watering down the proof

[OscarV]

Is there a ratio of bourbon to water to cut the proof.

For example if I had one ounce of 100 proof bourbon, how much water would I add to make it 90 proof?

And how about the GTStagg at 141.2 proof. How much water to add to make it, 125 proof? or 110 proof? or 100 proof?

Thanks

Oscar

Oh by the way, this is a great web-site!

[fricky]

Hi Oscar,

In the FAQ section there is a simple calculation posted where you fill in the blanks. I keep it in my favorites list, since I use it often.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/faq.html#7

Doug

[cowdery]

The formula is (amount of whiskey) x ((bottle proof / target proof) - 1) = amount of water to add.

In other words, divide the proof you have by the proof you want and subtract one. Multiply that number by the amount of whiskey you want to dilute and the result will be the amount of water to add.

For example, to reduce 100 proof whiskey to 80 proof, you add 2 ounces of water to 8 ounces of whiskey. 8x((100/80)-1)=2

(Page 143-144 of BOURBON, STRAIGHT.)

[OscarV]

thanks for the info Fricky and Chuck.

Nobody asked,... but what the hell I am going to say it anyway. The Detroit Tigers have the best record in baseball!!!!

Ok back to bourbon.

I also assume that distilled water would be best to do this with.

Thanks again

Oscar

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Nobody asked,... but what the hell I am going to say it anyway. The Detroit Tigers have the best record in baseball!!!!

Oscar

I have been meaning to ask people about the baseball season over there. I get to see quite a lot more Major League Baseball now than I used to with all the Japanese players over there now. But I only get to see games they play in. The post season is different.

I think I will start a thread in off topic.

Ed

[Nebraska]

Hey Oscar,

I haven't directly diluted anything yet, but in a sense, I dilute most of my pours by drinking them with 2 small to medium sized ice cubes. The pour will start out full strength and go through many stages, allowing me many different tastes, at different strengths. And besides, I like most beverages cold.

The downside to this is that many here feel that bourbon should be experienced at room temp.

I just brought this up, because generally when I think about adding water, I don't and just wait for the cube to do it's thing.

Mark/Nebraska

[scopenut]

Until I heard about the Riedel bourbon glass, I drank all of my bourbon on the rocks, one or two cubes so as not to over-dilute. But since getting the tasting glasses, I've been drinking it neat, and it's an entirely different animal. I'm tasting subtleties that I never noticed before.

That said, I'll still probably drink it on the rocks at a party or social gathering. At those times, I'm probably not concentrating on the bourbon as much.

Kevin

[cowdery]

I also assume that distilled water would be best to do this with.

Not necessarily. There is nothing terribly wrong with distilled water, but there is nothing particularly great about it either. Distilleries do not use distilled water when they dilute whiskey, either prior to barrel entry or prior to bottling. If the distillery uses spring water, that's what they use. If they use city water, it's typically treated--demineralized or what-have-you--but not distilled.

The only negative about using distilled water is that, unless that's what you normally use as drinking water, it may taste funny to you because it's not what you are accustomed to tasting.

The biggest thing with water and ice cubes at home is avoid doing anything that will add off flavors to your drink. The most extreme example, don't handle ice cubes right after slicing an onion.

Personally, I use tap water run through a Brita pitcher filter.

[Nebraska]

This probably would vary greatly according to where you live. I lived in southern New Mexico and west Texas for a while, and I can tell you there is no way on God's green earth I would use tap water for anything concerning drinking. The mineral content of the water and the types of minerals gave the water a definite bad tinge.

Nebraska, specifically Omaha, the water out of the tap is great. It has a very fresh, clean taste. However I still end up using filtered water for cubes, just because they look clearer and are more aesthetically pleasing to look at. My side of water is usually tap water though.

[jbutler]

Straightbourbon.com's proof calculator.

[JeffRenner]

Distilleries do not use distilled water when they dilute whiskey, either prior to barrel entry or prior to bottling. If the distillery uses spring water, that's what they use. If they use city water, it's typically treated--demineralized or what-have-you--but not distilled.

Demineralized water is presumably the result of reverse osmosis. The resulting water is all but the same as distilled water. That is to say, H2O and not much of anything else. Home units typically remove 95-99% of the total dissolved solids (minerals). I imagine that commercial work at the upper end of that.

Personally, I use tap water run through a Brita pitcher filter.

Britas filter out much/most of the minerals via ion-exchange (substitutes hydrogen ions for metallic ions), depending on how new the filter is, though not nearly as much as RO filters do. It also has a carbon filter, which removes chlorine and other off-flavors. It's probably a pretty good choice for this.

Since moving to the country with a well 15 years ago, I have become very sensitive to the taste of chlorine in water and find it very unpleasant. I would certainly never use water with noticeable chlorine to dilute whiskey.

Our well water is fairly hard, so we buy reverse-osmosis (plus carbon filtered and UV disinfected) water from a dispenser at the local supermarket for $0.29/gallon. I had considered buying an under-the-counter RO unit, but I can't compete with this price, especially considering the maintenance I would have to do. I fill five gallon (19 liter) plastic jugs that fit on top of a ceramic two-gallon crock that sits on a wooden stand and has a spigot. I use this for drinking and making tea, and for diluting whiskey.

Jeff

[cowdery]

While RO is the most common form of commerical/industrial water treatment, I seem to recall being told that Jim Beam uses deionization, but don't hold me to that. It's a very vague memory.

[JeffRenner]

While RO is the most common form of commerical/industrial water treatment, I seem to recall being told that Jim Beam uses deionization, but don't hold me to that. It's a very vague memory.

I think that they are one and the same - it's just terminology. Other than R.O., I can't think off hand of any other way to deionize water except for distillation, which would be prohibitively expensive.

Jeff

[cowdery]

I think that they are one and the same - it's just terminology. Other than R.O., I can't think off hand of any other way to deionize water except for distillation, which would be prohibitively expensive.

Jeff

I'm in way over my head here, but I think of RO as involving a semi-permeable membrane whereas DI involves passage through synthetic polymeric resin beads.

[JeffRenner]

I'm in way over my head here, but I think of RO as involving a semi-permeable membrane whereas DI involves passage through synthetic polymeric resin beads.

That sounds plausible. That's how Brita filters work. I just didn't know that that could be used on industrial scales.

But I'm in over my head as well.

Jeff

[wadewood]

I have a saltwater reef tank. Because of that I need pure, phosphate free replacement water. I own a Reverse Osmosis unit and water is finished using deionization.

Reverse Osmosis removes about 95% of TDS(total dissolved solids); depending on the membrane used and initial state of water quality. DI, as Chuck mentioned, does use synthetic polymeric resin beads. DI cleans my water to 0% TDS. I feed my refrigerator ice machine/water dispenser with the RO water. The DI water does not taste as good as the RO water. A lot of brands of bottled water, like Dasinia, add some minerals back to the water after RO/DI processing.

You can use DI alone but the resins will become depleted much quicker than using RO first. The resins are expensive. They can be recharged, but the process is more than average home user would want to go through. For a distiller, my guess is if the use DI only, they have a 3rd party that swaps out the resins and recharges them.

[cowdery]

I just remembered the term the guy at Jim Beam used. (Hey, give me a break. This was 15 years ago.) "Rare Earth Deionization."

[bluesbassdad]

At the mention of "rare earth" I couldn't resist looking a litte deeper. I wish I had.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield