Kola?

[bpeikes]

I just received in the mail the Kola nuts I ordered. Time to start experimenting. My first endeavor is to attempt to make a bitters using the nuts. Anyone have experience working with them?

I grated one of them in my coffee processor and put it in a glass container with about a quarter cup of Absolute. I know I should probably use something that has a higher alcohol content, but it was what I had on hand. I'll let it sit for several days before trying it.

I've done a little research, and it seems like Coke doesn't use it anymore (they moved to other sources of caffiene) , but that Pepsi might still use it as part of their recipe. Anyone able to coborate this info?

[eje]

I don't have any personal experience with them, unfortunately.

Some googleing tells me they are often just chewed and eaten in Africa and in Jamaica grated nuts are used to make some sort of tea-like substance.

Best Page I found.

Where did you order them from? Some time ago I looked and didn't find many promising sources.

Here's another page, this one with instructions on making the tea.

Grater the nut and pour on boiling water. Allow to cool, strain, drink. As dried powder 1-3g, two-three times daily, or as tea (1-3g in 15 ml water).

edit - add another link.

Edited March 30, 2006 by eje (log)

[Ktepi]

Funny, I had the idea of using them for bitters, too. I bought kola nuts from the same source I used for gentian -- Mountain Rose Herbs.

I have some ground up kola (the chunks of nuts are hard -- this took a while in my Magic Bullet) sitting in vodka, to see what happens there. In the meantime, I simmered some for about an hour in a syrup I made with water, sugar, hickory syrup, lemon peel, cassia buds, allspice berries, kalamansi rind (it's like a kumquat), lavender buds, and citric acid -- which may sound like a weird assortment, but I was going for the basic components of the classic cola profile, and doing what I could with what I had in the house, since I'm just playing around right now to get used to this ingredient.

Anyway, the result -- which has a slightly bitter/woodsy aftertaste thanks to the hickory syrup, though nothing like the gentian bitterness of Moxie -- is very recognizably cola. I am drinking homemade cola, made without storebought extracts or artificial flavorings. This is very cool. I need to chill down some more seltzer water to see how this homemade cola stands up to rum. I'm hoping to come up with a basic cola I'm happy with before bitter oranges come into season, so that I can do an orange cola then.

Bitters-wise, I was thinking about taking that "classic cola profile" minus the sugar and citric acid, and adding gentian. bpeikes, if you're still out there, what did you end up doing?

[thirtyoneknots]

Seems like rum might be a good choice to base Kola bitters on, given the natural affinity the flavors have for each other. Maybe an aged rum with a bit of funk and a higher proof than 80...Pussers maybe?