7 replies to this topic

[Bromius]

Eye,
Whenever you distill, although there may be some very rare exceptions, the distillate which is coming out of the condenser end of the operation will be clear. What you are smelling in your product is desireable. That odor is coming from the essential oils contained in all the ingredients which you soaked in alcohol prior to distilling them. These are aromatic compounds (basically various types of carbon rings, originally named for their pleasant smell) so they are going to give off a smell, hopefully a pleasant one. Many constituents in natural perfumes are produced in the same manner. These essential oils are also important in a true absinthe because they form the "louche" when water is added. In a nutshell, the louche forms because the oils are soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water. As more water is added the oils slowly coalesce out of the water/alcohol mix, forming the characteristic cloudiness of absinthe served in that manner. The degree to which your absinthe louches is a rough gauge of how successful you were in carrying over those oils.

As for the color, that is from chlorophyll, contained in additional herbs which are soaked in the liquid that has been distilled. See this recipe on Erowid, it should be helpful: http://www.erowid.or...e_recipe1.shtml

[Bromius]

Hey, anytime :) Good luck with your project. I hope the results turn out to your satisfaction.

[Hippie3]

See this recipe on Erowid, it should be helpful: http://www.erowid.or...e_recipe1.shtml

ABSINTHE RECIPE

(From Dale Pendell's Pharmako/Poeia)

30.0 g wormwood
8.5 g hyssop
1.8 g calamis
6.0 g melissa
30.0 g anise seed
25.0 g fennel seed
10.0 g star anise
3.2 g coriander seed

Put the dry herbs in a large jar. Dampen slightly. Add 800 ml of 85-95 percent ethyl-alcohol (use alcohol suitable for drinking). Wine spirits make a better product than pure grain alcohol. Let it steep for several days - a week is better - shaking occasionally. Then add 600 ml of water and let the whole macerate for another day. Decant off the liquid squeezing as much from the mass of herb as possible. Wet the herbs with some vodka and squeeze again. Recipe should give a little over a liter and a half of green liquor. It must then be distilled. Inferior recipes skip this step, but what they produce is not worthy to be called absinthe.

In the distillation, change the receiver when the distillate turns yellow: those ar the faints. You can save the faints and add them to future distillations, but they will taint the flavor if added directly to the product. Just use the good stuff. The next step is to color and finish the liqueur by another round of maceration.

Color the distillate by again adding:

4.2 g mint
1.1 g melissa
3.0 g wormwood
1.0 g citron peel
4.2 g liquorice root

Let the herbs macerate for another three or four days. Decant, filter, bottle. You will probably want to carefully add some concentrated sugar syrup to the blend. The result will be a Swiss style absinthe of about 135 proof.Recipe makes one liter of absinthe.

[OmBudsMan]

good recipe...
but IMO...i've made alot of this shit....
and nothin beats just going out and
buying it...:D

where would one go about buying it? I'm assuming there are certain places online that are more reliable with a better quality product than others. My brother and I have both expressed interest in trying it out since neither of us have in past...I'm just not sure where to look. Thanks for any insight...but if it's not allowed to be posted, then no problem. :)

[ulatek]

look at this post
http://mycotopia.net...t=absinthe INFO

i drink absinthe quite often, and in my section of the post youll find a good brand/supplier (best IMO)