Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

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Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Bee »

If the fusel oils (the stuff that floats on top of distillate, right?) only come with the tails, why would you bother to filter them off?

If the answer is to blend tails with hearts, do you really need to filter them off? Will they go away on their own with aging?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by still_stirrin »

How do I get rid of Fusel Oils in my Spirits?
  • Fusel alcohols or fuselol, also sometimes called fusel oils, are mixtures of several alcohols (chiefly amyl alcohol) produced as a by-product during alcoholic fermentation. The word “Fusel” is from the German word that means "bad liquor".
What different Types of Fusel Alcohols are there?

Fusel Alcohols can be classified into two different categories
1. Hazardous Alcohols:
  • Methanol (methyl alcohol), a poisonous compound (Lethal Dosage of 5628 mg/kg if consumed orally)
  • Isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol), which is oxidized to form acetone by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver
2. Congeners:
  • Excessive concentrations of some alcohols other than ethanol may cause off-flavors, sometimes described as "spicy", "hot", or "solvent-like".
  • Some beverages, such as rum, whisky (especially Bourbon), incompletely rectified vodka (for instance Siwucha), and traditional ales and ciders, are expected to have relatively high concentrations of non-hazardous alcohols as part of their flavor profile.
  • However, in other beverages, such as Cane, Vodka, and Beers (Lagers specifically), the presence of alcohols other than ethanol is considered a fault.
The compounds involved are chiefly:
  • 2-Methyl-1-Butanol - sometimes called "active" Amyl Alcohol
  • Isoamyl Alcohol (Isopentanol)
  • Isobutyl Alcohol - one of the least toxic of the Butanols
  • N-Propyl Alcohol
Where do Fusel Alcohols come from?

Fusel alcohols are always formed during fermentation, but the amount or concentration of Fusel Oils is increased dramatically if and when fermentation occurs:
  • at higher temperatures (normally above 22 degrees Celsius)
  • at lower pH (too acidic)
  • when yeast activity is limited by low nitrogen content (insufficient nutrients)
During distillation, most fusel alcohols are concentrated in the feints or "tails" at the end of the distillation run. They have an oily consistency, which is noticeable to the distiller, hence the other name "fusel oil". If desired, these heavier alcohols can be almost completely separated in an “Adjustable Reflux Still” or “Fractionating Reflux Column Still”.

Do Fusel Oils cause Hangovers?

A lot of people are of the opinion that Fusel Oils cause or contribute to hangovers. This is a matter of scientific debate. A Japanese study in 2003 concluded: "the fusel oil in whisky had no effect on the ethanol-induced emetic response". It must be said however, that the Japanese used the common Asian House Shrew as a test subject, so you would not be blamed if you thought you “smelled a rat”. Still, the higher alcohols do certainly give me a headache (personal observation).

What are the Facts about Fusel Oils?

Fusel oil is the common or encompassing name for by-products as well as higher alcohols formed in the fermentation process - it is therefore not a pure compound or compounds, but considered to be a mixture.
  • The principal ingredient of fusel oil is amylalcohol which comprises 65-80% of fusel oil.
  • It may also contain all forms of isobutylcarbinol and damylalcohol, and may contain between 15-25% of isobutyl- and approximately 4-7% of n-propyl alcohol.
  • Amyl-, butyl- and propylalcohols therefore form the bulk of fusel oils.
  • Other substances are present, although none in significant quantities - the amounts are in fact so small that one needs only consider the principal components when doing an analysis.
The figures above covers quite a range (65 to 80%, 15 to 25% and 4 to 7%).

The actual make up of fusel oil depends principally on the ingredients of the fermentation, the fermentation temperature, and to a lesser extent the fermentation variables like pH and nutrients.

Why would Fusel Oils be desired in Spirit?

Fusel oil is the aroma of the mash. For example, in brandy and other fruit-base spirits (for example Slivovitz, Calvados, Rakia, Palinka, Palene, Piore Williams, etc.) the Fusel Oil content in the final product is normally 0.6% or more. This is the principal aroma of the spirit, and after storage and maturing, most of the Fusel Oil constituents are converted to esters. However, even in basic raw spirit distilled from a sugar wash, the Fusel content can be between 0.4 - 0.7% of the 95% alcohol.

