People have been making spirits for hundreds of years. Distilled alcoholic beverages first appeared in Europe in the 12th century, but today they seem to be more popular than ever. The process of distilling spirits involves the controlled manufacture of alcohol from a mix of natural nutrients (yeast and sugar), which is then cleaned with activated carbon to remove unwanted flavours and to produce a smooth tasting beverage.
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Distilling alcohol for making spirits is similar to homebrewing beer or fermenting wine. If you follow the instructions properly, you’ll get pure alcohol that contains smaller amounts of by-products and impurities than alcohol produced from commercial sources. For best results, you should not make spirits at more than 40% alcohol by volume. And for the sake of your health, it’s recommendable not to drink spirits at more than 40% ABV.
Making your own spirits and liqueurs is fun and easy and with the use of flavouring essences, you can simply create your favourite drinks. You can follow the distillation process from scratch or distil a simple, neutral spirit, something like vodka, for instance. Then you can add Top Shelf essences to get a spirit that tastes like your favourite beverage.
We all like a good drink and there are many reasons why gin is so popular as well as whiskey, rum, bourbon and more. But nothing’s better than enjoying a spirit that you produced just the way you like it.
What You Need to Know About Top Shelf Essences
The basic ingredient of a drink is the essence. It determines the flavour, quality and character of the beverage. You can choose from a wide range of Top Shelf essences and find your favourite flavours and finishes. With their help, you can create the popular style spirits that can be found in the commercial bar products, like Single Whiskey, Aussie Gold Rum, Kentucky Bourbon, Jamaican Dark Rum and many others.
The range is split into spirits, schnapps, liqueurs and cream liqueurs and cocktails. You can easily get your favourite one, whether it’s absinthe, gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, tequila or else. Each flavouring is beautifully presented in 50 ml bottles and simple to make, so you can create something new or replicate one of your favourites.
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Using spirit flavours is easier and faster than distilling from scratch and it’s much cheaper than buying your alcohol at a retail store. The process is easy and simple, all you need to do is follow the instructions on the label of your flavouring. Each flavouring is exclusively bottled with ultimate care, so it blends in perfectly with the concentration of beverage.
Make sure you shake the bottle well before use and follow the instructions on its back when mixing with a neutral homemade distilled spirit. Rinse out the remaining flavouring from the 50 ml bottle with some of the alcohol and shake the finished product bottle well. Then leave it for 24 to 48 hours and decide if you want to taste it by yourself, enjoy it with family and friends, store it for later or give it away and make someone’s day with a unique gift.
Whether you’re new to the distilling game or an experienced distiller, the Top Shelf spirits can make a big difference in your hobby. While some of them can help you introduce entirely new flavours to your spirits, others replicate or modify conventional classics, so it’s up to you to decide which route you want to take. However, the most important thing is to have fun trying spirit flavours and creating perfect spirits at home.
Essence is the soul of the beverage, and the more you use the essence the more you’ll understand the tastes and many different ways in which you can blend them to create some extra special flavours. Moreover, it’s a great way to enjoy your favourite drink without waiting for the spirit to age.
In the past, aging the spirits was a common thing to do as excess raw materials were inexpensive or in the case of rum, they were a waste product and costly to dispose of. Cheap raw materials were converted into potable alcohol and aged to improve their smoothness. As you may know, oak barrels were used to remove unwanted alcohols and flavours. Since raw spirit from some of these products can be dangerous to drink, aging was a very important part of the process.
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Most Popular Spirit Flavouring Essences
Rum Flavourings
Today, it’s much easier to distil at home, so if you like rum, for instance, you’ll most likely enjoy the rum flavouring essences. Whether you want to make a light brew to be used in cocktails or a dark one to be enjoyed neat, you can choose from different rum flavoured essences that can introduce new and amazing ideas to some old recipes.
Whiskey Flavourings
These are some of the most common choices and for a good reason. As we all know, whiskey is a bold drink and not every person can enjoy it. If you’re a whiskey lover and would like to customise your whiskey, then whiskey flavourings are a great opportunity to do so. There are many flavour combinations and the use of spirit essences can help you fine-tune your whiskey to accommodate any flavour palette.
Brandy Flavourings
Brandy lovers can be quite picky about their drink, so if you’re one of them, looking for a specific brandy taste, then you may give brandy flavourings a chance. If you don’t want to change your brandy, you can simply enhance its quality and create a whole new experience with your favourite drink.