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Martin Golding
 
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Default Brandy rec for liqueur-making?

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:20:02 +0000, Gunther Anderson wrote:
> Evan wrote:
>> Gunther Anderson > wrote in message news:
>>> But how much is the rind actually like the flesh of
>>>an orange? That is, do you really find rind-based liqueurs get some of
>>>the flavor of the underlying fruit?


Yes and no. Or, no and yes.

>> Well, I would be inclined to doubt it as well, given how much I like
>> citrus juice.


The juice is different. You get three distinct products using peel, juice,
or both. The peel is much easier, I've found it difficult to clear the
pectin from juice based liqueurs.


>> However, every recipe I've ever seen for limoncello or
>> grand marnier uses only the rind. Even the Grand Marnier website
>> specifically lists macerated orange rinds as their infusion flavoring.


Those being citrus peel liqueurs, it's not particularly surprising that
they specify using peels. There are other options.


> Oh, there's a good reason for using the rinds - the oils and flavors you
> get out of the rinds are much more stable than the stuff in the juice.
> It also doesn't dilute your alcohol like juice does. And finally, when
> dissolved in alcohol, it just tastes more like real oranges.


No. It tastes more like real orange peel, which is not at all a bad thing,
but not much at all like juice.


> To get the
> same effect with juice, you'd need to reduce it a lot to concentrate it
> to the point that it would still taste like oranges when you added it to
> vodka.


Or just start with concentrated alcohol. In this benighted country, the
21st amendment returned to the states the right to regulate alcohol.
Anybody who's wondering whether the commerce clause was a good idea need
only look at the hodgepodge of stupid and punitive laws surrounding
alcohol. Like, forinstance, I can't get Ethel M's liqueur chocolates
in Oregon or Washington (more than three proof, ergo a regulated beverage,
if you can imagine getting drunk on chocolate covered cherries). Equally,
in many states, it's not possible to get high proof alcohol. Fortunately,
Oregon has not yet gone stupid.


> Normally, juice and vodka (as a liqueur rathre than a cocktail)
> just tastes like watery OJ. And it doesn't age well at all.


RTFM "ratafia", particularly orange. Besides the merely anecdotal
evidence of my own experience (lemon ratafia mostly, from exquisite
(possibly Meyer's) lemons collected in San Diego), there are centuries
(at least) of tradition.


> What I was wondering is how much the variations in peel come through in
> the final liqueur, and how predictable they are - like do tangerine
> peels taste like tangerines.


Extremely. Same for lemon and orange, and whatever those little round
orange citrus with green flesh are, and some wierd citrus called "Buddha's
hand" a liqueur of which I've tasted, but cannot for the life of me
recall who made it. I have no idea whether anyone could distinguish
kumquat.

Martin
--
Martin Golding | If I'd wanted all that water in my beer,
Dod #0236 KotLQ | why would I have paid so much to have it dehydrated?