The type of fermentation alone is therefore no indication or guarantee that you will or will not produce large quantities of Fusel Oils.

Can I reduce Fusel Oil Formation during Fermentation?

The addition of ammonium salts to a fermentation reduces the formation of fusel oil. This is referred to as a “Yeast Nutrient Salt” (normally Di-Ammonium Phosphate, or DAP), a common ingredient or component of Yeast Nutrients. In addition, fermenting at a lower temperature for a longer period of time should also form less Fusel Oils.

Can I remove Fusel Oils from my Distillate?

When spirits are diluted down to 40 - 50% ABV, some of the fusel oil will go out of solution, and take on an oily consistency. This is amplified if the solution is kept cool, either in the fridge (if it is a sample bottle or something produced by a Home Distiller) or through the use of a Cooling Jacket, Cooling Coils or Refrigeration Panels in a Holding Tank on the Commercial Level. The Fusel Oils that separate out are the insoluble fusel oils, principally Amylalcohols. The separated fusel oil floats up to the surface due to its lower specific weight, where it can be removed by various methods.

At the Home level this could be as simple as dabbing with an absorbent paper or tissue, or even filtering through coffee filters (commercially you would use a paper plate filter and/or Chilled Filtration).

As long as the temperature is below 15°C and effective filtering is used, you should be able to separate approximately 0.3% of the fusel oil (15 ml of 5 liters of spirits) calculated on 95% ABV spirits. This should be more than one third of the fusel oil present. If needed, the results can then be further purified using Activated Carbon Filtration, although at the hobby level, this should not be necessary.

Sorry for the dissertation, but often it is required to help educate the novice.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Thanks SS , a good easy and to the point read. :thumbup:
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Kindafrench »

Thanks a lot, SS. Learned again about this interesting stuff. I didn‘t know about fusels in such detail before.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by bluc »

Epic post still stirrin and one i will read again when sober :clap:
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Bee »

Do you think some tails (filtered/unfiltered?) would improve the whisky I'm putting up to age?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by still_stirrin »

Bee wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 4:51 am Do you think some tails (filtered/unfiltered?) would improve the whisky I'm putting up to age?
If given time in the cask, some of the “fusels” will be “esterized”, that is, they’ll oxidize to become esters. The results being a little “fruitiness” in your product. But, it will require time, and a proper vessel to allow the chemical reaction to occur.

So, yes, it would improve the whiskey, or at least it would reduce the bad taste contributed by the inclusion of tails into your keep.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Bee »

still_stirrin wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 2:09 pm
Fusel alcohols are always formed during fermentation, but the amount or concentration of Fusel Oils is increased dramatically if and when fermentation occurs:
  • at higher temperatures (normally above 22 degrees Celsius)
  • at lower pH (too acidic)
  • when yeast activity is limited by low nitrogen content (insufficient nutrients)
You mentioned that fusel production is enhanced by the pH being too low. What is "too low"?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

I hope the thread is still alive...

Looking for an effective way to remove the bad tasting product that is plagueing my recent distillates.
I suspect it comes from a batch of wine spirit, that I got as pot still run, at around 60% ABV, and then redistilled with a fractioning column. I used a bit of caustic soda, NaOH, just 1 or 2 grams per 4L of distilling base (at 40%), in order to remove more fores and heads. And it worked, the fores and heads were just a very small fraction.

But then, when making a separation of tails, using the usual method (separate flasks for semelling and tasting), I noticed the tails never came, or just at the very end. I found that unusual and thought I had acquired an excellent product.

But now, all the distillates I try, using that base spirit, get plagued with that racid smell and taste of cardboard tails. I only can avoid them (and not completely) if I make the cuts very early, wasting 40% or more of the input alcohol.

Questions:
1) Could it be that purification of pot still run, with caustic soda, masked the odors of tails, and they are coming now later ?
2) Maybe the use of esterification processes, like the caustic soda, are just adapted to treat fores and heads, and not for the entire batch ?
3) I read in Duplais treatise (an old book on distillation and liqueurs) that feints could be treated with potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid, thus oxydizing the amyl alcohol, producing valerianic acid, which has a higher boiling point (155ºC against 131ºC) and is thus more easily separated. Anyone tried this process ?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Chauncey »

Maybe there's residue in your equipment that needs purging
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by NZChris »

Suck in a lungful of air through your condenser and still head.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by NZChris »

Might you have had your senses affected by Covid when doing the original cuts?

