mbanu
-
Posts
279 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by mbanu
-
-
What is Fen Chiew, Blue Mint Wine, Chu Yeh Ching Chiew, and Daqu Liquor? Are there places in the States to find these things?
Fen Chiew (fen jiu) is unaged sorghum liquor, I think.
Chu Yeh Ching Chiew (zhu ye qing jiu) is a liquor in the category of gin, absinthe and chartreuse, I think; they take a raw spirit and infuse it with chinese botanicals.
Daqu (Da gu jiu) is sort of like a chinese whiskey, as far as I can tell. They take a mash that's a blend of various grains (sorghum, rice, glutinous rice, wheat, millet, corn, barley, etc.) and after distsilling age them for extended periods, only in clay or ceramic pottery instead of in wood, apparently.
No clue about the blue mint wine, or the name of a good importer
-
Found these here, along with some other cocktails incorporating western ingredients.
Never realized China had it's own cocktail culture, with an entire set of indigenous ingredients and such. :) How cool.
"Coral Reef"
35ml Fen Chiew
20ml Blue Mint Wine
Put pieces of ice cubes into the shaker. Pour 35ml Fen Chiew and 20ml blue mint wine. Shake well into a cocktail glass. Embellish it with cherries.
"Golden Sun"
1 spoon sugar
10 ml Chu Yeh Ching Chiew
30 ml Daqu Liquor
Put 3 ice cubes into a glass. Let one spoon of sugar melt in the glass. Pour 10ml Chu Yeh Ching Chiew and 30ml Daqu Liquor. Stir until it cools. Serve in a cocktail glass. Embellish it with a slice of lemon and a bamboo leaf.
"Spring Green"
5ml simple syrup
10ml coconut milk
30ml Chu Yeh Ching Chiew
Put the above ingredients into the shaker in order. Shake for ten seconds and pour it into a wine glass. Embellish it with a cherry.
-
Rum is actually any spirit that is made from sugar cane juice, syrup or molasses. But as anyone who has tasted a raw spirit distilled from fermented molasses will tell you that it needs to be aged before it is very good. But it sure is a lot of fun to make, carbon filtering helps and even a few months in a small barrel will do wonders for the taste.
Problem is that making an all-molasses beer that tastes good is a lot trickier than it sounds. And if you distill a less-than-tasty mash, you get a less-than-tasty raw spirit.
-
I'm terrible at making drinks. Given the original recipe, I'd guess:
Put in a seltzer bottle and carbonate:
3 ounces genever
3 ounces gin
1 ounce sweetened lime juice
pour into glass
add a bit of grenadine for sunrise effect
float rumpleminze on top
sprinkle camphor on top
garnish with olive
As to what it might *taste* like, that's another story entirely. :-P
-
I'm a fan of Brugal's younger rums, and was wondering if anyone has gotten ahold of this mythical "flagship rum". Anyone tried it? Is it worth persuing, or just another overpriced marketing ploy?
-
Another very tasty cocktail is Absinthe's Ginger Rogers, which uses mint leaves muddled with Ginger infused simple syrup, lime/lemon juice, Gin, ice and ginger ale.
I've had a very close variation of that drink made with rum instead of gin. Good stuff. :)
-
A friend of mine bought a bottle of "Casa Bacardi" "Limited Edition Rum" last week. It was dusty and sitting at the back of the shelf hidden by other bottles of rum. Neither he or I have seen any information on this rum and would like to know more about it and if it's still available(which I doubt).
It is called "Casa Bacardi" "Limited Edition Rum" "8 Years Old". It has a hand written date of "10/25/97" and hand written number "4,095 of 10,000". It is in a 750ml square decanter style container and says it is a product of the Bahamas. He paid about $50.00 for it.
Can anyone tell me anything about this rum and if Bacardi still offers limited edition rums for sale.
I had some today and it is very good rum.
Thanks, Dan
Not sure, but seeing as Bacardi 8 was introduced around 1999ish, Casa Bacardi may simply have been part of an earlier test blend to see if there was a market for an 8 year old Bacardi.
