thirtyoneknots

Sorry to say I don't remember, it was actually something we would assemble in the jars and the kitchen would "cook" for us, I feel like it was in the 60s or 70s Celsius but that I don't know if that's helpful at all.

I have the materials with which to devise a cold smoking setup, I just haven't gotten around to actually manufacturing the thing. Hopefully before the cool weather ends, I'll get to it.

I like cold smoking because it eliminates the possibility of overcooking and I can control the smoke better. If somethings not smoky enough, I can just keep it on for longer. I cold smoke all my sausage and bacon. My thought on the whiskey is that you can keep more of the whiskey flavor by reducing and adding water back. I understand that all the alcohol is not going away but you can make significant reductions over a long simmer. I'll taste it at the end against a watered down whiskey to decide if it's worth the effort in the future. Well yes if you've got the setup, cold smoking would be preferred. I don't, at least not ready to go. I can't imagine you'd be able to cook a distilled spirit that long without altering its flavor pretty significantly, after all everything in the bottle has already proved that it is volatile as it passed through a still, except maybe the woody compounds. I'd be interested to hear what you find in trying it.

Well if it tastes good to you, then it's not wrong. Generally a recipe like that, with spirit, liqueur, and orange juice, would definitely benefit from a bitter or acidic component for most palates. Sounds like you did a fine job of tweaking the recipe with available ingredients but do note that Campari has a significant amount of sugar on its own and is not an orange bitter per se.

I was going to just hot smoke it, doesn't seem like it should matter all that much really as long as it doesn't dry out. What do you think heating the whiskey will do that just watering it down won't? I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove significant alcohol content.

As Mjx notes, many of these herbs are easy to grow, with basil being particularly easy I think, if you can make sure it's getting enough sunlight. I like to have 3-4 basil plants during the warm months and make a big batch of pesto every couple of weeks or so, to freeze.

That Len Poli recipe looks terrific, haven't thought about that in a long while. But yeah I don't think I'd put that much whiskey, unless maybe you wanted to get an oz of it and make up the rest with water. Me, I'd just do water. edit: clarity

How do you figure Chartreuse involves no infusion when it has color like that? Doesn't seem like the kind of product you'd find blue #4 in.

I've never tried the Ruhlman venison sausage but it seems rather too busy to me. I'd be inclined to go easy, just do some salt, pepper, cayenne, maybe mustard seeds. Being Texan I'm partial to Pecan smoke but oak would be a good choice for this too. And beware of making it too lean, esp if you are using loin trim. Maybe do 40% venison trim, 40% pork butt, 20$ fatback. Dang I have plenty of venison for grinding in the freezer, I might make some of this too.

Count me as another vote for Buffalo Trace. Woodford Reserve isn't bad whiskey, but it ranks very near the top of my list of poor qpr spirits. I'll never turn it down for free though.

If you're careful you can smoke stuff on a regular ol' grill. Or try the prosciutto approach: salt and air-dry, no smoke.

I didn't necessarily know what I was doing and can't guarantee that others trying this won't get sick. BUT. I have basically canned confit with an open-kettle type method (as I understand it) in half-pint ball jars and I still have a little bit (pork) that is over 2 years old now. However--I have kept it refrigerated throughout. Makes great rillettes or little bit of meat for a light meal for two. Fan favorite is to crisp it up and garnish a wedge salad with it. And something else to note: confit becomes less aggressively salty tasting as it matures. Something that's basically inedible due to salt a week after potting will be divine two-three months later. I did some lamb shanks confit in olive oil a while back and didn't account for the significant bone weight--salt was overbearing and the stuff was awful. I potted it and forgot about it for a year. Awesome stuff now, love to garnish beans and soups with it. But again, I kept it under refrigeration the entire time. If you have the space, minifridges can be had on craigslist for cheap (or on sale new at Home Depot) and if you like projects like this it's not a bad idea to consider acquiring one.