You don't say what you are making with the spirit.

I do, occasionally, do an OEG style gin using late take pot stilled sugar wash hearts that border on tailsy. OEG finishes so early, and leaves so much ethanol in the boiler, that no noticeable amounts of fusels get into the keeper jar.

I don't use the same condenser for gin that I use to make the soirit, as cleaning the fusels out was getting to be a PITA. I built an SS Leibig that only gets used on the gin still and never needs cleaning between runs.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by EricTheRed »

NZChris wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:57 pm I don't use the same condenser for gin that I use to make the soirit, as cleaning the fusels out was getting to be a PITA. I built an SS Leibig that only gets used on the gin still and never needs cleaning between runs.
I don't even share the boiler - dedicated gin pot and liebig condenser
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

Chauncey wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 6:12 pm Maybe there's residue in your equipment that needs purging
No way. I only use glass equipment. Boiler, condenser, etc are all cleaned immediately after each use. Any residue would be visible or smelled.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

NZChris wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:57 pm Might you have had your senses affected by Covid when doing the original cuts?

You don't say what you are making with the spirit.

I do, occasionally, do an OEG style gin using late take pot stilled sugar wash hearts that border on tailsy. OEG finishes so early, and leaves so much ethanol in the boiler, that no noticeable amounts of fusels get into the keeper jar.

I don't use the same condenser for gin that I use to make the soirit, as cleaning the fusels out was getting to be a PITA. I built an SS Leibig that only gets used on the gin still and never needs cleaning between runs.
Never got Covid. And I'm not vaxxed...

I make several things with the spirit: absinthe, gin, different distilled liqueurs and drinks (ouzo, mint liqueur, chartreuses), and also infused drinks (ratafia, lemoncello, genepi, etc). Also planning to do several of Duplais recipes. It's a pity that most of them simply disappeared from current use.
I also used some spirit to make vermouth.
The infused drinks do not get obviously that tail taste...

As for cleaning, everything is glassware, so it's easy to spot any residues.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by LWTCS »

JJF63 wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:56 pm I hope the thread is still alive...

Looking for an effective way to remove the bad tasting product that is plagueing my recent distillates.
I suspect it comes from a batch of wine spirit, that I got as pot still run, at around 60% ABV, and then redistilled with a fractioning column. I used a bit of caustic soda, NaOH, just 1 or 2 grams per 4L of distilling base (at 40%), in order to remove more fores and heads. And it worked, the fores and heads were just a very small fraction.

But then, when making a separation of tails, using the usual method (separate flasks for semelling and tasting), I noticed the tails never came, or just at the very end. I found that unusual and thought I had acquired an excellent product.

But now, all the distillates I try, using that base spirit, get plagued with that racid smell and taste of cardboard tails. I only can avoid them (and not completely) if I make the cuts very early, wasting 40% or more of the input alcohol.

Questions:
1) Could it be that purification of pot still run, with caustic soda, masked the odors of tails, and they are coming now later ?
2) Maybe the use of esterification processes, like the caustic soda, are just adapted to treat fores and heads, and not for the entire batch ?
3) I read in Duplais treatise (an old book on distillation and liqueurs) that feints could be treated with potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid, thus oxydizing the amyl alcohol, producing valerianic acid, which has a higher boiling point (155ºC against 131ºC) and is thus more easily separated. Anyone tried this process ?
It's not uncommon for some pros to only keep 50% of their yeild as finished product.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by NZChris »

JJF63 wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:56 pm But now, all the distillates I try, using that base spirit, get plagued with that racid smell and taste of cardboard tails. I only can avoid them (and not completely) if I make the cuts very early, wasting 40% or more of the input alcohol.
You might just have to bite the bullet and put it back through the still and cut it again. If there was a lack of copper contact in the stills for the previous runs, the problem might not be caused by fusels, so make up for it when doing the next run.