-
High alcohol wines would probably be good for extended barrel aging periods, which seems to be what a lot of people drinking wine nowadays want anyways. Old wines have prestige that new wines don't, even if the reason old wines were aged in the first place was that they were too harsh to drink young. ;P
Hopefully this trend in higher and higher alcohol wines will re-spark interest in fortified wines like port, sherry, and madiera. :)
-
question:
has anyone ever made Tonic ice cubes?
does this help improve a good GnT. I am not sure melting regular ice lends any improvement to this cocktail.
That depends. When you make a gin and tonic with no ice, simply using gin from the freezer and tonic water from the fridge, does it seem too sweet? If it doesn't, then tonic ice cubes will help. If it does, stick with regular ones.
-
I drink lots of gin in the summertime, mostly in the form of gin and tonic, with liberal splashes of gimlet (up) and martini (up/olives).
My go to has been Bombay Sapphire for years - I'm looking for some other tasty options.
Any suggestions on other brands of gin? Favorite cocktails?
Ever since I took a blind taste test between a gin (Gordon's) and its cousin that cost twice as much (Boodles) in which I wasn't able to tell the difference, I've stuck with Gordon's. It's a well-distilled gin for a sane price. :) Your friends might laugh at you, but you aren't drinking gin for the prestige in the first place, I hope. :P
-
if you still want to give it a shot, water it down to the appropriate proof and let it rest a few months before giving it a try. Might need a bit more carmel or other additives to get that strong "goslings taste" but you'll be left with a passable and drinkable rum at least. :)
-
I think American's drinking habits tend towards the extremes - too much or nothing. I wonder if this is changing with wine and food more in the public consciousness. Just curious what your personal preferences are, what you see around you - are we tending more towards the European way, with wine more as a beverage like water or juice as opposed to wine as a special occasion drink or a means to inebriation.
That they do. Oddly enough American drinking has gone down. Step back 100 years or so and you'll find people chugging pints of whiskey to win bar bets. :)
-
I hate to be contrary but I think you should reconsider the blue Pegu Club. I think you are doing an exceptionally fine cocktail a disservice by subbing blue curacao for the Cointreau or Marie Brizard Triple Sec it deserves. I feel confident stating that there isn't a blue curacao made that's worthy of replacing either.
Easiest thing in the world. Do it the old-fashioned way. :) Get a quality triple sec like the ones you mentioned, and add a couple drops of blue food coloring, maybe a bit of orange juice to cut the proof. Instant blue curacao. :)
-
There are several low-carb beers out there, and some are not bad, but all are pretty much American Mega-Brew clones, nothing particularly tasty either. I am wondering if this was done simply because there is no market for a low-carb real beer, or because making a beer low-carb somehow just makes it end up with those particular qualities.
You could cut your barely malt with white sugar or some other ingredient with less unfermentable carbs. (corn or rice might do the trick, not sure) Or you'd have to get ahold of some amyloglucosidase enzymes. That's the thing that turns unfermentable carbs into fermentable ones. (If you want to get ahold of amylglucosidase from scratch, the old fashioned way of doing it is infecting your beer with the Aspergillus Niger fungus)
Light beers will be light on flavor. That's the nature of turning the flavor producing carbs into alcohol. But the flavors that do shine through don't have to taste like ass. This is something a lot of light brewers forget, or try to make up for with additives. If you brew it the traditional way, simply with the addition of the appropriate enzymes, no high-gravity brewing or sketchy additives, you'll probably be able to make something ok. :)
-
This isn't so. The thing which determines how much flavor carries through to the liquor from the mash is the distillation proof; The lower the proof, the more flavors.
That’s' why I’m trying to find out which rum distilleries that use manly or only batch destillation with copper stills and in which bottlings.
If a bottling have rum of different ages I don't concider it a blend, but if a bottling contains both batch distilled and coffey distilled rum I would consider it a kind of blend.
Ack, and here I was so intent on apologizing I forgot about the question. :) Single distilled rums are hard to find. :( Double distilled ones not so much, but still not quite as common as one might prefer. :)
Complicating the matter, many folks will use the term "single distilled" to refer not only to single distillation from a pot still, but also to single distillation from a column still, which, depending on the size and number of columns can spit out alcohol at a considerably higher proof than even a triple or quadruple distillation from a pot still. This isn't necessarily bad, just misleading.
