What is the most unusual spirit you have in your home bar?
What is the most unusual spirit you have in your home bar?
I find unusual spirits interesting, and I want to hear about the ones you have.
Cacique, which is Costa Rica's national liquor (only rare because it's hard to import).
It's essentially sugar cane hooch that the government decided to nationalize in an attempt to end secret production, back around the mid 1800s. Their plan worked and it became a sort of national identity. The whole history of it is pretty neat.
It doesn't taste like anything on its own, so it's mixed with everything and the kitchen sink.
I had a bottle of Arak from Palestine, that a previous boss had imported, and then gifted to me. It's anise flavored, clear when warm, looks like a snow globe if you refrigerate it, and turns white when poured over ice. So neat, but it tasted like anise :-P
A bottle of North Korean soju I got while visiting the DMZ.
42 year old schnapps, made by my grandfather in the year I was born.
The most unusual spirit I have in my collection is a raspberry liquer, made from distilled raspberries.
It is called RoslagsHallon and is made a few scandinavian miles borth of where I live by Nortälje Brenneri:
https://www.norrtaljebranneri.se/destillat/roslagshallon/
(Just click "JAG HAR FYLLT 20 ÅR" to get in)
It makes a fantasticly dangerous summer drink when mixed with sprite, you hardly feel the alcohol, but the taste is amazing, with a fairly standard sprite tast first, that explodes into a full raspberry taste with the aftertaste.
I seldom drink, and drink little when I do, but this is brilliant.
Hucked - A Huckleberry Bourbon that is as good as it sounds. It’s by Lolo Creek Distillery out of Lolo, Montana.
Milk & honey gin. Doesn’t taste like milk, but once the dregs have evaporated, there’s a lingering smell of sweetened condensed milk.
A bottle of Canadian Club legit from 1963. We drank it neat while watching Mad Men.
Habanero Brandy Liqueur from Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery in Elgin, AZ.
It uses a derivative from the production of their Habanero chili wine, the neutral grape spirits they use to sterilize the habaneros that would normally be discarded. The result is undrinkably hot, but they found they could dilute it and combine with a grape brandy and cane simple for a nice spicy result. Not as spicy as you'd think to be honest considering it is habanero.
Goes really well in hot chocolate this time of year.
https://www.flyingleapvineyards.com/product/habanero-brandy-liqueur-200-ml-/
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Partner made a jalapeño infusion we call jalapeño-cello (as in limoncello)
Seven Caves Tiki Gin is pretty unusual. Fruity.
And some odd amari I suppose!
Probably the earl Grey infused gin I've had in a decanter for 4 years now. It's pretty goof, but hard to mix with
Becherovka, it's an herbal alcohol, kind of a cousin to Jägermeister.
Best described as "Christmas in a bottle."
Absinthe and calvados are probably the most unusual here.
Centerba. It means hundred grasses in Italian. It tastes like grain alcohol infused with whatever they cut down in a field. Maybe a hint of mint too? It's fluorescent green now because food coloring is cheaper than bright green glass apparently.
A jar of what I've been told is legitimate moonshine from Popcorn Sutton
The spirit of Christmas future.
A handle of tequila with cacao nibs added. I do infusions, and this was a failed experiment. Should have tried it in a mason jar.
Though it usually works out well. I have a bottle of premium Costco vodka with two anise stars and some simple syrup added. It's like a homemade ouzo and delightfully sippable for $18 a handle. I also have slices of pear in another bottle, and it's yummy. And a mason jar of bourbon with black peppercorns, which I like to splash into an Old Fashioned.
Hot tip: Buying flavored liquor is expensive and never as good as infusing it yourself.
I just got a bottle of malort. Yes. It's vile. Bitter, herbal, barely sweet, acrid, astringent.... It's bad.
I have a whiskey aged on chestnut. It's very good. Different than all the oak whiskey out there. A little earthier?
I have a bottle of aquardiente. It's kind of a minty drink. Not good or bad persay.
Ouzo and absinthe are pretty typical I guess. Rhubarb liqueur and I'm not sure what to do with it.
I have a 5000 yo former prince of some whacky kingdom I can’t pronounce. His head is partly caved-in but he’s generally cheerful despite his gruesome cause of death. He lives (haunts?) in the sink but comes out to scare the dog and MIL. Classic white robe type deal but older than the usual ghosts I encounter.
You should post this in !cocktails@lemmy.world too.
There are a couple of things I have to order online, that aren't in the shop here but I like - Heirloom Pineapple Amaro is one. I do make liqueurs so those I guess are the rarest. Like someone else in this thread, I tried infusing cocoa nibs, but in whiskey and it was similarly awful.
Zwack Unicum from Hungary and 58% Kaoling sorghum liquor from Taiwan. The Kaoling can melt the bottom of plastic cups.
Had a bottle of fermented mare's milk Kumis gifted from Kazakhstan, but it tasted like rancid cheese. Didn't want to risk keeping it around once the bottle had been opened.
Her name is Gladys and she a kind gho- ooooh
Screwball. Does that count as a spirit?
This one: https://feddit.uk/post/5822127
Legitimately thought you meant ghost for a minute there.
Woodford Reserve. They make a Double Oaked you can find in most liquor stores. I'd try that first, but I don't think they taste all that similar. The double double is much oakier in flavor, but the nose is similarly pleasant.
It's not particularly rare but the we have a spiced rum called Kilo Kai. It's mostly sold near Chicago.
We've had a consistent supply from visiting family members over the last few years.