A run through an AC filter might fix it.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

LWTCS wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:38 am It's not uncommon for some pros to only keep 50% of their yeild as finished product.
Even with a base cleaned through a reflux run ?...
But that's good to know. It shows there is no standard to the average cuts, and everything must be evaluated as individual cases.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

NZChris wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:22 am You might just have to bite the bullet and put it back through the still and cut it again. If there was a lack of copper contact in the stills for the previous runs, the problem might not be caused by fusels, so make up for it when doing the next run.

A run through an AC filter might fix it.
That was what I was planning to do. A reflux redistilling of the whole stock.
But keeping the fores+heads and the tails for further reprocessing. Fores+heads to be treated with caustic soda, and the tails I shall give a try to the potassium dichromate method. First method I am sure I will recover a good part. The 2nd method will be an experiment...

I am sure the base spirit I got was made (pot still) through a copper apparatus. I know the man who made it, and saw his equipment.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Saltbush Bill »

You don't keep or re process fores.....use them to light a fire or for some other purpose.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by NZChris »

I chuck tails from my reflux still under the lemon tree. They are not worth recycling.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by LWTCS »

Yeah imo, if you are running an outfit that exploits forced reflux and squeezing heads and tails, there just ain't much worth salvaging North or South of the hearts cut.

Maybe if running a bit more freely then there may be something worth salvaging,,,for someone ?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

NZChris wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:58 pm I chuck tails from my reflux still under the lemon tree. They are not worth recycling.
I just wanted to re-bump the thread and make part of an attempt to recycle tails.
Got several different tails, from purifying the wine spirit I talked before to gin tails, absinthe tails, and a lot more.
In total, 5.06 liters at 66.7% ABV.
Added the potassium bichromate (8,1g in 25ml water) then the sulphuric acid (6.6g in 10ml water) and let it "digest" for several days. The batch went from a bright orange color to a turquoise green.

Then pot distilled without any cuts, just to get rid of the toxic salts. Probably could go directly to rectification but I wanted to get rid of any nasty things first. Got around 4.3 L at 71.9% abv. As it had a good amount of oil smelling (mainly from the anise and fennel tails), added about 30g of charcoal, and let for some days. I think it did not make any difference.

Then rectification. I did 2 batches, as my 5L boiler just takes 4.3L max.
First batch I got some of the oils in the heads and then towards the end and tails.
2nd batch I tried a separation method, adding table salt saturated water, freezing it, and then separating. Very little visible oil came out on top, but the difference was very noticeable when I rectified. This 2nd batch just had some oils in the beginning, with the heads, and very little at end and tails.

All in all, here are the recovering percentages (from the original amount ethanol):

Heads - 6%
Hearts - 54.4%
Tails - 21.8%
Losses - 17.8%

Hearts had a variable quality, most of it (about 40%) was quite clean, and the rest was good either to compound maceration drinks (eg fruits) or to complement anise tail drinks (as tails added before distilling absinthe). In any case, that bad taste I had before in most of the tails was gone for good.
It's a bit of work, but instead of just throwing out gallons and gallons of tails, recovering instead more than 50% of all that ethanol is not bad. And I am still to see if the resulting heads and tails can be reprocessed again.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by BrewinBrian44 »

First off, I greatly respect the fact you’ve gone to the trouble of finding a process to squeeze some extra ethanol from otherwise junk tails. Cheers to that.

That said, it seems there would be much less effort to just start a fresh wash and dispose of these tails. Seeing as all the extra clean-up work essentially yields neutral ethanol, you could just invest in fresh ingredients.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

BrewinBrian44 wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 8:09 pm First off, I greatly respect the fact you’ve gone to the trouble of finding a process to squeeze some extra ethanol from otherwise junk tails. Cheers to that.