For instance, Mount Gay Extra Old describes itself as a blend of "single distilled" and "double distilled" rums, but upon careful reading, one discovers that while the "double distilled" refers to double distillation in a pot still, the "single distilled" refers to single distillation from a column still. As anyone who has had Mount Gay Extra Old can attest, it's a fine rum, but if you aren't a careful reader, you might mistake it for something it's not. (Appleton Estate rums from Jamaica also seem to follow this method, although some of their premium blends may be made of only pot-stilled aged spirits)
Same goes for "double distilled". Although many times it means "distilled twice in a pot still", it can also be used to mean "distilled once in a column still, then distilled once in a pot still", which gets more or less the same result (90% abv liquor) as simply using a taller column still. Rhum Barbancourt makes their rums in this fashion, but admirably they are quite straightforward about what they mean. Bundaberg rum also follows this method.
Prichard's rum from Tennesse might be the product of single distillation in a pot still, I think. During an email conversation where I asked the distiller about his distillation methods, he mentioned that "the rum goes in the barrel about 85 proof. If we need to proof up, we add a little 160 proof from an aged barrel and if we need to proof down, we add a little 60 proof of aged rum." Although he doesn't directly state whether the rum saw any water before going into the barrels, reading the website seems to imply that such monkeying would be against their business philosophy.
Pusser's naval rum is made in pot stills, but they neglect to mention how many times the distillate is run through their stills. Reading their website it mentions
"Our old wooden stills are not efficient; to the contrary, they are very inefficient. They operate at about 67%, which greatly increases the cost of distillation. "
This to me implies that their rum is double distilled. However it also mentions being made of a "blend of five west indian rums", so it may simply be a mix of continuous rum and double distilled rum like Mount Gay Extra Old. Inner Circle rum from Australia also seems to fall in this grey area as well.
Westerhall Strong Rum from Grenada is made in pot stills, and if neither blended or triple distilled and watered down (the website is a bit unhelpful on this) it would be a straight double-distilled overproof rum.
Besides that I have no idea. :) If you find anything clue me in.
Good luck!
-
This isn't so. The thing which determines how much flavor carries through to the liquor from the mash is the distillation proof; The lower the proof, the more flavors.
This is exactly the same what I describe above. Low proof = low alcohol content.
Whoops. :) My apologies. Best not to reply to posts late at night, I suppose. :) I mistook "batch distillation" for "batch barreling".
It is important to note, though, that even with batch distillation, if they run the batch through the still more than once or twice it can have the same effect at destroying flavors as if you had used a continuous still. Distilling to a high proof and then watering down to a lower proof is common practice among many liquor manufacturers.
A 6% alcohol wash will go through the still and come out around 40%abv. But single distillation is an expensive procedure, because it creates a lot of waste and ties up more barrels when you're aging it. A more common practice is to double distill it, up to 75%abv, age it in the barrels, and then water it down to 40%abv.
This isn't so bad necessarily, as the barrels can make up for a lot of the lost flavors, and some manufacturers sell their products at the overproof barrel strength.
Some distillers, though, will distill it a third time up to 86%abv before watering it down. This isn't bad necessarily, a lot of lighter-bodied rums are made this way, but they can still call their rum "batch distilled", and if you buy it expecting stronger flavors, you'll probably be disappointed.
-
I asked the question since batch distillation with pot stills generally produces rum with lower alcohol content thus allowing for more "flavors" to remain from the raw material (sugarcane juice or molasses) and allowing other flavor bearers such as esters to remain in the raw spirit.
This isn't so. The thing which determines how much flavor carries through to the liquor from the mash is the distillation proof; The lower the proof, the more flavors. With a good mash, a low distillation proof can work wonders. This isn't always a good thing though; if the mash tastes terrible, a low distillation proof will simply allow more of the unpleasant flavors to carry over.
"Small batch" actually has to do with their blending style.
The way barrels flavor liquor isn't always consistent. Different barrels can cause different variations. Normally, the liquor is aged in their respective barrels, then combined all together and bottled. "Small batch" means that only a portion of the barrels are blended together, and implies that some thought has gone into the blending process, although this isn't necessarily the case.
Note that this blending doesn't mean you're drinking "blended" liquor, because in the latter case the term is describing being blended with grain alcohol or unaged liquor, while in the former case, it's talking about combined the same liquor of the same age from the same still from different barrels.
"Single barrel" generally means that the liquor in your bottle has come from a single barrel. This means that you don't get the advantages of skillful blending, but you don't get the disadvantages of half-assed blending either.
