Homemade Gin; Round 4<\/a>) was even better, to the point that it made an acceptable Martini.\u00a0 Though probably better in a G&T.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In celebration I took a break to ponder my next move.\u00a0 I’m still pondering, but also decided to do a little experiment.\u00a0 Probably one of the biggest problems I’ve had is that there are just so many variables to manage!\u00a0 So many botanicals to choose from.\u00a0 Citrus or Herbal?\u00a0 Floral?\u00a0 Cardamon, Cloves, Cilantro, Celery?\u00a0 How much of each?\u00a0 Ground up or whole or chopped?\u00a0 When to add to the Vodka?\u00a0 At the start?\u00a0 after 24 hours?\u00a0 How long to let it all steep?\u00a0 48 hours?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the many variables to manage is the starting Vodka.\u00a0 I’ve been using New Amsterdam 100 proof Vodka or Absolut’s 100 proof.\u00a0 There are a few others but those two seem to be the most available at the local liquor box store.\u00a0 Which of course means I’m starting with different flavors, even if they are very subtly different.\u00a0 Ideally of course I’d start with 190 proof food grade ethanol.\u00a0 But I’m not there …. yet.\u00a0 (5 gallons costs about $250, so it’s not out of the question by any means.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Comparing the taste of these two it’s pretty clear that Absolut is the winner.\u00a0 It’s cleaner with a very neutral taste and very smooth.\u00a0 New Amsterdam is just not quite as clean with a mostly neutral taste but a very slight cocoa flavor!!??\u00a0 So the choice has been made, I’m going with New Amsterdam from now on.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because its roughly $25 for 1.75l and Absolut is approx $30 for 1l.\u00a0 And it’s more readily available.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My next experiment is another case of back tracking and doing less with even less.\u00a0 This time the goal is to establish a fundamental taste profile: Juniper.\u00a0\u00a0 So back to the kitchen laboratory for a small batch of Gin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the ingredients and weights and times for this batch:
\nDay 0:
\nJuniper, 10gm (about 5 teaspoons) in 350 ml of New Amsterdam 100pf Vodka.<\/p>\n
And nothing else.\u00a0 Yup, simple pure Juniper with nothing to hide or hinder or enhance it’s taste.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then 24 hours of infusing, straining, and finally tasting.\u00a0\u00a0 The results?\u00a0 Well the first thing, thankfully, is that there is plenty of juniper flavor in the Gin.\u00a0 On the nose, forward, and the finish.\u00a0 The second thing, also thankfully, is that the juniper isn’t overpowering.\u00a0 Yes, it’s a little like chewing on pine needles, but not at all like chewing on the whole branch.\u00a0 Third, there wasn’t any other new flavors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Most importantly from my point of view was comparing the Juniper only Gin with the source Vodka.\u00a0 Yes I could still taste the underlying New Amsterdam subtle faint cocoa, but just barely and only because I knew it was there and could ‘look’ for\u00a0 it.\u00a0 I will have to account for that in the future.\u00a0 At least I know where it’s coming from.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now on to Homemade Gin, Round 5!\u00a0\u00a0 I’ll keep you posted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you like what you\u2019ve read, please subscribe.\u00a0 If not, please post a comment telling us how and why you disagree.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … 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":[5,39],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2312,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2312","url_meta":{"origin":2408,"position":0},"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":2408,"position":1},"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":2278,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2278","url_meta":{"origin":2408,"position":2},"title":"3rd Anniversary!!","author":"wlmoon58","date":"January 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"December 24th completes the third full year of exciting Martini and Gin making and overall Martini amusement.\u00a0 It continues to be great fun writing and I hope you all enjoy my postings as much as I enjoy writing them. I would like to take a moment and thank my readers.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holiday"","block_context":{"text":"Holiday","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=26"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/new-year-279x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1973,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=1973","url_meta":{"origin":2408,"position":3},"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":2067,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=2067","url_meta":{"origin":2408,"position":4},"title":"Homemade Gin, Round #2","author":"wlmoon58","date":"June 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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 fear not, I will persevere and am already planning my\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":1499,"url":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?p=1499","url_meta":{"origin":2408,"position":5},"title":"June 11 is World Gin Day!!","author":"wlmoon58","date":"June 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday June 11 is World Gin Day this year!\u00a0\u00a0 That is just 10 days from now!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \ud83d\ude09\u00a0 Celebrate with a G&T or a Martini!\u00a0 Or even straight! I hope to do another round of Gin Tastings, similar to last years.\u00a0 IF anyone has a gin they\u2019d like tested & tasted,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gin"","block_context":{"text":"Gin","link":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2408"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2426,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2408\/revisions\/2426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/shakennotstirred.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shakennotstirred.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/juniper-berry-2.jpg?resize=300%2C300\")
<\/p>\n