{"id":2067,"date":"2017-06-11T10:58:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-11T17:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2017-06-11T10:58:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-11T17:58:02","slug":"homemade-gin-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2067","title":{"rendered":"Homemade Gin, Round #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

My hopes of being the next gin magnate have crashed.\u00a0 My first batch of gin was not very good, as I’ve documented in “I made Gin!!”<\/a>\u00a0 I had hopes that this second batch would be much better.\u00a0 Not so.\u00a0 But fear not, I will persevere and am already planning my next batch.<\/p>\n

To give you the run down, here is my ingredient list for Batch 2:<\/p>\n

Day 0:\u00a0 I assembled the following botanicals.
\n15 gms Juniper, 1\/2 of which I ground
\n4 gms Coriander, ground
\n1 Cardomon Pod, ground
\n1\/5 Star Anise (one petal), ground
\n2 gms, Allspice, ground
\n6 green peppercorn, ground
\n4 pink peppercorn, ground
\n1 1\/2 inch Cinnamon Stick
\nAll of these items I put into 375 ml of 100 proof Vodka.<\/p>\n

+48 hours:\u00a0 I added the following.
\nOrange zest.\u00a0 Approx 1 tsp
\nLemon zest, dried.\u00a0 Approx 1 tsp<\/p>\n

Day 5: Tasting.
\nWOW!!\u00a0 Way to intense and horribly bitter.\u00a0 The details:
\nThe aroma that hits you isn’t really too bad, though it is pretty intense.\u00a0 Lots of herbal notes sliding to the spicy side and hints of Juniper.
\nThe first taste is very intense, nothing subtle here.\u00a0 Again very heavy on the spice and herbs, with emphasis on the Allspice, and a bitter unde-rnote.
\nThe finish is very bitter!!\u00a0 So much that it totally ruins any early favorable tastes.<\/p>\n

On the positive side, the overwhelming Anise of the first batch has been reduced.\u00a0 Now there is just a hint of anise.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately whatever positive elements there were, although intense, were overwhelmed by bitterness.\u00a0 In trying to explain this bitterness I believe I have two possible culprits.\u00a0 First, I wonder if I have too much botanical input!\u00a0 I may have left the botanicals in too long (5 days).\u00a0 Next time I think I’ll sieve them on day 3 and see if that eases the botanical impact!\u00a0 I’m also rethinking my decision to grind all the botanicals or how much I grind them.\u00a0 Perhaps just a short pulse on the grinder to break up the big pieces?<\/p>\n

Second, I may have been overly exuberant with the citrus zest.\u00a0 I’ve been informed that just a few quick passes of the orange or lemon on the zester is all you need.\u00a0 I zested pretty much the\u00a0 entire orange and lemon!<\/p>\n

Going forward I think I need to back up a bit and start more slowly and simply.\u00a0 I started with a recipe that I found on line and I think it was too big a leap.\u00a0 I’m even considering just starting with juniper and very little, if anything, else.\u00a0 Maybe just a hint of pepper or Cinnamon.<\/p>\n

An interesting note for future reference:\u00a0 I started with 375ml of Vodka.\u00a0 After sieving the botanical remnants from the Gin, I was left with approximately 240ml.\u00a0 So between the residual moisture in the ground botanicals and coffee filter used for the sieve and were then discarded and I lost about a third of the liquid.\u00a0 I don’t recall that from batch #1, but I didn’t think to measure then.\u00a0 I’ll remember to note volume lost in the future.<\/p>\n

Keep your eyes out for the results of Batch 3 coming soon to a blog near you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My hopes of being the next gin magnate have crashed.\u00a0 My first batch of gin was not very good, as I’ve documented in “I made Gin!!”\u00a0 I had hopes that this second batch would be much better.\u00a0 Not so.\u00a0 But … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[35,11,17],"tags":[5,134,39],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1973,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=1973","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":0},"title":"I Made Gin!!","author":"wlmoon58","date":"April 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, it is Gin.\u00a0 No, it really wasn't that great.\u00a0 In fact it was pretty poor, barely drinkable. But it was a lot of fun and I learned a quite a bit.\u00a0\u00a0 The most important thing I learned is that some botanicals are really powerful!\u00a0\u00a0 For example a little anise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Amusement"","block_context":{"text":"General Amusement","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2312,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2312","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":1},"title":"Homemade Gin; Round 4","author":"wlmoon58","date":"April 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Homemade Gin, round 4! \u00a0 This batch builds very slightly on the recipe of round 3, adding a touch more juniper, a bit more peppercorn, and a bit more citrus;\u00a0 this time California Lemon. \u00a0 I'd like to thank my son and his girlfriend for the very neat small bottles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gin"","block_context":{"text":"Gin","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/20180225_115746-e1520904875798-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2152,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2152","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":2},"title":"Homemade Gin, Round 3","author":"wlmoon58","date":"September 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Round 3 Homemade Gin!\u00a0\u00a0 And, yes, I am learning, albeit slowly.\u00a0\u00a0 This batch is significantly better than my two previous efforts!\u00a0 (You can find my posts on those here:\u00a0\u00a0 \"I made Gin!!\"\u00a0\u00a0 and here:\u00a0 \"Homemade Gin, Round 2\" .) This time I backed up significantly, starting much simpler.\u00a0 First of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Amusement"","block_context":{"text":"General Amusement","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/20170909_152931red-1-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2408,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2408","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":3},"title":"Homemade Gin; Round 4.5, a check on the Juniper","author":"wlmoon58","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Looking back at my past Gin making efforts I can honestly say I've learned a lot.\u00a0 But I can also say that I've got a long way to go before I'll be competing against Bombay, Tanqueray, and Hendrick's.\u00a0 Of course the big boys are (mostly) making their gin using\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Amusement"","block_context":{"text":"General Amusement","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/juniper-berry-2-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1956,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=1956","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":4},"title":"The Perfect Gin Explained","author":"wlmoon58","date":"April 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I often get asked \"What is the best gin?\" Apparently some people seem to think I should know.\u00a0 I'm still researching that myself and until I try all the Gins I don't think I can really give a valid assessment.\u00a0\u00a0 But it's a valid question and deserves a little thought.\u00a0\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gin"","block_context":{"text":"Gin","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_20150904_165038-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":732,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=732","url_meta":{"origin":2067,"position":5},"title":"50 Shades of Gin","author":"wlmoon58","date":"July 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"As you all know juniper defines Gin.\u00a0 If there's no juniper in the liquor, its not Gin.\u00a0 Its really that simple.\u00a0 Without juniper you have flavored (ugh) Vodka. 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