-
The McClelland's line of single malt Scotches are all 5-year old versions of Morrison-Bowmore's flagship brands. (McClelland's Islay being 5-yo Bowmore, McClelland's Lowland being 5-yo Auchentoshan, and McClelland's Highland being 5-yo Glen Garioch) I'm guessing they taste the batches after 5 years, and the ones with the most potential get aged longer, while the rest gets sold off.
But...
...there's also a McClelland's Speyside, with no premium end equivalent. So my question is, where are they getting it from?
-
Palo Viejo and Ron Llave appear to both be made at the same distillery. They're also both white rums. So, where's the difference come from?
-
I finally made it back to the northern 48 and can honestly say that I liked Prichard's Fine Rum. When you consider where it's made you'll have to appreciate that it could be confused with a fine whiskey at first taste due to the freshly toasted oak barrels, almost all Caribbean rum is aged in once used barrels from the states or Europe.
The flavor is refreshing and although this rum isn't aged a decade it also isn't diluted prior to bottling as it's aged at nearly the 40% alcohol at which it is aged.
Cheers, certainly a bottle to add to the rum locker.
Had a talk with the distiller and not only is it bottled at barrel proof, but it's not distilled to a high proof and then watered down to barrel proof either. :)
"The rum goes in the barrel about 85 proof. If we need to proof up, we
add a little 160 proof from an aged barrel and if we need to proof down,
we add a little 60 proof of aged rum."
-
Interesting. However, as far as I know a rum can not contain sugar or sweetener and still be called a rum (wouldn't that make it a liqueor?) so I was assuming it had something to do with the distallation or what the starting product was that resulted in the unique taste.
Adding honey to rum as a "smoothing agent" is supposedly rather common, even in top-shelf rums.
On the subject of additives in spirits, I found <a href="http://homedistiller.org/aging.htm"> this page</a> to be very educational.
-
Once you've invented them, the hardest part is figuring out what to call them. :)
Peach schnapps, bitters, and soda water.
rum, lime juice, grenadine & ginger ale.
rum, ginger ale & bitters
gin, tonic water, club soda & rosewater
metaxa & dubonnet
rum, lemon juice, orgeat & soda water
-
I'm curious. I realize some recipes call specifically for Rose's. But couldn't you just use fresh limes and add sugar or syrup? Especially since for the last month, limes have been riduculously cheap (10 for a $1 at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia; close to that at the Cherry Hill Shop Rite) and of excellent, heavy juice laden quality.
Yes. But why Rose's was used has to do with the history behind drinks like the gimlet that used Rose's. Rose's was originally a naval ration for fighting scurvy. The reason they used Rose's instead of whole limes was that Rose's was less bulky. The reason they used Rose's instead of lime juice and sugar was that the preservatives in Rose's meant it would keep better. (These were also the rationale behind travelling with rum and gin instead of beer and wine)
Since these problems aren't generally encountered in your average, landlocked bar (unless you live somewhere where limes are prohibitively expensive), go with the sugar and lime juice. :)
-
"I am sorry I made your oldfashioned with bourbon, it is meant to be made with brandy, but that is how we make them here."
We think the bartender was bluffing as he gave us both our drinks free of charge.
Hmmmm!
Well, that's what bartenders do, sometimes. :P Every so often a customer will order a drink that they have no clue about what's in it, and only a vague clue of what it's supposed to taste like. And since bartenders don't enjoy looking stupid, a lot of times they'll just bullshit and hope for the best. :) This is also why sometimes there will be multiple drinks with the same name.
Granted in this situation, you called their bluff, but a lot of times things turn out differently.
Bombay Dry and the Indian Raj
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
Although the promotional material for Bombay Dry gin says their recipe dates back to 1761, I have run across the rumor that the botanicals in Bombay Dry were actually selected during the British Raj because they reminded the British of the herbs used in Indian cooking, and wanted to use the exoticness as a marketing foothold in Britain. Seeing as the reign of the British raj and the time period where London Dry style gins were popularized are closer together than having a dry gin recipe that predates the invention of dry gin itself, the rumor seems more believable.
I'm interesting in verifying or disproving this rumor, but am unsure where to begin. Does anyone have and ideas of where I might start looking? (Or better still, have an answer to my question? :P)