Moonshine, boyo. Or: poitin, potcheen, poteen.

[ChrisTaylor]

For some inane reason, I've wanted to make the Nana Ester cocktail from beta cocktails since I purchased the book. I bought some Teeling poitin yesterday with a view to making it. It was okay but not something I'll be revisiting any time soon. I also made a Negroni variation with poiteen. Let's just say that poiteen is one of the few ingredients I've come across that can beat the double team of Punt e Mes and Campari into submission with one hand tied behind its back. I followed the equal parts formula and I'm glad I did it: after reading about a white dog-powered spin on the Boulevardier, I was tempted to work on a ratio of 1:1:1.5 (with the 1.5 being the rotgut). The experience was promising enough for me to want to try it again, albeit at a different ratio, but not so much that I'd contemplate a Manhattan-style drink (i.e. vermouth, even in considerable quantity, going up against poiteen with only a couple dashes of bitters for back-up) unless the poiteen was cut with another, more subdued spirit.

 

What else can I do with this stuff, aside from clean wounds and make Molotov cocktails? I've done a little digging online and most of what I've found doesn't look promising. Oh, hey, you can mix a measure of the stuff with three measures of Bailey's and have a real good time. Or, oh, you can make a Whisky Mac/Hot Toddy sort of thing. Or, oh, you can mix it with soft drinks. I'm hoping for something that is tolerable under my glasses-on-the-end-of-my-nose, utterly-snobbish view of the world a bit more interesting.

 

The only thing that's popped out, thus far, as somewhat interesting is this: a bastardised martini that pairs potcheen with unfiltered sake. Really. Hey, I said 'interesting' and not 'must-make-this-now,-even-though-it's-10AM appealing'.

 

Oh, and Kindred has a drink that uses a Cocchi product I don't have/probably can't get.

[tanstaafl2]

For some inane reason, I've wanted to make the Nana Ester cocktail from beta cocktails since I purchased the book. I bought some Teeling poitin yesterday with a view to making it. It was okay but not something I'll be revisiting any time soon. I also made a Negroni variation with poiteen. Let's just say that poiteen is one of the few ingredients I've come across that can beat the double team of Punt e Mes and Campari into submission with one hand tied behind its back. I followed the equal parts formula and I'm glad I did it: after reading about a white dog-powered spin on the Boulevardier, I was tempted to work on a ratio of 1:1:1.5 (with the 1.5 being the rotgut). The experience was promising enough for me to want to try it again, albeit at a different ratio, but not so much that I'd contemplate a Manhattan-style drink (i.e. vermouth, even in considerable quantity, going up against poiteen with only a couple dashes of bitters for back-up) unless the poiteen was cut with another, more subdued spirit.

 

What else can I do with this stuff, aside from clean wounds and make Molotov cocktails? I've done a little digging online and most of what I've found doesn't look promising. Oh, hey, you can mix a measure of the stuff with three measures of Bailey's and have a real good time. Or, oh, you can make a Whisky Mac/Hot Toddy sort of thing. Or, oh, you can mix it with soft drinks. I'm hoping for something that is tolerable under my glasses-on-the-end-of-my-nose, utterly-snobbish view of the world a bit more interesting.

 

The only thing that's popped out, thus far, as somewhat interesting is this: a bastardised martini that pairs potcheen with unfiltered sake. Really. Hey, I said 'interesting' and not 'must-make-this-now,-even-though-it's-10AM appealing'.

 

Oh, and Kindred has a drink that uses a Cocchi product I don't have/probably can't get.

 

If you think the Teeling is funky then you would really find the 120 proof Glendalough Mountain Strength "interesting". It is made with sugar beets and malted barley (and perhaps an old, well used dish rag...).

 

I have both the Teeling (which is a more standard grain/malt mashbill at 123 proof) and the Glendalough (120 proof) and certainly like the Teeling better. I also have one called Knockeen Hills that is made out the traditional whey (yes, the leftovers from cheese that Ms. Muffet liked to snack on!) that is also 120 proof. They do make an 80 proof Glendalough which doesn't hit back quite as hard and an 80 proof sherry finished version that was practically drinkable!

 

A bartender from Ireland suggested "that it’s hard to mask the flavor of poitín, but easy to compliment it". I think by that he meant if you bash it over the head with strong flavors you might be able to choke it down...

 

“The Monk”

1 1/2 oz Glandalough Poitín (or the Teeling)

1/4 oz Amaretto

1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino

3 dashes Chocolate Bitters

Garnish: orange peel & Maraschino cherries

 

I make no promises! Best bet is to just pour some over ice and take your chances...

 

 

 

[Rafa]

I haven't tried the Teeling but have tried the entire Glendalough line and liked them each--I think the sherry cask version was my favorite, followed by the cask strength. I agree with tanstaafl2's suggestions. Maybe treat it like you would Batavia arrack in mixed drinks--something potent and funky and not to everyone's tastes that can add depth and wildness to a punch when used judiciously. Or wait for The Dead Rabbit to release some of its poitin recipes available. 

