The Fake Whiskey Challenge

[cowdery]

Here is something I have been meaning to try and I'll make it an invitation to the group to try it along with me. I want to develop a credible faux bourbon from ingredients that are easily obtained, and by that I mean obtained in any supermarket, not at a home brew store. I'm thinking of things such as simple syrup, vanilla, caramel, liquid smoke and I don't know what else. You start from a base of vodka. Whatever you create, you have to be able to replicate it. There has to be a recipe anyone can make. Then we share them, make them, try them, and use that knowledge to improve our own.

It will be like a Wikipedia of fake bourbon recipes.

The point? To punk Jim Murray, of course.

This is no stupider than a lot of my other ideas.

[TBoner]

No homebrew store? So oak cubes are out, huh? Hmmm...I like this idea. Count me in.

Regards,

[cowdery]

No actual wood, not actual whiskey, no pre-made "whiskey essense." We're looking for 100% artificial ingredients.

[Sijan]

Well, this isn't available at a grocery store, but it's similar in concept to liquid smoke, and I would think it would be useful in this sort of project: http://www.stompthemgrapes.com/Oak_Options_and_Supplies-Sinatin_17_Liquid_Oak_Extract.html

Perhaps there's an easy way to get tannins from white grape skins w/o getting too much color or grape/wine taste?

[Gillman]

This has been done before (in the 1800's), see the first few recipes at http://www.pre-pro.com/recipe.htm

If you scroll down, recipes are given for rye oil and bourbon oil (they're based on fusel oils). These would not meet the challenge test which stipulates no essences, but I mention them for their historical interest.

The recipe which uses rum, prune juice, the St. John's stuff (which is carob) sounds promising.

Of course this is just to add to the discussion, and I too am interested in what people might come up with. Tip: consider using maple syrup, which has a flavor akin to some of the elements of a good bourbon - and it comes from a tree. In fact Grade No. 5, made with maple syrup as the syrup element, might come pretty close to some bourbons.

Gary

[Gillman]

Corn syrup however might be better, since it would impart some of the corn taste typical of most bourbons. Or maybe use both that and maple syrup for the sweetening element.

Gary

[TBoner]

I've been thinking about this all day.

Yes, Gary, I think corn and maple syrup in concert for the sweetening would be great. Other sugar syrups such as molasses, sorghum, and demerara syrup could serve a purpose as well, since the sweetness of bourbon is so complex and can incorporate all of these elements. I think date sugar isn't a bad idea, either, but we're talking minute quantities of all of the above.

Dried fruit seems like a good way to add cherry, raisin, plum, and apricot flavors without adding juice or nectar, and the infusion of these flavors would probably be more subtle than that from whole fruit or juice. I also seem to recall a post by Chuck about picking up tamarind in Beam black: tamarind paste is very complex in flavor and might help meld the fruit and sugar notes.

I think the barrel wood flavor remains the toughest part. Putting some burnt sugar in would help give the impression of char, and vanilla helps give the impression of oak, of course, but I'm not sure if liquid smoke provides the right taste: it smells like the wood used to make it, so I guess if you bought some not-too-flavorful chips for smoking, say applewood, and made your own liquid smoke, you'd be getting closer, but it might be too smoky.

Dan, the oak essence and pure grape tannin - no grape flavor, just tannin - are available at homebrew stores, but these would probably both be out too since they're not artificial or grocery store ingredients.

One final thought: corn oil might help with mouthfeel and flavor, in tiny quantities, if we had a way to keep it in suspension with the liquid.

I hope to have some time to play with this in the next couple of weeks. We've got a baby due in September, so it'll be some time after that before I can try anything else.

Edit: Ooh, brainstorm, what about marshmallows charred over a flame? You'd get a whiff of smoke, sweetness, and char all in one, and you could let those infuse in the mixture...

Also, I think corn roasted in its husk might be an interesting addition, the husk adding the sometimes grassy element of especially young whiskey and the corn providing a grainy corn counterpart to the corn syrup character. Alternatively, a handful of crushed Post Toasties corn flakes might do the job just as well.

Regards,

[TNbourbon]

Way to go, Chuck. Though y'all may never know what I come up with, you may have prompted my first-ever purchase of vodka:frown: (though it may come in the form of 190-proof Everclear, or the like). Oh, wait -- I may still have some GNS that Gary left with me after Doug's first 'do' in January. Yea, I won't have to buy any!:bis:

[Sijan]

Interesting ideas. I'm guessing that whatever we come up with will be far more expensive than actual bourbon. :grin:

How is liquid smoke not artificial?

[TBoner]

It's real smoke and water vapor collected in condensed form, distillate of charcoal in a sense. It is artificial in a sense, I guess, but there's no requirement for or prohibition against artificiality, only a requirement that the impression of whiskey be artificial (i.e., not made from bourbon distillate and/or oak). Liquid smoke is definitely usable in this challenge, since you can get it most anywhere, including may gas stations.

