Food recipes -> libations
Transitions: from now on this will be a documentation of my experiments, successes and failures in messing with alcohol, prompted by the weirdness of the cucumber concoction.
This will be interesting, because I don't really measure when I cook. Ever. Except for cakes and gluten free recipes.
Right now I've got a couple of things going:
- a kahlua:
the stuff:
1 cup (?) of Thanksgiving Coffee grounds
3 cups-ish of UV Vodka (80 proof) (cheapest stuff I could find- I don't want to waste good stuff)
1 big Ball canning jar that fit all this stuff to the brim
the process:
vodka at room temperature poured over coffee grounds in jar. It sat from August 19th until today.
today, I filtered it and added a kind of random amount of simple syrup (1 c water to 1.75-ish c sugar? but only a bit of that mix.... see this is what I mean. I don't believe in measuring.)
I used all my good little bottles on the arancello (details following), so I tried sterilizing some random spice jars, an olive oil glass and a sherry vinegar container- not feeling too confident on the presentation. I seriously need to buy some proper containers. I'll wait a week or so and see what it tastes like.
- an arancello:
the stuff:
a crap-ton of orange peels sans pith
enough vodka (UV again I think) to cover the mix in a bigger-than-the-Kahlua-sized Ball jar.
a bigger-than-the-Kahlua-sized Ball jar
the process:
peeled the oranges, religiously avoiding the pith (took a couple hours. brain fried a bit), and stuffed them in the jar, probably too tightly.
poured enough vodka over the peels to cover them. it sat for about a month-ish, probably closer to 40 days; then I filtered it and added- yet again- another random amount of the same simple syrup.
It's been sitting about a week-ish now? I plan on trying some next week when I get back.
- two limoncellos: both use Meyer lemons snatched from my parents' house and UV vodka
numero un: has been sitting... not very long. but I really have no idea when I started it; it could've been two weeks ago, or even as long as a month ago (I don't think so though)- it smells ready and it's got a yellow tint to it, so as soon as I get back and get some decent containers, it's getting processed. its vodka to lemon peel ratio is quite a bit higher than the second one's; looking at recipes on line, I think that's appropriate.
numero deux: was started yesterday. many lemons were peeled. several hours were spent. I used half of a new jug of vodka on it. I plan on actually measuring the amount of simple syrup I put in this one.
-a peach schnapps: this is what started me off! the first one I started making due to an overabundance of peaches and a desire to make a good sangria, it's been sitting since mid-July. As with the arancello and the limoncello numero deux, I think I could've lightened up on the peaches and used more vodka. there was some excitement with it from some off-gasing (is that normal? or did I seriously add waaaay too many peaches?). I opened it to relieve pressure and it exploded mildly. very messy.
the stuff:
peaches and pits, skinned and sliced. bruised bits removed
UV vodka to fill
medium-sized canning jar
the process:
peaches and pits in jar after processed (dunked in boiling water, then cold water, makes the skins come off like magic), slightly crammed.
vodka poured over top to fill. I had concerns about the air bubbles.
Lastly, I would like to ruminate on the failure of the cucumber concoction and consider how to do things better. The cucumber: I was thinking about Dry Soda's cucumber soda. So yummy. With my thing, nothing rotted; it just smelled really earthy and not like something you'd want to drink. So a failure- I think the problem was that the cucumbers I was using were bitter. They may have been pickling cucumbers. With our garden, you never really know... I assumed that with the skins- I peeled them like with the limoncello and arancello- that it would be more bitter. Perhaps it has to be done like the peach schnapps? Some day I may try it again, but there's so many others that I'd like to do that I think it'll be a while.
Doing things better: from what I've read, it's worth getting aquavit and using that instead of vodka. Something to consider.
Also, I know that when you're using cheap Vodka, ultimately it's going to taste like cheap vodka, so there's kind of a glass ceiling with what I'm doing. I'd like to use a higher proofed Vodka if I'm going to continue with using vodka, since that's also recommended; because I'm adding simple syrup, I'm adding more water and lowering the alcohol content that way too and I'm not sure if that lowers the shelf life of the stuff. Finally, I need to get my hands on some proper bottles for the finished product.
...and I should probably start measuring stuff...