• Absinthe (and other herbals)

  My First Experience with an Unusual Absinthe Flavor

  Posted by twoface2288 on August 18, 2023 at 2:20 pm

  I just did my first run of Absinthe. Super happy with how it turned out (especially for a first try.) My only complaint is an overly earthy and slight musty note that is expressed mainly on the nose, but somewhat present on the pallet. I would love to know what you guys think could cause that. I took strong inspiration from the recipe that Nigel shared on this forum years ago, changed some things up a bit based on the responses, and scaled it down for my small Air Still. Here is the recipe that I used: 1.4L of 85 Proof Potato GNS 70g Wormwood 100g Green Anise 57g Fennel 14g Coriander 7g Angelica 71g Star Anise This was macerated at room temperature for 24 hours. At this time a nice louche was present when I tested it, so I decided to go ahead and run the still. Prior to running the still, I added 750mL of water. I made the tales cut as soon as the distillate began to come off the still cloudy. I ended up with about 800ml of 93 proof spirit. I then took approximately 150ml of the spirit and soaked in a warm bath the following items: Didn’t have any pontica so I knew my color was going to be a bit off. 1.4g Hyssop 1.4g Melissa 2 Cardamon Pods After this cooled, I then re-introduced this to my full batch of absinthe. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on what I could try to make this even better!

  

  

  smiling replied 1 year, 4 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  NZChris

  Member

  August 18, 2023 at 8:42 pm

  Tasting your individual ingredients might find the culprit.My first suspect would be the potato GNS.

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  twoface2288

  Member

  September 12, 2023 at 9:39 pm

  Just tried it again after letting it rest for several weeks now. All of the mustiness is gone and it is tasting beautiful! I was a bit worried at first, but couldn’t be happier now.

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  smiling

  Member

  September 13, 2023 at 5:37 pm

  Hi tf22,I’d recommend for 70g wormwood, 140gm green anise, 140gm fennel, perhaps leave out the angelica and star anise, your getting closer to a Pastis. As NZchris said it could be the potato neutral. 2nd maceration for the colour and slight flavour enhancement, if you have hyssop, Melissa, perhaps go with nettle or mint…… just my 2 cents.Respect for trying the process of absinthe…. it is another rabbit hole! Regards and respect. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, it was ignorance.

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