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I found this while researching this same question.

“It takes us six weeks to make Seedlip,” says Branson. “We effectively use the same equipment and ingredients as our alcoholic counterpart but we use them in different ways and for different reasons.” Seedlip starts out as neutral grain spirit (NGS); each botanical is macerated in a specific style of NGS, with abv strengths and base grains differing from one ingredient to another. After maceration, each botanical is distilled twice: once to remove the alcohol through evaporation, and a second time to “bring everything else over and capture and concentrate the fantastic flavour of the plant”. That equates to 36 distillations before the distillates are blended, filtered and bottled.

https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/11/is-greater-transparency-needed-in-non-alcoholic-spirits/

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17 hours ago, BTC said:

I found this while researching this same question.

“It takes us six weeks to make Seedlip,” says Branson. “We effectively use the same equipment and ingredients as our alcoholic counterpart but we use them in different ways and for different reasons.” Seedlip starts out as neutral grain spirit (NGS); each botanical is macerated in a specific style of NGS, with abv strengths and base grains differing from one ingredient to another. After maceration, each botanical is distilled twice: once to remove the alcohol through evaporation, and a second time to “bring everything else over and capture and concentrate the fantastic flavour of the plant”. That equates to 36 distillations before the distillates are blended, filtered and bottled.

https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/11/is-greater-transparency-needed-in-non-alcoholic-spirits/

Thanks for sharing this. I'm trying to wrap my head around this method. When the alcohol is distilled out of the herbs I would think that it strips the flavor out with it too, like making gin. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Reverse osmosis can effectively remove most if not all ethanol from a spirit or gin.  Commercial rigs are common in the wine industry for lowering the ABV of certain wine styles.  However, any method used to remove the ethanol from say a gin will impact the gin's flavour, as many of the flavour components are filtered/distilled out with the ethanol.  The process above puzzles me as well, as many of the botanicals will be removed with the ethanol.

Do some research into the THC oil scene.  They are using a lot of CO2 extraction methods, as well as messing with various other food grade solvents.  Here is a list of approved food grade solvents (some are utterly scarey) https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/food-additives/lists-permitted/15-carrier-extraction-solvents.html

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  • 6 months later...

Hi, This is a kind of old but interesting post. Has anyone done any experimenting on this?

I'd like to give it a try, but I am confused about the processes above. If you are using NGS or Hydrosol , you would have color in the finished process...No?

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  • 1 year later...

Yeah, I've been playing around a bit.  Mostly screwing with emulsifiers to see if you can increase oil/terpene content while maintaining a stable emulsion.  Pectin, xanthan, and other hydrocolloids to enhance mouthfeel without needing to add sugar (which would create shelf stability issues).

Mouthfeel of spirits is so very different than the current batch of non-alcoholics, I want a higher viscosity and a longer finish, otherwise it just seems like flavored water.

Add in preservatives, and it's a chemistry set.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've played around with these for awhile. Essentially you macerate botanicals for a couple weeks in water and a little alcohol, distill (tossing the alcohol), and add a tiny bit of citric acid. Interesting to add some xanthan and other gums. If I was to try it again, I'll probably add a touch vegetable glycerin to give that feeling. 

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@Silk City Distillers your approach is to develop something deeper and better than what's out there at the moment. But I guess there is a downside with emulsifiers? Otherwise there would have been brands that use it.

Sugar at a low level seems problematic, but at a higher level it would be able to carry aromas and to be stable like a sirup. Am I getting it right?

Most producers use concentrated alcoholic distillates and dilute down with water until they reach <0.5% ABV. I think that is the most common way to produce alcohol free alternatives today.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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