Pink vodka/Gin

[flyhigher87]

Hey guys I'm coming out with hopefully a pink gin/vodka soon.  However, I'm having trouble with the coloring.  I tried hibiscus to be as natural as possible.  It was a little to purple then got kinda brown.  I tried Carmine, it also was a little to purple.  But with less it was a nice pink.  However, After 3 weeks it lost almost all of its coloring.  Do you guys know what the pink gins are using for coloring.  I am pretty sure they are adding color, but what? 

 

Thank you everybody.

[RedFalcon]

I believe that the various pink gins on the market are using different combinations of red fruits such as raspberries, strawberries and/or red currants for coloring.  Obviously that's going to shift the flavor profile a bit, but more so with vodka as in a gin the berry flavor is likely to be crushed by the botanicals.

[glisade]

I had a pink gin at a previous distillery. It was a gin aged in a used red wine barrel.

[DonMateo]

I have made a pink gin with Hibiscus. You have to macerate the hibiscus and only use the flowers for a small amount of time and then take it out.  If not it will turn it purple as you say.  

[LuckyTiger]

Our Maui Pink Gin is really pink color using Hibiscus flowers 

[bluestar]

Hibiscus will work. It is reasonably stable if kept out of sunlight. Fruit colors, like currants, fade rapidly, to an orangish color.

[Hapido]

 flyhigher87, Did you ever find a solution to it?

[Foreshot]

Just started playing with hibiscus and will try other colored fruit/herbs/etc. For the hibiscus users - how long does the color last before fading? How off does the color go? Any way you could snap a pic to share?

Thanks!

[McClintockDistilling]

We short age ours in a Madeira wine barrel. Starts off bright pink like a Rose but fades to a lighter pink (salmon) after 9-12 months but doesn't turn brown like some of the other solutions we tried. 

[Tim C]

Hibiscus is heat and light sensitive so it will eventually turn yellow/ brown.  We use natural carmine liquid as a dye to great success and stability in our pink gin.  The pH of your product will affect if it appears more pink or purple.  It is the most heat and light stable natural red dye I have been able to find.  Out side of this you would have to turn to artificial dyes that will give very stable color.  For example, for years Campari used carmine to make their famous red liquor, but have since switched to red #5, I think for supply and cost issues.  

 

 

[Pour Decisions]

Stumbled on this old thread while tinkering with my gin. I'm playing with the butterfly pea flower as a concept to be used in a tasting room cocktail. I realize the cocktail doesn't have the same strict guidelines as the spirit production does, but how are you getting away with adding a colorant to gin as in producing and bottling a blue gin? I thought that was disallowed by TTB?

[bluestar]

16 hours ago, Pour Decisions said:

Stumbled on this old thread while tinkering with my gin. I'm playing with the butterfly pea flower as a concept to be used in a tasting room cocktail. I realize the cocktail doesn't have the same strict guidelines as the spirit production does, but how are you getting away with adding a colorant to gin as in producing and bottling a blue gin? I thought that was disallowed by TTB?

Why do you think a colorant would not be allowed in gin? It would have to be in your formula, but gin can have any range of botanicals, and butterfly pea flower is just another botanical. There are no color requirements for gin.

[glisade]

2 hours ago, bluestar said:

Why do you think a colorant would not be allowed in gin? It would have to be in your formula, but gin can have any range of botanicals, and butterfly pea flower is just another botanical. There are no color requirements for gin.

I think the issue Pour Decisions was bringing up was solely with Butterfly Pea Flower, which last time I checked was not FDA GRAS. When I inquired about it a couple years ago, TTB sent me to FDA and FDA told me I would have to have it qualified for our specific use which seemed like a multi-months long process.... if not longer.

[Pour Decisions]

On 2/4/2021 at 1:45 PM, bluestar said:

Why do you think a colorant would not be allowed in gin? It would have to be in your formula, but gin can have any range of botanicals, and butterfly pea flower is just another botanical. There are no color requirements for gin.

I was focused on Distilled Gin where a formula is not required but obviously the distillate would be clear. I do not believe you can add colorant or flavoring to Distilled Gin, correct me if I'm wrong. Totally forgot that Compound Gin can have colorant or flavors added post distillation, but as was mentioned butterfly Pea Flower is not yet GRAS so it's out for now. I wish they'd make a ruling on that as its been submitted since 2018.

[bluestar]

4 hours ago, Pour Decisions said:

I was focused on Distilled Gin where a formula is not required but obviously the distillate would be clear. I do not believe you can add colorant or flavoring to Distilled Gin, correct me if I'm wrong. Totally forgot that Compound Gin can have colorant or flavors added post distillation, but as was mentioned butterfly Pea Flower is not yet GRAS so it's out for now. I wish they'd make a ruling on that as its been submitted since 2018.

Yes, the vagaries of different methods of Gin production. I make both a Distilled Gin (no formula required) and a Redistilled Gin (formula required), so I understand what you mean precisely. But I think you just have to submit the formula, although as you say, if it is not currently being treated as GRAS, it might not get approved. For those that are interested, here is the last published update on that status: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-11-13/pdf/2018-24662.pdf And it may not get approved, because it is known to cause uterine issues for pregnant women, so that might be a non-starter. By the way, if the consideration was maybe using it and avoiding prohibition by virtue of not requiring approval of a formula (as for Distilled Gin), of course we are bound to submit formulas by law if we intend to use anything that is not currently GRAS or otherwise limited use in production of spirits (like wormwood).

[Sator Square Distillery]

I have a butterfly pea flower gin waiting in the wings for the FDA approval. Seems a bit unfair that we can't use it here, but it's allowed to be used in gins that are imported and sold here. But that is what it is.

[Dylan.Daigle]

Up here in Canada we dont have any regulations with pea flower, carmine has a bit of a regulation for causing severe allergic reactions. We use both pea flower and carmine in our products to get very rich colours. Pea flower doesnt do well with the sun though, so keep that in mind as well

[Pour Decisions]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:11 PM, Sator Square Distillery said:

I have a butterfly pea flower gin waiting in the wings for the FDA approval. Seems a bit unfair that we can't use it here, but it's allowed to be used in gins that are imported and sold here. But that is what it is.

Hey Justin, have you perfected your pink gin yet now that the butterfly pea is added to GRAS? https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/09/02/2021-18995/listing-of-color-additives-exempt-from-certification-butterfly-pea-flower-extract

[Cosmic.Distiller]

Lucky for everyone here pea flower just got approved last September. The pink gin I've made we used a mixture of hibiscus and carmine. The carmine keeps the color from fading into zombie-skin grey, and the hibiscus gives it a nice barbie pink that the carmine can't do.