81 replies to this topic

[kathryn]

For people who are searching for Fee Brothers falernum in NYC, I found it at Kalustyan's.

And Astor Wines stocks the John D. Taylor Velvet Falernum.

[evo-lution]

Thought I'd share this with you folks, beats any of the pre-bottled stuff I've tried.

Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Falernum

Makes approximately 650-700ml falernum;

-----

200ml Wray & Nephew Overproof (or alternative white overproof rum - 63%ABV)
50ml Havana Club Especial (or alternative aged rum - 40%ABV)
Zest of 10 medium-sized limes (no pith)
40 Whole cloves (fresh)
90 grams fresh ginger (peeled and sliced thinly - julienne style)
25g Sliced almonds (lightly toast by dry-frying)
8 Whole black peppercorns (crushed)
2 Whole star anise (crushed)
1 Teaspoon spice mix (equal parts ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon and ground allspice)
1/4 Vanilla pod (scored)

Combine all ingredients in a jar, seal, then macerate for 24 hours. Strain through moistened muslin cloth, ensuring you squeeze the solids to extract all liquid. Strain again through coffee filter paper to extract all sediment.

Once clarity has been obtained, add;

50ml Dr Adam Elmegirab's Roasted Almond Orgeat
350ml Sugar syrup (two parts unrefined sugar dissolved in one part water without heating)

Shake everything together and bottle in clean glass bottles (700ml maximum).

-----

Tips;

- Do not macerate in anything under 50%ABV (100 proof) or over 75%ABV (150proof).
- Remove lime zest with a grater. I recommend using a wasabi/ginger grater.
- Use fresh products in every possible instance.
- Use a potato peeler to quickly peel ginger.
- Crush/grind all spices using a pestle & mortar prior to maceration.
- Before straining ensure you moisten both the muslin cloth and filter paper. I recommend moistening with the liquid you are about to filter.
- Do not use heated sugar syrup.
- Do not add fresh lime juice.
- If using used bottles allow to soak in soapy water and then boiling water to avoid contamination.

[Tri2Cook]

I needed falernum in a hurry so I made up a batch of rich falernum syrup from the Kaiser Penguin blog. I'm not sure what the fridge life is going to be but I haven't made much of a dent in it in almost two weeks. Would heating it again buy some time? Maybe tossing it in the the freezer? I'm happy with the flavor so I don't really want to end up tossing it if I can avoid it.

[Keith Orr]

I needed falernum in a hurry so I made up a batch of rich falernum syrup from the Kaiser Penguin blog. I'm not sure what the fridge life is going to be but I haven't made much of a dent in it in almost two weeks. Would heating it again buy some time? Maybe tossing it in the the freezer? I'm happy with the flavor so I don't really want to end up tossing it if I can avoid it.

With that much sugar it should be pretty stable in the refrigerator. If you add a couple of oz of overproof rum or everclear it should last indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Edited by Keith Orr, 12 March 2012 - 07:55 PM.

[Hassouni]

Thought I'd share this with you folks, beats any of the pre-bottled stuff I've tried.

Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Falernum

Makes approximately 650-700ml falernum;

-----

200ml Wray & Nephew Overproof (or alternative white overproof rum - 63%ABV)
50ml Havana Club Especial (or alternative aged rum - 40%ABV)
Zest of 10 medium-sized limes (no pith)
40 Whole cloves (fresh)
90 grams fresh ginger (peeled and sliced thinly - julienne style)
25g Sliced almonds (lightly toast by dry-frying)
8 Whole black peppercorns (crushed)
2 Whole star anise (crushed)
1 Teaspoon spice mix (equal parts ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon and ground allspice)
1/4 Vanilla pod (scored)

Combine all ingredients in a jar, seal, then macerate for 24 hours. Strain through moistened muslin cloth, ensuring you squeeze the solids to extract all liquid. Strain again through coffee filter paper to extract all sediment.

Once clarity has been obtained, add;

50ml Dr Adam Elmegirab's Roasted Almond Orgeat
350ml Sugar syrup (two parts unrefined sugar dissolved in one part water without heating)

Shake everything together and bottle in clean glass bottles (700ml maximum).

-----

Tips;

- Do not macerate in anything under 50%ABV (100 proof) or over 75%ABV (150proof).
- Remove lime zest with a grater. I recommend using a wasabi/ginger grater.
- Use fresh products in every possible instance.
- Use a potato peeler to quickly peel ginger.
- Crush/grind all spices using a pestle & mortar prior to maceration.
- Before straining ensure you moisten both the muslin cloth and filter paper. I recommend moistening with the liquid you are about to filter.
- Do not use heated sugar syrup.
- Do not add fresh lime juice.
- If using used bottles allow to soak in soapy water and then boiling water to avoid contamination.

My results, omitting the orgeat:



Never having tried falernum before, I don't know what to judge it against, but it's quite deliciously funky (I made mine with W&N Overproof).

Two questions:

1. Where the hell do you get 700ish ml size bottles? All I found in shops were 500 (shown) and 1 L, which was too much. I made about 600 ML of the stuff, and didn't manage to bottle all of it.

2. How is Taylor's Velvet Falernum clear? Are they using extracts?

[thirtyoneknots]

The standard liquor bottle in the US is 750ml. Go drink up something.

[Hassouni]

Haha, I know, nothing I have is that close to empty, sadly!

[EvergreenDan]

Haha, I know, nothing I have is that close to empty, sadly!

Slacker.

[Hassouni]

No, I just have too many bottles...

[thirtyoneknots]

Sounds more like a lack of focus.

