T500 and botanicals basket — some questions
Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 5:16 pm
Hi everyone, new here but I have found this forum helpful as a lurker as I have been playing around with my still. I have recently purchased the Still Spirits Botanicals Basket for my T500 and I'm a little confused by the instructions for the vapour infusion instructions and I was hoping someone might be able to clarify it for me.
I have a ~93% spirit that I diluted and filtered down to about ~43%. The instructions say to set the still up using the water distillation method (from what I have gathered it's because using the still in the usual distillation method will strip the neutral spirit from the botanicals instead of infusing it?) but then I am confused about the last bit of the instructions:
The 43% diluted spirit is 7.5l, and I have to add enough water to get it to 10l for the still. I'm very confused about "stop when it reaches 20% ABV" but then "water down to 40%" since that seems flipped around; if I stop infusing at 20% I have halved the alcohol strength of what I put in. Or is it saying I top up the 20% ABV with enough neutral un-infused spirit to get it back up to 40%? The wording of this has me very confused so I would appreciate some advice from people who have use it.
Also if I'm putting in 10l (7.5l at 43% and then another 2.5l of regular water) how much should I be getting out after the final infusion? I'm assuming I'm not getting that full 7.5l back but what should I expect to recover?
Thanks so much!
I have a ~93% spirit that I diluted and filtered down to about ~43%. The instructions say to set the still up using the water distillation method (from what I have gathered it's because using the still in the usual distillation method will strip the neutral spirit from the botanicals instead of infusing it?) but then I am confused about the last bit of the instructions:
6. Collect all the spirit into a 5 L (1.5 US Gal) demijohn. Stop collecting when the spirit reaches 20% ABV.
7. Water down to 40% ABV and leave to settle before consumption.
The 43% diluted spirit is 7.5l, and I have to add enough water to get it to 10l for the still. I'm very confused about "stop when it reaches 20% ABV" but then "water down to 40%" since that seems flipped around; if I stop infusing at 20% I have halved the alcohol strength of what I put in. Or is it saying I top up the 20% ABV with enough neutral un-infused spirit to get it back up to 40%? The wording of this has me very confused so I would appreciate some advice from people who have use it.
Also if I'm putting in 10l (7.5l at 43% and then another 2.5l of regular water) how much should I be getting out after the final infusion? I'm assuming I'm not getting that full 7.5l back but what should I expect to recover?
Thanks so much!