Gin Tankage?

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

...
Don't know why CF is flipping all of my images.

I figured that the 90 degree images were caused by the photographer going past the two drink limit and having trouble holding their head up...

But I could be wrong...



Later,
Dan

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by dannc

I figured that the 90 degree images were caused by the photographer going past the two drink limit and having trouble holding their head up...

But I could be wrong...



Later,
Dan

undoubtedly true - notice that he also has a bottle of Tanqueray in the picture. He was probably taste testing to see if the Tanqueray tasted as good as the The Botanist (it doesn't) and got carried away (if he drank 4-5 martinis he would NEED to be carried away....................)

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

You could try monk fruit sweetener. Like stevia without the funny aftertaste.

For at least some people (me) it does have an aftertaste. Unpleasant.

I've tried making Old Fashioned's with it as well as Tonic for a G&T (Gin Fizz where I was raised).

I'm resigned to having to ingest sugar as part of my anti-malaria regimen.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by carstenb

I love them even more when they are made with The Botanist and Noilly Prat. But while those two make the world's best martini - it is an expensive habit (sigh).

Yessssssssssss!

I switched from Tanqueray to The Botanist a few years ago. Only recent realized its from the Buichladdie(sp?) distillery on Islay, they make some nice single malts too.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Since I am known far and wide for my modesty, I'll refrain from saying this IS the recipe for the world's best martini (well it is - so there!)

Ingredients:

The Botanist Gin
Noilly Prat
Ice
Lemon twist (peel)

First let's get the argument, shaken or stirred out of the way. Drinks made with only liquor (meaning no fruit juices or mixers or the like) should be stirred not shaken.

If you're making a margarita or a tequila sunrise or the like - by all means shake - otherwise stir.

So - take a pitcher, put in a generous amount of ice cubes. Add gin and Noilly as follows

5 (or 6 if you like a dryer martini) parts The Botanist Gin
1 part Noilly Prat.

Stir for about 30 seconds.

Run your lemon peel around the rim of the Martini glass (you can freeze the martini glass if you wish).

Pour your gin/Noilly Prat mixture into the glass through a strainer (so the ice cubes get strained out).

Twist the lemon peel and drop into glass.

AS I've noted - the only problem with this is that the first martini tastes like you really should drink another - after two you are getting thirsty for number three and thereafter lies madness (and a hangover next morning if you are prone to hangovers)

One of life's great inequities is that you really should limit your martinis to only two

Minor change if I may, lemon zest, not peel. Ironically, use a vegetable peeler (or sharp knife) to separate the zest (yellow bit) from the pith (white soft bit). The yellow zest has all the essential oils (proper use of essential oils is in a cocktail not in "alternative medicine") whereas the pith can impact a bitter taste.

[owly]

Instead of gin tankage, make our own.....



I gave up alcohol a year ago... my body just doesn't tolerate it well anymore. Never one to drink to excess, I began brewing in the 60's. My younger brother loves to tell the story of me as a 12 year old pulverizing apples in a gunnysack in a galvanized washtub with my Louisville Slugger, and ringing the juice out to make applejack. A good story but not entirely true. I never had such a fancy baseball bat.

I've been brewing beer and wine, and distilling spirits ever since until last year. I've built a number of stills, none of which fit the image of a pot with a coil of copper tubing, They ranged from my first that was made from glass lab gear, to a series of them using stainless steel and copper (with lead free solder).