I enjoyed this, although at the price of Blume Marillen it's an expensive drink. The apricot dominated, with just a touch of juniper peaking through. The punsch lended complexity in a fairly subtle way. Yeah, pour cost is untenable with those types of drinks

Over two years later (and having completely forgotten about this topic) I can return to confirm that infusing spirits in sous vide works just fine in large mason jars, which also have the advantage of being reusable. No need to fiddle with potentially leaky bags. When I worked at Jeffrey's in Austin, we did a meyer lemon infusion sous vide. As NMC indicates, the advantage was primarily that potent infusions could be relatively rapidly created--overnight or so in our case rather than waiting a few weeks.

For those curious on the source, Witchy Woman was created by Yao Lu formerly of Anvil Bar & Refuge in Houston, TX.

How about curing and smoking? Works great for duck. Do they have the skin still? If not I bet something modeled after Bresaola would be sublime, if very intense. If so then roasting perhaps, or the grill as you suggest.

My prescription exactly, though I'm a little skittish on barack palinka--kind of a harsh base to use for cocktails. I await your findings.

That's kind of frustrating, Sam. I didn't have access to Kronan when I was approached for the story but the stuff I had made, made up of only about 1/6 Arrack, had a subtle but very noticeable flavor. Maybe try going back to the original formula, and trying the Blume Marillen? Something like 3/4 gin, 3/4 Kronan, 1.5 Blume Marillen, 1/4 lemon. The unsweetened apricot brandy might not compete with the Kronan in the same way. Not a Desert Island type drink, but I thought it was a nice showcase for the Punsch, and off the beaten path.

I might. And don't forget the Zirbenz.

Apry is significantly sweeter than the Orchard Apricot. Either up the lemon to equal parts, reduce the Apry to 1/2 oz, or cut it half and half with a dry apricot brandy, like Blume Marillen or Barack Palinka. Without messing with it myself I couldn't tell you which of those will give the best results. when looking at the options and averaging the potential sugar contents, that recipe looks to me like it was intended for a dry apricot brandy. if you cannot get blume marillen or palinka where you are, to keep the tradition alive, you can re-distill an apricot liqueur to concentrate the alcohol and aroma while removing the sugar. the sugars won't caramelize. those that have done it tell me it works well. That was what I assumed as well, when I first started tinkering with the recipe. The results using Blume Marillen and homemade Punsch were found lacking, but by all means give it a spin with the Kronan. For my own part I found the flavors weren't particularly harmonious, unlike, say, the Culross. I think Orchard Apricot is a good compromise, being as it is a not-very-sweet liqueur, based on apricot distillate, not grape brandy.

Apry is significantly sweeter than the Orchard Apricot. Either up the lemon to equal parts, reduce the Apry to 1/2 oz, or cut it half and half with a dry apricot brandy, like Blume Marillen or Barack Palinka. Without messing with it myself I couldn't tell you which of those will give the best results.

Brooklyn should properly have Dry, not Blanc vermouth. Probably more accessible that way though.

I believe the Facile Punsch is no longer produced. Maybe look for Carlshamns if you are overseas. For anyone looking to make the Havana Cocktail from that article, I obviously couldn't test it out with the Kronan, so you may need a little more lemon (For Dan I'd go equal parts). I think I figured my homebrew to be about 200g/L. Good drink though.

I saw a method for pickling plums (a sweet pickle) the other day that made me want to start scheming to plant a tree. I think it was in the Joy of Pickling, which is a pretty cool book in general.

The Bijou is rich, true, but the best showcase for Chartreuse. It's more of a digestif thing in my mind. I'd recommend upping the gin more gradually than doubling it--double will change the character pretty drastically. Maybe try 1.5 oz and see what you think? Or do it "perfect" by splitting the difference in vermouth. Or I seem to recall your Chartreuse bottle being pretty small. Maybe just try other stuff with it.