Talk:Piołunówka

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[edit] Some help needed

I'm quite new to Wiki and I would like to ask for some help. I have a picture of Piolunowka in an early stage of production here (picture taken by me, so no license problems) : http://img367.imageshack.us/my.php?image=absinth2yk.jpg Could comeone add it to the article? LLothar

[edit] Distillation/maceration

Ari x - thx for corrections, but Piolunowka is not macerated instead of being distilled. To make Absinthe you also macerate wormwood, but you distill it after. Maybe it's a language issue - as I understand it maceration is soaking in liquid, usually alcohol. English is not my native language so I may be wrong, but for now I'll change "maceration instead of distillation" to "additionaly distilled". The thing with thujone level is also a bit tricky - Absinthe in XIX century had high amounts of thujone too, but nowadays low prohibits high thujone levels, so the distillation proces was altered (most propably. They may do it other way, but it is the most propable thing) LLothar 18:01, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

You are correct about Maceration. It's a common misconception that absinthe in the XIX century had high amounts of thujone. The original numbers were based on estimates of how much thujone could be present if it was completely extracted from the wormwood and ended up in the final product. Many sources took those estimates as fact. Modern GCMS testing of both vintage pre-ban absinthe and modern absinthe made using traditional equipment and recipes show both to have low thujone levels. The reason for this seems to be that most thujone stays in the pot and doesn't transfer to the distilate. Since a maceration is just an alcohol extraction without distillation you will end up with more thujone than a distilled product. Although it's questionable how important thujone really is as it was originally suggested as the culprit to the absinthe effect with old incomplete data and poor scientific methods (see thujone). Two of the modern GCMS studies can be found here [1] and [2] Ari 18:27, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Piołunówka Blog

I though that it may be interesting to post some expierience with making piołunowka as I proceed.It is not quite encyclopedic, but may proove to be interesting for those interested in the subject, so for now I will be putting it here, unless there is a better palce that I not know of.

  1. Day 1 and 2: I bought all the ingredients with zero problem, found a proper jar and started my journey. After mixing everything the alcohol got nice green color. The second day brought the myst. The mixture is getting less and less clear. Interestingly, when I point a flashlight at the jar and look in the same direction as the light is going (you know - i'm "behind" the flashlight) the liquid looks brown. but when I change the angle - it's green only. It also smells different than the first day - the scent of anise gone much to the background. I also tasted it a bit. Well, I tasted a stick I used to mix it - it is bitter as hell, which is good. After filtering and mixing 1:1 with vodka it will be perfect. LLothar 22:22, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
  2. Day 3, 4 and 5: I thought it was very dark before. Now it is two times darker.The light of flashlight barely gets through. I don't really think that there will be anything happening during the rest of the macerating period, so next entry will be after filtering. Maybe I will be able to supply the article with some tips about doing it. LLothar 23:50, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
  3. The next days: Iv'e tried it and it was.. welll... bit to bitter and had to much "grass" flavour in it. So i've decided to distill it, Therefore making it a real absinth. I have no distillation equipment - I've took a jar (the one I macerated in), poured some of the piolunowka in and put a small glass in the middle. Then Iv'e put some foil (plastic one, not alluminum), shaped it into a inversed cone and put some ice on top. And guess what? It works! I distill about 25ml of Absinth every 24hours ;). It is clear (no green colour) and tastes much better. The Absinth condensates on the cold foil and then drops into the glass. It's the same process like you get a cold glass of beer - in time it becomes wet - I use the same effect. By this metod you can distill only all the fractions, you can't control what is being distilled.LLothar 22:54, 9 February 2006 (UTC)