Absinthe...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:12 pm

I'd appreciate if you guys would share your source of pure grain alcohol.......
I'm a budding "Absintheteneur".........

zabsinth · Post by **zabsinth** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:02 pm

Marscrumbs wrote:No way around the tax...

(whistles quietly...)

ygmir wrote:I'd appreciate if you guys would share your source of pure grain alcohol.......
I'm a budding "Absintheteneur".........

I've always just bought Clear Spring (i.e. Everclear w/o the name-brand markup) by the case at liquor stores... Note that it's not available full-strength in CA and possibly other states - 150 proof would work just fine, though.

I'd love to hear more about Mars' source....

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 6:25 pm

yeah, I've found it difficult to find 190 proof, since, I'm in CA.
I got some in OR, but, it was 35 bucks for 1/2 gal........yikes.........

zabsinth · Post by **zabsinth** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:50 pm

ygmir wrote:yeah, I've found it difficult to find 190 proof, since, I'm in CA.
I got some in OR, but, it was 35 bucks for 1/2 gal........yikes.........

Tell me about it.... On the other hand, 1/2 gallon of 190Â° makes quite a bit of absinthe...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:53 pm

well, yeah, but......
I've got a 15 gal ss beer keg......

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:37 am

Marscrumbs wrote: Bitterness depends on how long one lets the herb maccerate. The most bitter element does not follow the essential oils when steam distilled. However by practice I've learned this also can be accomplished by using more herb and shortening the extraction time. Herb is relatively cheap.

If you open a small bag of artemesia absinthium wormwood you will immediately taste the bitterness. The problem that some distillers encounter is, if you use the same equipment (maceration bags, mainly) for coloration as you used for the initial maceration you will transfer a little bit of the bitterness. You'll get something that tastes like La Fee which, by the way, is artificially colored and louched.

Distilled full-wormwood absinthe is not bitter. Nondistilled macerate containing artemesia does not taste remotely similar to real absinthe and I can demonstrate this. (a la Green Devil--artificially coloered, and used absinthium for the coloring stage so even if you "filtered out" all the wormwood from the maceration, you're adding more during the coloration.)

Artemesia pontica, which is used for coloration and flavor rounding, is the lesser wormwood, has no thujone and is not bitter. But it's a lot more expensive. When people try to cheap out and use artemesia instead of pontica, they end up with an aftertaste.

Absinthe is distilled. There are plenty of sources showing the absinthe distillation and stills on the internet. (Pernod) Also, recipes and original literature are abundant, translated and untranslated.

As for alcohol, Clear Spring/Everclear works--wine spirits would be proper, but difficult to find and much more expensive, and, if it makes you feel any better, you've already paid the tax to the revenooers. Some people use vodka but that's dumb, because vodka is ethanol diluted with distilled water, and all they're gonna do is distill off the water anyway so they're paying extra for water they're just going to throw away.

If you're into absinthe or curious about it and you come across the steampunk Vader with a copper washboard, come say hey.

In Oregon, you can get a distiller's license for about $100. I have detailed files. Weird, turning pro...

-zb

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 1:36 pm

I actually own two Portugese handmade copper alembic stills. The Large one is dedicated to the steam distillation of essential oils. But I also have a small 2L copper still just for the redistillation of absinthe. I don't make my own alchohal so I'm not a bootlegger. I get my puro 191' in Mexico for about $6 a liter, although I've haven't been going there much lately. Commerical absinthe is not so high a proof, but I don't bother to dilute my liquor so I get a killer louche which comes more from the anise family herbs I've discovered.

Bitterness is one of the basic taste and benefits digestion, if one wants to avoid it ,why bother at all with these style drinks. Go back to Vodka and OJ.

zabsinth · Post by **zabsinth** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 2:08 pm

ZaphodBurner wrote:
In Oregon, you can get a distiller's license for about $100. I have detailed files. Weird, turning pro...

-zb

Zaphod, I'd love to have a drink with you one of these days...

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:05 pm

zabsinth wrote:
ZaphodBurner wrote:
In Oregon, you can get a distiller's license for about $100. I have detailed files. Weird, turning pro...

-zb
Zaphod, I'd love to have a drink with you one of these days...

Portland! Far out! That's highly possible.

I'll have a bit with me tomorrow (Friday) night downtown. Got a gig at 9ish at the Ash Street Saloon so if you happen to be in the area swing by, ask for Gatt from LogosEye and we'll kick off the burn early!

Otherwise, I'm going to put a note at the Center Camp message board that says CATHARTICUS and will have our BRC address.

