Bourbon Chips

What are they? Well they are oak chips taken from barrels that have been used to age bourbon for a minimum of 4-8 years. They can greatly enhance the flavour of your bourbon and are simple and easy to use, just leave them to soak in your spirit, drain and taste the difference!


We have 3 different kinds of bourbon chips derived from well known bourbon brands:

• Kentucky Bourbon Chips come from Jim Beam barrels
• Gobbler's Bourbon Chips come from Wild Turkey barrels
• Tennessee Bourbon Chips come from Jack Daniels barrels

Soak 1/2 packet of bourbon chips in 2 litres of filtered spirit stirring daily for a minimum of 10 days. Drain carefully and then add your favourite bourbon essence. Half a bottle for the Top Shelf essences or 1 packet of Classic essence per 2 litres of spirit.


Try experimenting with different chips and essences or even blend them all together - you may be surprised at the results!

Hot Toddy Recipe

Feeling the freeze? Hot Toddy's are a great way to beat off the winter blues. This popular hot toddy recipe will not only warm your insides, but it tastes delicious and can stave away that nasty cold or flu!

 

Ingredients (to make 2 cups)

• 80ml whiskey
• 60ml fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tbs honey
• 2 x cinnamon sticks, bruised
• 12 whole cloves
• 250ml boiling water

Stir together all the ingredients, making sure honey is dissolved. Strain and pour into cups - drink immediately while it's still hot! 

Different Types of Stills

Pot Stills? Reflux Stills? Air Stills? What does it all mean?! This post will help you decide which still is best for you.

What is a Pot Still?

A pot still has a simple condenser fitted which condenses the vapours produced by the boiler. The alcohol content is usually lower in strength as compared to a reflux still. It is important to discard the first 50mls of liquid produced as this may contain by-products that will substantially reduce the quality of your spirit.

This still is also ideal for extracting essential oils.

What is an Air Still?

An air still is like a pot still but uses air instead of water to cool the condenser using an inbuilt fan making it great for regions where water shortages are a problem.  It is designed for water distillation, bio fuel manufacture, essential oil extraction or alcohol distillation. The Turbo Air Still's stylish and compact design makes it ideal for the kitchen bench and requires no more space than any other of your kitchen appliances!




What is a Reflux Still?

A reflux still has a column between the condenser and the pot which is packed with ceramic or copper saddles. These provide a large surface area in the column which maximises the contact between the liquid and the vapour. As the vapours rise up the column, the vapours of heavier liquids such as water, condense and fall back down. This process is known as refluxing and produces a much higher purity alcohol.

The Turbo 500 Still is the latest in cutting edge still technology and is designed and assembled in New Zealand. It can be used to produce high quality, commercial grade, clear
spirits such as Gin, White Rum and Vodka as well as any of the other Spirits and Liqueurs in the Still Spirits Essences range.

Please note in New Zealand, Austria, Italy, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine it is perfectly legal to home distil for personal use, but elsewhere it is not.

In most countries it is illegal for an individual to use a still for the purpose of making your own pure alcohol to drink. Yet it’s not against the law to own a water distillation unit or a simple ‘plug in and press start’ air-still, (under 5 litres in Australia) and many people already use these devices to distil water or to make essential oils.

Still Spirits strongly recommends that you check the legal status of amateur distillation in your country beforehand.