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“Tales and Absinthe: A Journey into the World of Surrealism”
Just ran another batch of absinthe, using the modified (cutting the coloration herbs to 1/10th) Pontarlier recipe in a Bokabob style column still in the pot mode.It has been said here many times that tail management is the key to good absinthe – that the tails are richer in cogeners (or something like that), and as they age, and are recycled again and again athey add depth to the product.However, I have noticed that when redistlling absinthe there really aren’t any tails. If one is using a double boiler setup, as one should be to prevent scorching, the output continues pretty steady until every last bit of alchohol is sweated out of the wash – mine typically stays at 78 or so for the first half of the distillation, then edges up slowly to 82 never getting higher even as the alcohol gives out. The output % is constant at above 90% for the entire run. Anyhow, this makes distinquishing tails an almost arbitrary endevour, since there is no discernaable difference between the middle and the end, in flavor or %. So I just arbitrarily take the last cup cup or so and call that tails, and save it to run with the next batch. As I understand it the notion is saving tails is that the water will hold flavor that the alcohol won’t. So I am wondering if my double boiler is making the operation too efficient to get the best flavor, by not letting enough water etc through.
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7 Replies
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your still doens’t do his job as potstill, you’ll have to modify it, or put more heat in it-I have too much blood in my alcohol system-
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Yeah. Basically, it sounds like you’re getting too much reflux in your still to allow the heavier oils to come over in the distillate.As for the collection of tails being arbitrary, it’s anything but. Basically, you should be able to collect out of your distillation exactly as much alcohol as you put in. If you put in one liter, you collect one liter and then save the rest as tails. Also, there is a noticeable difference between the flavor of the heads of the run and the tails. Tails have a heavier, more vegetal flavor to them.
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Note that my still works fine in the pot still mode when the water jacket is not used, and when used that way the % drops off and the temperature increases as the alcohol in the boiler diminishes. The complications I am discussing happen only when I am using the water jacket, which seems to regulate the temperature so well that no tails are generated. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone else using a water jacket/double boiler, if they have similar results.
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As indicated in the “cloudy distillate” thread, this probably means nothing more than that your water jacket is not an efficient enough heat source. What are you trying to avoid scorching, anyway?
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Herbs. Absinthe has a lot of herbs in it by volume, and they will often scorch if the heat is not applied very evenly. That’s why the stills originally used for commercial production of absinthe were usually steam heated.ANY water jacketed system is not going to be a terribly efficient heat source, because it will limit the heat applied to the outside of the boiler to 212 degrees – crank the heat up higher and the water just boils away faster. Considering the other losses in the system (through the top and up the column) the inside of the boiler will therefore mostly always be a tad cooler. So you just cannot crank up a still with a water jacket very high – it’s not a defect of my setup, it’s the laws of physics.
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You could possibly improve your efficiency by:1. Looking at the dimensions of the outer vis a vis the inner.2. Enclosing the outer, even if some steam still escapes.3. Looking at the thermal conductivity of your inner.and most of all by:4. Using a liquid with a higher boiling point.
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Try peanut oil. Works wonders from what I hear, it’s cheap, and has a high smoking point. The downside is that you have to change it out every ten runs or so because the oil goes through some thermal breakdown and no longer heats evenly…so I’m told.
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