Regards,

[cowdery]

I was kidding when I said it had to be 100% artificial. The main idea is that all the ingredients should be very easy to obtain and the production process should also be very simple. Yes, of course, this is exactly what was done in the days before the Bottled in Bond and Pure Food and Drug Acts, and also during Prohibition. Prune juice is another classic ingredient I had forgotten. It bears repeating that there is no point to this. It's just a goof.

[Jono]

The corn based Rain vodka may be a good choice for a base.

[TBoner]

Jono, I was thinking along similar lines. A Texas-produced vodka, Tito's, is 100% and pretty fat on the palate for a vodka. I use this or Sobieski as my house vodka. The latter is 100% rye. Perhaps a base ratio of, say 70/30?

Regards,

[Jono]

"...Tito's, is 100% and pretty fat on the palate for a vodka. I use this or Sobieski as my house vodka. The latter is 100% rye...."

This sounds like quite a fun experiment....those vodkas certainly could be bases. I can see little dashes of various flavoring being added for some truly awful and hopefully successful trials. Hmm...the idea of using cereal - unsweetened - comes to mind.

[TBoner]

Chuck, several Indian markets near my house sell a variety of extracts: banana, vanilla, almond, of course, but also various lesser-known fruits, some flowers, etc...are these fair game? If not, what about more common items like orange flower water and rose water - I can get these at several, but not all, supermarkets. (Not trying to get too hung up on rules, but I'm a teacher and school starts Monday...rules are where my mind is right now).

Regards,

[cowdery]

We're feeling our way here so give it a try. If somebody comes up with something good using a more exotic ingredient, maybe we can mess around and find a good substitute at Kroger's.

[Jono]

This takes me back to chemistry class titration experiments...drop by drop until the ideal solution is achieved....however, the result "may" be drinkable.

Kind of like "Iron Whiskey" competition....the chairmen says the secret ingredient is "Vodka"...now home tasters....ready, set, titrate!

[CorvallisCracker]

Don't forget the bacon!!!!!!

[Gillman]

You guys are going to laugh, but somewhere I read - I think it was in a book or thesis on Canadian whisky production at the end of the 1800's - that barrels of whisky sometimes contained pieces of salt pork. This was because barrels that had held this porcine staple of the 1800's were then quickly turned around for use to hold whisky, too fat (sorry, I meant fast ) for comfort, it appeared - or maybe not, maybe some customers liked it that way.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is nothing new under the sow, sorry I meant sun.

Gary

[CorvallisCracker]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is nothing new under the sow, sorry I meant sun.

Gary, don't be such a boar.

[Gillman]

Actually I can't, it just isn't in me.

Gary

(This is a double play on an old ad on tv here for, as I recall it, some kind of corned beef: the voice over said to the tinned marvel: "Say oink". The answer: "Moo". Again: "Say oink". Answer: "Moo". Questioner: "Why won't you say oink?". The palaver-ending replique: "It just isn't in me. ).

[Gillman]

I'm going to take a stab at a whiskey substitute. I'll use vodka as the base, add maple syrup and a dash of the juice from a jar of prunes. A little carob (used in some 1800's rectifier's recipes) might help if I can find some (even if in whole form, e.g., if candies, they can be added to soak in). I am not expecting much but it will be an interesting experiment. I'll make a few ounces and can always add it to the jar of prunes if I don't like it.

The value of these experiments, apart from the whimsy of it, is that it helps to tease out and catalogue the elements of whiskey flavor.

Gary

[cowdery]

I've begun.

This isn't going to be easy.

Convincing top notes, it turns out, are pretty easy. It's the body of the taste that's hard.

In the spices section at the supermarket, I found both anise extract and mint extract. A little goes a long way. Likewise with liquid smoke. I've never really liked liquid smoke in anything and I don't like it that much here either.

Go easy on the simple syrup too. It's easy to oversweeten to the point where it starts to taste more like a liqueur.

Best discovery so far: hot sauce. I'm using Frank's. That's in the literature, so I can't claim I thought of it. It gives you that burn in the back of the throat.

[tdelling]

You know, hot sauce is sort of cheating, since it's aged in oak barrels.

Other ideas:

1) Are toothpicks allowed?

2) If you use a tea bag two or three times, the next extraction is basically bitter tannins. So that's another tannin source there.

3) I think you're looking for things that you'd find in a Piggly Wiggly, but to my taste buds, kukicha tea is right on the money for formulating a whiskey. If you wander into Whole Foods from time to time, they sometimes have it in the bulk section.

Tim Dellinger

[kickert]

How is this experiment coming. I have been waiting for an recipe that is worth trying!

-bk