Re: [CH] Post Fields Post (warning: includes stupid beginner questions)

Punto (punto@inch.com)
Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:04:13 -0400 

Ted, Jonathan,

Thanks for the advice/warnings. I went out a couple of days ago and 
bought cheap (I can't see any point in pretending that you can taste a 
whole lot of the booze that has had chiles soaking in it) bottles of 
tequila and vodka and tossed in some pods (some whole little yellow and 
skinny red ones [hey, they conveniently fit in the bottle-neck] and the 
vodka had visibly darkened within 24 hours. The color of the tequila was 
already brown/yellow, so it looks about the same. A small taste of each 
of them confirms that the heat and flavor are steeping into both. I'll 
probably give them a few more days of monitoring by taste{it's rough, 
but somebody's got to do it) before I fish out the chiles. It seems a 
shame, since they look so attractive in the bottles, but I'd rather not 
have something that I have to hold my nose to drink.

Peter Hirsch

Jonathan Smillie wrote:
>
>
> Ted Wagner wrote:
>>  Peter,
>>  
>>  One added thing.  I've been experimenting with adding peppers to 
>> bourbon for several years now.  For several years running, I add mint 
>> and a pepper or two (or three or four....etc) to a bottle of bourbon 
>> and bring it to Open Fields each year.
>>  
>>  Any aged alcohol you must experiment and learn from.  My experience 
>> is that if you aren't careful, although the alcohol will be "hot", it 
>> might taste really "off"... or let's just say "nasty".
>>  
>>  
>>   
> Though I no longer partake myself, in my misspent youth I found that 
> the best results were derived from steeping the chiles in the alcohol 
> in question until the desired heat level was reached (rarely more than 
> a week) and then straining them out. Otherwise, it does tend to get 
> that really bad, skunky flavor- it's more noticeable in less naturally 
> strongly-flavored alcohols like vodka, but it'll be there.
>
> Cutting the chiles in half lengthwise (if you're using something like 
> jalapenos or habaneros) also speeds up the "heating" process as 
> distinct from using whole chiles.
>
> Jonathan
>