Jump to content

How do they flavour those Gins!


needmorstuff

Recommended Posts

I have produced some Gin, and added Rhubarb "syrup" to it.. it is cloudy and not very strong tasting of rhubarb.

I had 600ml of Gin and 400ml of rhubarb that came out about 43%

 

I used 500gm of fresh rhubarb, cleaned and covered with water - brought to a light boil and simmered for 10 mins. Filtered through coffee papers. No sugar was added.

It doesnt have the Rhubarb hit I associate with the current commercial rhubarb flavoured gins and it was cloudy. Left to settle the liquid does clear leaving "pulp?" on the bottom.

So to the question - how do you best extract flavour from fruits for addition to gin? and subsequently how do you "clear/filter it" - or do the manufacturers just use a commercially available flavour extract with colouring...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rhubarb is a tough flavor, you could easily mistake it for sour green apple.

Boiling to make a syrup is challenging, because you are losing volatile components through the boiling process, in addition, thermal degradation of flavor is always a problem.  However, most people know the flavor of rhubarb not as the raw vegetable, but the syrup.  So lucky that rhubarb isn't known for delicate volatile aromas.

Acidity is a really big factor in the flavor profile of rhubarb, without the sour/tart, you are left  with a kind of a (blah) green, vegetal flavor, through vapor distillation that would  probably come across as cooked.

Hate to say it, but a commercial flavor is probably going to be much closer to what people expect than using fresh rhubarb.  Otherwise, ensure you are getting enough acidity in the product, maybe some additional citric acid, or try adding a little green apple as well.   The actual acid in rhubarb is going to be oxalic acid, but I'm not sure on the TTB position of using that as an additive (vs citric which is fairly common).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1 hour ago, Glenlyon said:

I think the Rhubarb gin is actually infused into the gin using the gin basket. That being said, we're trying to get a cranberry flavour and so far our results have not been great. Foodarom - here we come!

if you are saying you thin they put rhubarb sticks in the gin basket then I can't see how that would work... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never done it - so... However, I have lots of people who come in and say 'Rhubarb Gin is great, I tasted in England.' One client even brought in a bottle. Therefore, there has to be away. I would like to think the brits aren't using 'flavoring', but who knows...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We make rhubarb liqueur, step one would be to taste the rhubarb and see how flavorful it is. We see big variations in flavor intensity depending on the year, time of year, location, and variety (sometimes requiring the use of almost double our typical amount of rhubarb to get the flavor intensity). If the rhubarb you are working with doesn't have flavor, neither will your syrup. 

If you want cooked rhubarb flavor I suspect you need to cook the rhubarb longer, and if you want raw rhubarb flavor you need to press it. Either way you'll need to settle and filter the syrup/juice to avoid sediment. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, JustAndy said:

We make rhubarb liqueur, step one would be to taste the rhubarb and see how flavorful it is. We see big variations in flavor intensity depending on the year, time of year, location, and variety (sometimes requiring the use of almost double our typical amount of rhubarb to get the flavor intensity). If the rhubarb you are working with doesn't have flavor, neither will your syrup. 

If you want cooked rhubarb flavor I suspect you need to cook the rhubarb longer, and if you want raw rhubarb flavor you need to press it. Either way you'll need to settle and filter the syrup/juice to avoid sediment. 

thanks for the info, I want the cooked flavour. I will probably add sugar to it also as the current thinking is we are going for a dessert kind of flavour as opposed to the keen tart rhubarb flavour... definitely rhubarb but hitting the sweet and sharp tastes.

I will try again, this time make a big batch of the syrup and let it settle - then filter it.

I would actually like to try the pressed flavour also, I wonder how small of a press once kind find for experimentation purposes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...