That said, it seems there would be much less effort to just start a fresh wash and dispose of these tails. Seeing as all the extra clean-up work essentially yields neutral ethanol, you could just invest in fresh ingredients.
Thank you.
My problem is I don't have a large pot distiller (neither a large rectification apparatus). It's a bit of work to make some fresh ethanol with just a 5L boiler...
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by Goonshine »

I'm pretty cheap, but I like a good stuff drink.
I tend to keep the best hearts as is, once the run proofs itself out anywhere between 90-110, that stuff gets some ice and sipped as is, no complaints.
Everything else is collected in small cuts, numbered, and left open to air out overnight to get a better feel for the nose and mouth.
Next day I'll go through nosing and tasting and make a blend of heads and tails that are not too harsh either way, rest gets tossed if it's minimal, saved in a jar for other runs if it's enough to keep.
Made some good blends from heads and tails, not as good as the hearts of course, but sometimes it's a bit better flavour then hearts, or a bit better nose, all depends on the batch.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

Goonshine wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 7:09 am Everything else is collected in small cuts, numbered, and left open to air out overnight to get a better feel for the nose and mouth.
Next day I'll go through nosing and tasting and make a blend of heads and tails that are not too harsh either way, rest gets tossed if it's minimal, saved in a jar for other runs if it's enough to keep.
I wonder about the importance of letting the small cuts airing overnight...
Usually I decide in advance where I shall start to make those small cuts, taste them right away then decide what is coming after is just tails, and let it run until temperature at condenser entrance is plus 95ºC. Usually those tails make for a fair percentage of input alcohol, around 30% or more. (I collect them for future recycling).
There is a very distinctive smell and taste of tails, which I am getting more aware, as experience develops, and when it gets to that point I don't bother to see if it could be worth of blending.
Goonshine wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2023 7:09 am some good blends from heads and tails, not as good as the hearts of course, but sometimes it's a bit better flavour then hearts, or a bit better nose, all depends on the batch.
BTW I wonder too why there is such a tails development when a batch is distilled, even if the base alcohol is very pure. I can get 96% commercial wine alcohol, and even after re-distilling it in a fractionating column to get rid of any remainder heads and tails, it still produces a good amount of tails when making a herbal drink batch (eg, gin, absinthe, etc).
It looks those "tails" develop somehow from he interaction of alcohol and the herbs, when heated together.
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by NZChris »

JJF63 wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 2:57 pm BTW I wonder too why there is such a tails development when a batch is distilled, even if the base alcohol is very pure. I can get 96% commercial wine alcohol, and even after re-distilling it in a fractionating column to get rid of any remainder heads and tails, it still produces a good amount of tails when making a herbal drink batch (eg, gin, absinthe, etc).
It looks those "tails" develop somehow from he interaction of alcohol and the herbs, when heated together.
Are you sure your gin still condenser and Carter Head is clean? I've never heard of fusels magically appearing in gin etc. from a clean spirit.

After doing your reflux run, do you recheck your choice of heart cut the next day, after your taste buds have recovered, before committing your choice to one vessel?

Are you sure the jar was correctly labeled?
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Re: Fusel Oils, Tails & Blending

Post by JJF63 »

NZChris wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:19 pm Are you sure your gin still condenser and Carter Head is clean? I've never heard of fusels magically appearing in gin etc. from a clean spirit.
My apparatus is in glass (5L round bottom flask, etc). Heating is done with a electric mantle. So, any residue is spotted clearly and washed appropriately.
The fact is, any distillation involving a macerated herb mixture is producing at the end that bad tasting distillate.
As for the heads, this is quite different, and it depends much more on the quality of base spirit.

But your statement, that in your experience fusels don't appear in distillates from a clean spirit, upon reflexion there is a possibilty I am making a mistake:
Glass joints, when heated and subjected to oils, resins, etc, may get stuck and break. So I use a bit of teflon tape to seal and make easier to disassemble. But the main boiler joint is not properly fitting (this is the result of buying from different sources...) and I added a bit of silicon paste to make a better seal.
It's just a very small amount but maybe it's enough to contaminate the distillate. I am doing now a batch, after cleaning all the silicon and using extra teflon tape. In any case, it's odd that it does contaminate the first half of distillation bt only the 2nd.
NZChris wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:19 pm After doing your reflux run, do you recheck your choice of heart cut the next day, after your taste buds have recovered, before committing your choice to one vessel?
This, as I said, it's something I am not doing. I decide on the same day.
But the said "bad taste of tails" is so characteristic that it's not hard to make the cut.
NZChris wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:19 pmAre you sure the jar was correctly labeled?
They are all aligned from left to right, I taste each one moving it sideways and return to its position. No need to label.
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