[weinoo]

We were gifted a bottle of the Glendalough "Premium." The 80 proof, standard stuff I assume.

 

I still haven't gotten the courage to open it up yet. 

[tanstaafl2]

We were gifted a bottle of the Glendalough "Premium." The 80 proof, standard stuff I assume.

 

I still haven't gotten the courage to open it up yet. 

 

Yes, the "Premium" is the 80 proof stuff. High test is the 120 proof "Mountain Strength".

 

Give it a go! What have you got to lose beside your sense of taste for a couple of days....

 

I jest as I do like it but definitely on the "funky" side!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Are we discussing the same stuff?  I'm having a glass of Glendalouch Mountain Strength as we speak.  I find it smooth and rich and pleasant -- not funky in the slightest.  I can't say this Glendalouch reminds me much of arrack (which I confess I've not had since two nights ago).

 

Snow tomorrow, but Glendalouch gives me a nice warm Celtic glow.  That glass was so good, I think I'll have another...why thank you, please.

[tanstaafl2]

Are we discussing the same stuff?  I'm having a glass of Glendalouch Mountain Strength as we speak.  I find it smooth and rich and pleasant -- not funky in the slightest.  I can't say this Glendalouch reminds me much of arrack (which I confess I've not had since two nights ago).

 

Snow tomorrow, but Glendalouch gives me a nice warm Celtic glow.  That glass was so good, I think I'll have another...why thank you, please.

 

Well, my palate may be a bit too finicky then! I will have to give it another go. But yes, I remember it as being rather unusual at best. The Teeling was more white dog-ish in a way I am more familiar with as I recall than the Glendalough was.

 

But yes, I recall it being a tad on the funky side although I agree it is not really like arrack. Kind of its own sort of funk!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Having now tried some poitin with ice after having exceedingly enjoyed it neat -- I have to say it does not work for me diluted.  Over ice it reminds me of glue.  Or perhaps correctly, plastic cement.

 

Edit:  polystyrene.

Edited March 25, 2015 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[slkinsey]

It seems to me that we're talking about white dog here, not moonshine.  White dog is, effectively, unaged commercial distillate of some spirit that would ordinarily be aged.  Moonshine, on the other hand, is illegally distilled spirit that may or may not be aged (but usually isn't).  Teeling's Poitin hardly seems like "moonshine" to me, considering that it's made from double-distilled malt spirit blended with triple-distilled corn spirit.  There are plenty of other companies out there selling various versions of white dog.  Heaven Hill, for example, has (or had) the "Trybox" series of unaged distillate that would have become Rittenhouse Rye or Evan Williams Bourbon.  Buffalo Trace sells a bourbon white dog.  Tuthilltown sells and unaged corn whiskey.  Dutch's Spirits even sells something they call Sugar Wash Moonshine, although I can't quite tell what the difference is between that product and an unaged potstilled rum.  There are also products like Cat Daddy Carolina Moonshine, that is an unaged triple-distilled corn spirit that is infused with spices and sweetened.  None of these is really what you'd call "moonshine."

 

To my palate, most of the whiskey white dogs aren't all that interesting and most have some unpleasant flavors.  The most interesting use of whiskey white dog I've found is in the Dry Rye Gins from St. George Spirits.  These are gins with a very traditional, juniper-forward botanical profile, but founded on a base of rye white dog rather than neutral grain spirits.  There is an unaged version and also an extremely interesting aged bottling.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The poitin I've been drinking is aged (for who knows how long) in "Irish oak".

[Rafa]

Nomenclature aside (moonshine more properly refers to unaged American backwoods spirits of course, made primarily (via Cowdery) from table sugar), the Glendalough line is aged. I'm not sure what legal definition poitin has in Ireland or here in the US, if any. Flavorwise, I didn't find my samples to have much in common with American white dog, but then again I tend to avoid that category.

[Craig E]

I noticed this 3 Archers blog post worked out a Poitin old-fashioned variant for the most recent Mixology Monday.

[slkinsey]

It sounds to me like the Glendalough product is a kind of "interpretation of Irish moonshine" in the same way that some of the "moonshine" products are interpretations of the American version.  In the case of Glendalough, they are sticking with the pot-still, but using latter-day fermentables and adding some wood aging that doesn't sound like it would have happened with the real thing.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Poitin neat is nice.  Never ever mix poitin with ice or water.  Once having tasted styrene one cannot untaste it.

[tanstaafl2]

Finally got around to trying the Glendalough "Mountain Strength" poitin again. Still a touch of dish rag in there for me.

 

Not sure if it is the beets or the "virgin Irish oak" but this one is likely destined for an as yet undetermined cocktail.

[ChrisTaylor]

Just keep in mind that it'll need to be partnered with some strongly-flavoured ingredients. The Teeling made short work of Punt e Mes and Campari in Boulevardier proportions. I'm not brave enough to try mixing, say, an Old-Fashioned style drink or some kind of Manhattan variation using potcheen.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Glendalouch mountain strength is a showcase for my beautiful Baccarat crystal goblets.  I see two of them when there is (I think) but one.  At this point it's two hands on the bottle.  A happy, happy day indeed.