I've made many gallons of gin, and nothing could be simpler. My favorite rig was a simple copper column on top of a stainless steel stockpot. A Tee at the top led to a simple condenser made from a copper pipe with a second larger copper pipe over the top, all put together with Tees and reducers, so water could flow through the space between the two and cool the inner pipe. Horizontal copper pipe connected it to the main column, and a sharkbite connector in the middle (with teeth removed) allowed it to break down easily and quickly. The Tee at the top of the main column had a thermocouple connected to a PID controller that controlled the electric hotplate at the bottom making temp control and getting good accurate cuts easy.
Making gin, I put my botanicals in a cheesecloth bag right at the top of the column...just below the Tee simply stuffed into tightly enough that it woudn't drop out. This infused the flavors into the final product. I altered the botanicals to get different flavor profiles. Botanicals were very simple and easily obtained. Of course juniper berries, as well as cardamom pods, coriander, orange and lime peel, and various other spices including black pepper, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, etc as I played with flavor profiles.

The quality stuff would come off at around 80-88C on the gauge on my PID, at an average of about 160proof, which cannot be cut much below 100 without it becoming cloudy from the essential oils coming out of solution.


This actually would not be a difficult thing to set up on your boat. Most stuff doesn't really even need to be soldered together, and an ordinary stockpot or stainless pressure cooker are not uncommon galley items. A few pieces of copper pipe among your supplies do not scream "still". ANY feedstock will make gin. The 3' column I used strips ALL flavor out, so you can start with beer, rum, wine, or your own fermented mash made from whatever is available. The only flavor that comes through is from your botanicals. The only real challenge is making the vapor tight connection to your pot.. There is no pressure involved.


I find the idea of a cruiser scavenging for cheap fermentables, and keeping a bucket of fermenting mash bubbling away, and later plugging into shore power to distill gin, rather entertaining. I would NEVER use flame for this kind of distillation... alcohol vapors are extremely flammable. I've distilled many non drinking things over the years also, such as cooking off gasoline to obtain a pure "white gas", Distilling used motor oil to see if I could get good clean oil out of it.... you can. Distilling plastics & rubber to see what comes off the column.... a clear flammable liquid, and some vapors that will not condense... All manner of mad experiments ;-)

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Well we have a thread for good scotch, rum, beer. Why not go in search of the holy grail for gin? Since I am a hedonistic pagan, I probably don't know any better, but in my mind a good lime can make a G&T. As far as the whole lemon thing goes, how do you think the English got referred to as limeys in the first place? I like lemon on some seafood, but please save the limes for toddies.

Rereading this delightfully enjoyable thread, I'll throw in my 2 cents for the best gin to use in making martinis

The Botanist gin and for vermouth use Noilly Prat. No olives that would be a sin for this. A twist of lemon, rub the twist first around the rim of the glass, then drop it in the heavenly mixture.

The martini needs to be truly ice cold.



Sigh - the only problem with the above is that like most heavenly things - both The Botantist and Noilly Prat are expensive (and Nooilly Prat is difficult to find most times)

[Jammer]

With the passage of time since this thread was first opened, we now have (in the USA at least) spirits of reasonable quality being sold in plastic bottles. Notably Jim Beam is now difficult to find in glass bottles in any size in my area. There appears to be a transition under way in the industry at large.


While from an epicurean experiential standpoint I don't like plastic bottles, they do have the twin advantages of being lighter and shatterproof.


Apropos some of the original suggestions, possession of bulk spirits (any container over 1.75 liters) is unlawful in the USA unless you're a distillery or otherwise have special permission from the government. This is true even if you aggregate lawfully purchased bottled spirits into a larger container. The handful of bars I've encountered that have spirits on tap use dispensers that draw from 1.75 liter bottles.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Rereading this delightfully enjoyable thread, I'll throw in my 2 cents for the best gin to use in making martinis

The Botanist gin and for vermouth use Noilly Prat. No olives that would be a sin for this. A twist of lemon, rub the twist first around the rim of the glass, then drop it in the heavenly mixture.

The martini needs to be truly ice cold.

Sigh - the only problem with the above is that like most heavenly things - both The Botantist and Noilly Prat are expensive (and Nooilly Prat is difficult to find most times)

You need to sail to Martinique . I was surprised to see Noilly Prat sold cheaply in a small grocery store. Drop into Scotland first to pick up the gin though.

