rtshfd Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I'm taking my first steps into producing an absinthe and I'm finding it particularly difficult to source roman wormwood/petite wormwood/artemisia pontica. Anyone have a recommended source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebstauffer Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Your own garden! Seriously, it grows like a weed -- a vicious weed. If memory serves you should plan on about 10 grams / liter of distillate for coloring. I too had a very difficult time sourcing. Artemisia absinthium (grand wormwood) is trivial to find. Petite (also called roman) wormwood -- Artemisia pontica -- is a challenge. I'm in USDA Zone 5 and have no problem with it wintering over. My only challenge is keeping it contained. Let me know if you want a start once it comes up here in a few weeks. As for sourcing, search for a few of the gin threads here regarding vendors and try contacting them. I bit of googling yielded: http://www.absintheherbs.com/Imported-Pontica-5-per-1-ounce.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtshfd Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Thank you eb! I did find absinthe herbs website, they seem responsive. I was hoping to find some other providers to shop around but man is this stuff hard to find. I have every other botanical lined up (we do a lot of gin), but this pontica was rather elusive. I may take you up on the start offer, I'm thinking of starting a gin poly culture this season and might as well make an absinthe guild too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Distillery Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 @ebstauffer, I have it growing too in my garden... at least what I think is pontica. I'd appreciate a start too just to verify what I have. I'll PM my address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertS Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Does it spread like the dickens by seed as well, or would potting it keep it neatly contained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salishseaorganicliqueurs Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Robert, We are also working on sourcing Pontica for our absinthe, we found a company called Pacific Botanicals that is growing it, organically, in Oregon. They're reasonably priced and haven't gotten anything that wasn't top quality from them, but keep in mind Pontica is never cheap. http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/Wormwood1-(Petite).html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtshfd Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Sam, Pacific Botanical's price is $22 per lb where the other source above was about $200 per lb. I can't imagine there's such a drastic spread in quality between the two. Thanks for the heads up on pacificbotanicals! I will be purchasing from both for test batches to see how they both perform. I'll chime in here after the fact to see the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillwater Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I've grown Pontica for a couple of years (in Australia). It's pretty easy to do and for home hobby purposes, I find one plant is more than enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Distillery Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 How do you handle this for pontica? "Provide information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showing the ingredient(s) is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use in alcohol beverages. The information should include the GRAS notification number." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebstauffer Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Does it spread like the dickens by seed as well, or would potting it keep it neatly contained? Pontica spreads by creeping rhyzomes. I've had about the same luck controlling roman wormwood has I have with lemon balm and mint.. that is to say "very little". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearwaterbrewer Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 How do you handle this for pontica? "Provide information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showing the ingredient(s) is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) for use in alcohol beverages. The information should include the GRAS notification number." I would say that it is not on the GRAS list, therefore you cannot give a GRAS notification number, but instead state that you are following TTB guidelines that you have less than 10ppm following the TTB's circular: http://www.ttb.gov/industry_circulars/archives/2007/07-05.html also this earlier thread... http://adiforums.com/index.php?showtopic=293 bottom line, you will have to come up with a polite way to make the TTB rep think outside of their cubicle for a moment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FernandoP Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I would say that it is not on the GRAS list, therefore you cannot give a GRAS notification number, but instead state that you are following TTB guidelines that you have less than 10ppm following the TTB's circular: http://www.ttb.gov/industry_circulars/archives/2007/07-05.html also this earlier thread... http://adiforums.com/index.php?showtopic=293 bottom line, you will have to come up with a polite way to make the TTB rep think outside of their cubicle for a moment... Fully agree, we sent two identical formulas at the same time by mistake, once was approved the other one was heavily questioned, go figured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwydion Stone Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 On 3/11/2016 at 7:44 PM, bierling said: How do you handle this for pontica? For future reference, this table is handy. ALL artemisia species are permitted. I once had the specialist kick back a formula that had marjoram in it. They don't do any thinking for themselves; if it's at all unfamiliar to that particular specialist, they'll just kick it back - like your time doesn't matter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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