I’ve had this basil soaking in 190 proof Everclear since last year.

I started trying to clean up the workshop and realized I needed some painkiller to make that happen. I also had some black cherry Kool-Aid.

I cannot recommend this as a taste about beverage. But I can say that the flavors are subtle and complex when mixed together. They’re not unpleasant. I’m pretty sure I could make a stunning cocktail out of this with a bit more sugar.

Why am I cleaning the workshop? Because temperatures are getting warm enough where wood glue works again. And the workshop is a hot mess.

        • FauxPseudo @lemmy.worldOPM
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          2 days ago

          Extremely potent alcohol. Vodka is typically 40 to 47 percent ethanol and the rest is water. Everclear is upwards of 95% ethanol and just 5% water. It’s a solvent. It’s extremely flammable. You could run a vehicle off it. But it might break your hoses though. It’s alcohol strong enough to do productive chemistry with.

          • WIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            I see. Why call it everclear and not just ethanol then? I can get 95% ethanol in pretty much any grocery store here. Is it a specific brand or something?

            • obelisk_complex@piefed.ca
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              2 days ago

              The 95% ethanol you can get at the store is typically methylated, so it will make you sick or kill you to drink it. I think that has to do with the alcohol lobby.

              But anyway, it is possible to buy up to 100% pure anhydrous ethanol, it’s just a specialty item and illegal in some states like California. Probably easier to make it, if you have time on your side.

              • FauxPseudo @lemmy.worldOPM
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                2 days ago

                Getting past 75% purity is not easy and getting to 100% on home equipment isn’t really possible. Ethanol pulls water out of the air because it is sticky due to the molecular polarity of both molecules. You need speciality equipment just to get to the 151 point.

              • WIZARD POPE💫@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                Not as far as I know. Must be some kinda american thing. Ours is sold next to all the other alcoholic beverages and liqueurs. The most common one is literally made by a juice company.

                The bottle says to mix at least 1:1 with water for drinking.

            • FauxPseudo @lemmy.worldOPM
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              2 days ago

              It is a specific brand. If you send someone to the store to buy ethanol that could result in them buying vodka. Send them to buy Everclear and there is no risk of confusion.

    • FauxPseudo @lemmy.worldOPM
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      1 day ago

      My body is very j resistant and when it does work it usually results in sleep instead of productivity. I’m an ethanol powered meat suit.

    • FauxPseudo @lemmy.worldOPM
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      2 days ago

      I grew up on jager. My parents were both bar tenders in middle school. We didn’t have NyQuil in the house. Jager was cheaper and more effective if you were sick. This was the 80s before jager really took off.

      This would need some fennel or licorice to get even close to the flavor of jager.

  • JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social
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    1 day ago

    The supermarket booze around here is so crap that at some point I thought about making a little still. Later, I was dissuaded by the facts that: A) that’s apparently illegal here, B) could probably break my lease, and C) IIRC it can actually be a fire hazard, or something.

    As an alternative, for a while there I was using a Brita filter to improve my cheap booze. It actually works, I found, altho takes a lot of cycles, like at least seven or so to have a noticeable effect. Also uses up the filters really quick, and they’re not cheap. If I ever try that again, I’ll have to research what a cost effective alternative might be.

    One other issue is that during warmer months, fruit flies inevitably get in the apparatus and quickly render it disgusting…