I second your opinion of The Botanist, but not of olives in martinis, they are essential .

Originally Posted by Jammer

With the passage of time since this thread was first opened, we now have (in the USA at least) spirits of reasonable quality being sold in plastic bottles. Notably Jim Beam is now difficult to find in glass bottles in any size in my area. There appears to be a transition under way in the industry at large.

While from an epicurean experiential standpoint I don't like plastic bottles, they do have the twin advantages of being lighter and shatterproof.

Apropos some of the original suggestions, possession of bulk spirits (any container over 1.75 liters) is unlawful in the USA unless you're a distillery or otherwise have special permission from the government. This is true even if you aggregate lawfully purchased bottled spirits into a larger container. The handful of bars I've encountered that have spirits on tap use dispensers that draw from 1.75 liter bottles.

That’s an interesting comment about volume permitted. Here in the Caribbean, rum is sold in 3 litre casks. The same can be bought for around 50% more in one litre bottles.

SWL

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Rereading this delightfully enjoyable thread, I'll throw in my 2 cents for the best gin to use in making martinis

The Botanist gin and for vermouth use Noilly Prat. No olives that would be a sin for this. A twist of lemon, rub the twist first around the rim of the glass, then drop it in the heavenly mixture.

The martini needs to be truly ice cold.

Sigh - the only problem with the above is that like most heavenly things - both The Botantist and Noilly Prat are expensive (and Nooilly Prat is difficult to find most times)

Nothing to add to this except to reminisce about the time Carsten brought a bottle of Botanist with him to my boat some years ago. I had the Noilly Prat on board. What ensued were some of the best martinis I've ever had. Carsten knows what he's doing in this department.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

. . . I second your opinion of The Botanist, but not of olives in martinis, they are essential .. .

Gin martinis -- with olives -- have been my father's daily cocktail hour ration since at least since I was a small child, and probably since before I was born, and still are to this day (he's 94). He used to give me the soused olives to eat after he finished his drink, when I was little. Probably my first exposure to alcohol.

I'm more of a G&T man myself, but I enjoy martinis from time to time. Normally I do them with olives, as my Dad has always done them, but after Carsten turned me on to lemon zest, I do them that way fairly often too, for a change. It's different that way, but also good.

Thanks to whoever revived this excellent thread. Reminds us that cruising is, first of all, about LIVING, and all the various joys attendant to that.

[Dockhead]

As to gin -- my favorite now, unfortunately even more costly than Botanist, is the Finnish "Napue". This is simply extraordinary; try to believe. Don't blame me for the subsequent expense. They have their own G&T recipe which they promote, which uses a juniper twig and a few cranberries. It's lovely.


The same distillery, improbably, makes the best rye whiskey I've ever had. One of my other favorite cocktails is the Manhattan. The cost prevents me from making them often with this whiskey; it's a special treat -- a kind of Platonic ideal of a Manhattan. I think the whiskey costs about $50 per 500cc, so more than even some very good single malts. But oh, how delicious!

[Simi 60]

Dirty Gin martinis are a favourite onboard for me
And I do love the anchovy stuffed olives when I can get them, which is very rarely.

But, as we are out full time and there are no shops vermouth has been replaced with a swirl of Chardonnay and easily sourced stuffed olives with a couple of drops of Du Son fish sauce replaced the anchovy stuffed version.
Same same but different

And a still for the gin, rum and whisky
10 litres of 40% clear spirit for about $25

[Wotname]

Re the olives and the martini, someone please educate me -
What is the preferred olive?

Here we have many different olives to choose from so what is the goto olive or is it a case of using the nearest olive?

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Jammer

...............
Apropos some of the original suggestions, possession of bulk spirits (any container over 1.75 liters) is unlawful in the USA unless you're a distillery or otherwise have special permission from the government. This is true even if you aggregate lawfully purchased bottled spirits into a larger container. ........

WTF - some places never cease to amaze me!