[Tri2Cook]

This may be a dumb question but is it possible to over-flavor falernum? Can it be too strong? The reason I'm asking is, I have a batch of the Kaiser Penguin's rich falernum syrup in the fridge and I'm currently steeping a batch of rum-based falernum in the more traditional manner. Would (or could) using the rich falernum syrup as the sugar syrup added to the infused rum be overkill and result in something over-flavored to the point of being unpleasant? Could it possibly result in something nice with the combination of alcohol and water extractions of the aromatics? I don't mind occasional loss in the name of learning but I'd rather not mess up my falernum if somebody already knows or strongly suspects this is a bad idea.

[Hassouni]

I'm curious how the Taylor's stuff is almost clear, whereas mine is a very rich brownish-green

[thirtyoneknots]

I'm curious how the Taylor's stuff is almost clear, whereas mine is a very rich brownish-green

I don't think it is cold-compounded, though that is a possibility. More likely it is fined before bottling.

[Hassouni]

What do those two terms mean?

[thirtyoneknots]

Cold compounding is more or less adding extracts and essential oils to spirits. Grain alcohol + essential oil of juniper + essential oil of lemon (or whatever) = cold compounded gin.

Fining is clarification using proteins like egg whites or isinglass. This is a common practice in spirits. If there's no sediment in the bottom of your bottle of bourbon, chances are it was fined before bottling.

[Hassouni]

Does fining lighten it up, or just make it less cloudy?

[thirtyoneknots]

It can do both, filtration can also remove the fine particulate that make cloudy infusions. Most spirits and wines are both fined and filtered.

Somewhere on the board I think there's a thread on buchner funnel use, which is a way to remove very fine particles such as you are experiencing. The gear is not cheap though.

[FrogPrincesse]

After using a commercial product for a while I think that I am ready to tackle homemade falernum. It would be great to hear what everyone's current favorite recipe is.

So far I found the following recipes (listed by publication date):

• The recipe by Dale DeGroff and its scaled-down version (2003): white rum, lime zest, cloves, almond extract + simple syrup.
• Falernum #8 by Paul Clarke (2006) where he adds ginger and lime juice to Dale DeGroff's recipe and uses Wray & Nephew overproof rum.
• Jeffrey Morgenthalers' variation on Paul Clarke's falernum #8 (2007) where he recommends soaking the cloves in rum for a few days prior to adding the lime zest and ginger.
• Paul Clarke's falernum #9 (2007) - similar to the #8 formula with the addition of toasted almonds. This was the version published in Imbibe magazine and Beachbum Berry Remixed.
• Paul Clarke's falernum #10 (2008): similar to #9 but no lime juice and the cloves are toasted.
• Chris Hannah's recipe (2008) is also based on Paul Clarke's falernum #8 and was posted by Jeff Berry on his site: amber rum (Old New Orleans 3-year) with lime zest, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, coffee beans, toasted pecans + lime juice, simple syrup, almond extract.
• Rumdood's falernum #2 (2009) which is another variation on Paul Clarke's falernum #8 with W&N + 151 overproof rums, lime zest, cloves, ginger, star anise + simple syrup, lime juice, lemon juice and almond extract.
• The recipe by Kaiser Penguin (2009) uses lime zest, cloves, ginger, allspice, nutmeg + simple syrup and almond extract. No lime juice because it "just [keeps] on fermenting and getting nasty".
• Kaiser Penguin's 5-minute falernum recipe (2010) - same as above without the almond extract and made in an iSi whipper.
• Dr. Adam Elmegirab's falernum (2010) with a mixture of overproof and aged rums, lime zest, cloves, ginger, star anise, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, black peppercorns, toasted almonds, vanilla bean + simple syrup and orgeat.
• Marcia Simmons' recipe on Serious Eats (2012): white rum, lime zest, cloves, toasted almonds, lime juice and simple syrup (no ginger).

Any tips before I make my first batch? I would prefer a recipe with a decent shelf-life so I am leaning toward the versions that don't include lime juice. Adam already included a lot of useful tips in his post that I've copied below.

Tips;

- Do not macerate in anything under 50%ABV (100 proof) or over 75%ABV (150proof).
- Remove lime zest with a grater. I recommend using a wasabi/ginger grater.
- Use fresh products in every possible instance.
- Use a potato peeler to quickly peel ginger.
- Crush/grind all spices using a pestle & mortar prior to maceration.
- Before straining ensure you moisten both the muslin cloth and filter paper. I recommend moistening with the liquid you are about to filter.
- Do not use heated sugar syrup.
- Do not add fresh lime juice.
- If using used bottles allow to soak in soapy water and then boiling water to avoid contamination.

Edited by FrogPrincesse, 10 October 2012 - 11:22 AM.

[Hassouni]

I am VERY happy with the Elmegirab recipe - but as I said I didn't add orgeat as I already have some of that

[FrogPrincesse]

I am VERY happy with the Elmegirab recipe - but as I said I didn't add orgeat as I already have some of that

Thanks Hassouni. His recipe does look nice. I don't have any overproof rum though, I was hoping I could just use a bottle of Bacardi that does not have much use otherwise (even if that goes against his very first tip!).

[Tri2Cook]

Thanks Hassouni. His recipe does look nice. I don't have any overproof rum though, I was hoping I could just use a bottle of Bacardi that does not have much use otherwise (even if that goes against his very first tip!).

I'm sure there are probably quality differences related to using overproof spirits for jobs like this but it's never been an option where I live and my falernum, pimento dram and limoncello all turned out perfectly tasty. I think maybe the benefits of using overproofs is only going to become relevant if you get the chance to compare, otherwise you will only know, and be quite happy with, what you have to work with.

[Hassouni]

W&N overproof gives it this ridiculous pot distilled funk that I think is really nice - it's also pretty cheap, $19 a bottle round these parts