Creating extracts using high abv spirit and sous vide

[AppleWood50]

Just looking for any tips and advice regarding this. And maybe just share your experiences?

I learnt that some botanicals and fruits just don't transfer the flavour over well during distillation. Some examples would be rhubarb and black pepper.

I decided to try cold compounding these into an essence or extract via sous vide method directly into high abv spirit. So far my results have been amazing.

Black pepper essence

29g black pepper finely ground.
200ml 74% neutral spirit
9 hours sous vide at 58 Celsius.

Jasmine essence

20g jasmine finely ground
200ml 74% neutral spirit
9 hours sous vide at 58 Celsius

Colour changing gin essence

10g blue pea flower
100ml 74% neutral spirit
9 hours sous vide at 58 Celsius

All worked out really well. The black pepper essence is off the charts. 4ml of the essence is enough to flavour an entire bottle of gin with subtle but noticeable spice.

The jasmine works great at 6-12ml per bottle and the blue pea flower needs just a couple of drops to make a blue coloured drink which changes colour when tonic is added.

If anyone has tried this, what results have you had and what botanicals/fruits/spices have you tried?

Btw this could be done without sous vide but using the precision heating reduces the infusion time from 4-6 weeks + to a few hours.