you can do with raspberries, but I haven't found the powder to try ... yet.

I suspect you would have to do something really bad to make bad liquor or liqueur with the powder, like a mismatched base spirit.

[8Ball]

Looks good! But does it pass the “panty dropper” test?

[Avo]

Sounds like it might work. Give it a shot and let us know how it turns out.

8Ball & NZChris

I was going to dehydrate the mush and see what amount of waste there would be.

I did actually dehydrate the filtered waste, it amounted to 2 grams of solids from 5 grams of powder. But the 45% abv instantly removed the flavour.

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[Avo]

Looks good! But does it pass the “panty dropper” test?

Well, I dropped mine, does that count

[8Ball]

Looks good! But does it pass the “panty dropper” test?

Well, I dropped mine, does that count

Absolutely, but it’s not true unless I see the pics ... ha! Lol

[Avo]

Looks good! But does it pass the “panty dropper” test?

image.jpg

[8Ball]

Avo,
You are a class act.

[Avo]

Looks good! But does it pass the “panty dropper” test?

I have just purchased the 'Still spirits' raspberry vodka sachets - I thought this had to be reasonably good; I wanted to make up some batches
for my son. Alas, it is no 'Panty dropper' it has no colour; like a lot of the commercial products. It also has, to me a chemical taste. Apart from using fresh raspberries, I believe the best way to go is the freeze dried powder, it makes a wonderful drink. It's best to filter it maybe three times through a fine mesh. After it's sat in the bottle for a day or two then use a lab' filter for the final polish. - I bought several packs of the SS product and that is going back, it's terrible.

[8Ball]

Something I’ve done is taken fresh or frozen raspberries and filled a glass jar 2/3 full with the berries. Then topped off the jar with 50% vodka. Let it sit for a month, then drain it off through some clean cheesecloth. I add a little simple syrup and it makes a good sipper. If you use frozen berries, make sure they stay frozen until you pour the neutral over them.

[Avo]

Something I’ve done is taken fresh or frozen raspberries and filled a glass jar 2/3 full with the berries. Then topped off the jar with 50% vodka. Let it sit for a month, then drain it off through some clean cheesecloth. I add a little simple syrup and it makes a good sipper. If you use frozen berries, make sure they stay frozen until you pour the neutral over them.

The raspberries (fresh) are imports at this time of the year. The freeze dried berries don't lose any flavour/smell, and easier to filter for a very clean product. They say all good things come to those that wait - but a month is too long for maceration A 100 gram packet of powder is the equivalent of 750 grams of fresh fruit. This will make two litres of vodka. I have just ordered 250 grams of powder from Ebay for $19.31 (U.S.) £14.95 This will make 5 litres of vodka at £2.99 / $3.86 per litre. I can get it down to far less if I buy a bigger pack.

I haven't tried it yet with fresh raspberries, but I have soxhlet equipment. With my glass lab' soxhlet, I could extract from the raspberries and make a litre of vodka in less than a day, but it would take the colour out of the berries, like the commercial varieties and the one from Sweden. With my bigger soxhlet using my still boiler, I could make a much bigger batch. I haven't done the sums, but it looks as if the freeze dried powder and the convenience of production makes it the cheaper option for a vastly superior product I.M.H.O. A bottle of commercial Raspberry vodka can range from £20 /£28 per litre. If you really love the stuff the answer would be to grow your own rasberries.