-c

zabsinth · Post by **zabsinth** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:36 pm

ZaphodBurner wrote:
zabsinth wrote:
ZaphodBurner wrote:
In Oregon, you can get a distiller's license for about $100. I have detailed files. Weird, turning pro...

-zb
Zaphod, I'd love to have a drink with you one of these days...
Portland! Far out! That's highly possible.

I'll have a bit with me tomorrow (Friday) night downtown. Got a gig at 9ish at the Ash Street Saloon so if you happen to be in the area swing by, ask for Gatt from LogosEye and we'll kick off the burn early!

Otherwise, I'm going to put a note at the Center Camp message board that says CATHARTICUS and will have our BRC address.

-c

Might try to track you down tomorrow depending on schedule - planning to spend some quality time with the ol' pressure cooker tomorrow, so a bit of the clear stuff would be coming along for the ride. If not, I'll find you on the playa.

Diverse · Post by **Diverse** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:33 pm

I really really want to try some of your creations, If you know where you will be camping yet please let me know via here or a PM. Our camp the energy riders will be located at 2 and hummer if you want to come get your dance on.

zabsinth · Post by **zabsinth** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 11:06 pm

bottled and ready for the playa. interesting batch - when i went to the secure location (alright, my mom's house... but she has a triple beam!) to begin the maceration, I forgot to bring my star anise... although I could have added it later, I said 'fuck it,' let's see what happens without it.

in short, a very nice, very vegetal taste - I used approximately equal quantities of aniseseed and fennel, and it shows (regular aniseseed does not have the balls-in-your-face licorice taste that most licorice-y things have). My secret ingredients also play a big role. All in all, a most refreshing batch - but still a long way to go before I'll be satisfied.

(Incidentially, there are a lot of directions left to be explored w/ this kind of drink - a neighbor of mine in college, a sorority type, brought 2 or 3 bottles of an uncommon pastis back from france, and cardamom was the most predominant flavor...)

Zaphod, I'll drop by your camp. Provisional name for mine is "May a moody baby doom a yam," and we'll be somewhere near the 4:00 axis.

Who should I ask for @ CATHARTICUS?

As far as any of you non-portlandian non-distillers go, maybe you'll run into me, and maybe we'll have a drink.

But I do have a much bigger project in mind for next year.

[/s]

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:44 am

zabsinth wrote: in short, a very nice, very vegetal taste - I used approximately equal quantities of aniseseed and fennel, and it shows (regular aniseseed does not have the balls-in-your-face licorice taste that most licorice-y things have). My secret ingredients also play a big role. All in all, a most refreshing batch - but still a long way to go before I'll be satisfied.

Star anise makes your tongue numb and is generally frowned upon by absinthe snobs, but, I kinda like the effect. Top-quality green anise makes it totally unnecessary. ("Balls in your face" ...lol. Yeah.)

I'll be somewhere along 8:30 but don't have an address yet. PMing you...

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:59 am

zabsinth wrote:
Marscrumbs wrote:No way around the tax...
(whistles quietly...)

ygmir wrote:I'd appreciate if you guys would share your source of pure grain alcohol.......
I'm a budding "Absintheteneur".........
I've always just bought Clear Spring (i.e. Everclear w/o the name-brand markup) by the case at liquor stores... Note that it's not available full-strength in CA and possibly other states - 150 proof would work just fine, though.

I'd love to hear more about Mars' source....

I have my friends run liter bottles of puro cane alchohal whenever they go to Mexico. When I visit my mom in San Diego if I have time I'll go down myself. Park on the US side a few blocks away and take my bike (racked to my car) zip across and hit the first liquor market. Then straight back through the walk in crossing. You can get bottles for $5 to 6 dollars each but you are allowed only one liter per adult per trip.

I've used up the last of my cache for this burn.

Russian(chinese) liquorice root also make a good addition similar to fennel and anise and gets included in my herbs. I have lots of other secret ingredients being a professional herbalist but I'm leaving these out of my basice burn recipe.

I'll be camped at Wishing Star on Centercamp and 2:30.

PS. Tried getting '196 in Tecate once and I couldn't find any. Pitty as it make a better daytrip.

Absinthe...

Re: Bars

Re: (Is coke the Real Thing without cocaine??)

A little bitterness is good for your health.

Re: (Is coke the Real Thing without cocaine??)

Re: (Is coke the Real Thing without cocaine??)

Re: (Is coke the Real Thing without cocaine??)

Re: Bars