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Chocolate Distillation
Alright guys I have been exposed to some magical chocolate liqueur recently and I was curious if anyone has some insight on how to infuse vodka with chocolate and then distill it (I believe the distillery claimed that it was not from an essence or flavoring added into vodka but rather chocolate infused and then distilled).
Here are some things to feed off what would give a get a nice aroma and flavor i.e. types of chocolate, % of cocoa, baking chocolate etc.
So if anyone has some ideas or places to go with this please feel free to post them!
Thanks everyone!
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9 Replies
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Get some raw cacao. In my opinion, this is the best place to start.
What is the magical chocolate liqueur called?
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Nestles Quick……(smirk)
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ok so if you want it to be a clear liquor, know that you are only getting the aroma notes from the cacao.
Therefore the fat content is more less irrelevant (will not distill over, too large molecular weight). I might think a vapor extraction (gin style) might be efficient to get the aromas out. If not a maceration should work, you just need to do trials to figure out your peak flavor profile. Too much cacao will saturate/ taste meh and cost more… So yia play around with it, but I would think anything cacao source should be able to get you those aroma notes (smell it and see if the base ingredient is pungent… should work) … cacao butter is worth a decent amount of money (it melts at body temperature hence the amazing mouth feel, so producers love to use it in specialty foods) so anything low fat (it’s been removed) should be cheaper and work just as well for you.
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Alright I have a potentially odd question, what about infusing chocolate into vodka a then distilling it to extract the aroma and flavor of the chocolate and have a clear vodka? The reason I ask is because I was recently given some chocolate liqueur and it was clear, about 33-40% ABV with just a hint of sugar and delicious! I was thinking about throwing some chocolate in our test still with some vodka and seeing what would happen and going from there and then I thought I should make a post to the trusty ADI and see what people could throw at this subject!
Here are some things to start off the conversation:
-Is this nonsense?
-how would we get a good aroma?
-How about a good flavor?
-What kind of chocolate to work with?
All thoughts are appreciated thank you!
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Much thanks Les Trois Clocher and others for you input! I just macerated some cacao in 30% vodka and redistilled in our test still and found that it was subpar but it had given me some idea or baseline to work from! the aroma of the alcohol seemed heavier but perhaps as mentioned from Les Trois the distillate may have been over saturated with cacao so the next run will be with much less to see how that changes the product!
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I would also macerate it in stronger alcohol, it will be more efficient at extracting the aroma components. Maybe give it a couple of days to macerate then dilute to redistill it.
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What is your cacao source? Are you using raw cacao? I would absolutely up the proof. That seem way too low to have any effective extraction of the flavor or aroma. Go at least 100 proof.
Again, what is the spirit that you loved so much to send you down this path?
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I can’t tell you how to get chocolate into already made vodka, but I have had good success with adding black malt to my grain bill and getting bittersweet chocolate flavors in a whiskey.
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I have had good luck macerating cacao nibs (organic) into 186 Proof distillate…the key for me was letting it sit for about 28 days. The macerated alcohol took on a purplish color over time. I loosened it up to 90 proof for the re-distillation, and ended up with a very chocolatey distillate…I used that in several experiments, the most successful when I mixed it into a cream-base at 78 Proof. I would suggest looking at adding other adjuncts during your maceration to “enhance” your chocolate taste…I found a bit of honey was especially helpful, but there are some common herbs that help out, too.
I’m not pursuing the chocolate spirit, but it was fun to play with. One other note…charcoal strips a LOT of that taste out…
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