doctoring moonshine at home?

[dcbt]

Anybody have any recipes for doctoring a store-bought unaged 'bourbons' (BT mash or HH's white dog, eg) at home in a mason jar or some such?  Not talking about home aging in a small barrel, but more interested in flavoring.  Considering something with vanilla bean and / or cinnamon sticks to sit until the holidays but curious if anyone has a success story to emulate.

[BigRich]

Back in the day the fellow in North Georgia that my dad bought shine from dropped a whole peach in each mason jar.  It was pretty high octane stuff though so in a short period of time it was just the pit floating in a jar of peach colored liquor. 

[PaulO]

When I didn't know what to do with my BT #1 white dog, I recalled some people mix moonshine with lemonade.  That actually turned out pretty good.  Fill a glass with ice, a pour of white dog, top with lemonade.

[markandrex]

I can attest to the peach comment.  A NASCAR owner ( who used to race in the old days) used to put half a peach in each mason jar.  He had a black angus farm next to my neighborhood  in NC and like to share with friends.  He used  to have one heck of a New Year’s Eve party every year.  No smoking near the refreshment!

If you could finish the jar and the peach you had his undying admiration.  I never saw it done.

May he Rest In Peace.

Edited September 10, 2020 by markandrex
Can’t type for shit

[clearmoon247]

If you want some slight flavor infusion, I would recommend a single french oak cube and half of a split vanilla bean pod. 

Here is the french oak: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PGQW6QG/

 

They are small, but that will work in your favor. Additionally,  alternate between in the fridge and on top of the fridge in 1 week cycles for each place. This will give you good fluctuations in temperature. 

 

Will this taste like a well aged whiskey, nope. Will it be enjoyable, sure. You can also add a splash of a really good whiskey, rum, or brandy to add a slight depth of well aged flavor. If you go down this path, don't go with a bottom shelf bottle for blending, use the good stuff.

 

[B.B. Babington]

14 hours ago, dcbt said:

Anybody have any recipes for doctoring a store-bought unaged 'bourbons' (BT mash or HH's white dog, eg) ...

For these two, I prefer neat as they are or SBS with their aged products to learn the flavors.  Especially since they're little pricey compared to others.  If doing infusions, or "apple pie" or et cetera, perhaps consider Everclear or something cheap.  

 

Peach is the favored go-to for folks from Virginia down to Georgia.  Locally damson plum used a lot.  Have seen pear used as well.  

 

Here is grandma's apple pie recipe:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/218330/grandmas-apple-pie-ala-mode-moonshine/

 

[B.B. Babington]

2 hours ago, markandrex said:

...If you could finish the jar and the peach you had his undying admiration.  I never saw it done...

40 years ago, guy walks in with quart with peach.  I take a sip and immediately see it's watered down, no burn at all.  Pour a big glass and sip on the couch.  Feeling nothing, it's watered down.  Get up for another glass, fall over the back of the couch and don't walk for 2 hours.

[PaulO]

I was thinking, if you want to flavor something with vanilla bean or cinnamon sticks for holidays, why not use some quality bottom to mid shelf bourbon.  Choose something you would drink by itself.  I recall the general rule of wine for cooking purposes.  White dog is full of congeners that need to age out.

[dcbt]

2 hours ago, PaulO said:

I was thinking, if you want to flavor something with vanilla bean or cinnamon sticks for holidays, why not use some quality bottom to mid shelf bourbon.  Choose something you would drink by itself.  I recall the general rule of wine for cooking purposes.  White dog is full of congeners that need to age out.

Yea, I did something like you described last year with MM; it was good enough so I may try something similar again.  I was trying to think of something new, but the more I think about the white dog, the more I hit the eject button. 

[TehRegion219]

You take two fingers of “white dog” (about 2 oz)  some bitters, an orange peel, three ice cubes, a sugar cube, and about 2oz of good bourbon (insert your fav brand here). Mix first 5 ingredients in shaker, pour bourbon in glass. Dump shaker into kitchen sink and enjoy the bourbon. 

Edited September 11, 2020 by TehRegion219
I can’t count