Ginger brandy

Talk about your favorite liquor, ask questions, and share stories all about booze!

Moderators: Bookworm, starkruzr, MrFireDragon, PrettyPrincess, Wapsi

Post Reply
User avatar
Catawampus
Posts: 2145
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:47 pm

Ginger brandy

Post by Catawampus »

Does anybody have any recommendations on a decent ginger brandy (as opposed to decent Jin and Brandi), or ginger liqueur even?
User avatar
TazManiac
Posts: 3701
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:53 pm

Re: Ginger brandy

Post by TazManiac »

Not yet, but I am intrigued...
User avatar
Bookworm
Posts: 615
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:59 pm
Location: Houston, TX
Contact:

Re: Ginger brandy

Post by Bookworm »

I didn't even know there was such a thing. I guess with 'Bacon Vodka', then Ginger flavoured Brandy shouldn't be too surprising. I doubt anyone's made it _from_ ginger itself. (brandy is distilled wine, I can't see someone making a wine from nothing but ginger root. Probably would be hard to ferment, as it's very low in sugars)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
User avatar
Catawampus
Posts: 2145
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:47 pm

Re: Ginger brandy

Post by Catawampus »

Bookworm wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 7:18 pm I didn't even know there was such a thing. I guess with 'Bacon Vodka', then Ginger flavoured Brandy shouldn't be too surprising. I doubt anyone's made it _from_ ginger itself. (brandy is distilled wine, I can't see someone making a wine from nothing but ginger root. Probably would be hard to ferment, as it's very low in sugars)
When I've made it in the past, it was equal parts ginger and raisins, with some more sugar added.
User avatar
Dave
Posts: 7584
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 5:58 pm
Location: Mountain View, CA, USA

Re: Ginger brandy

Post by Dave »

Most of the recipes I see, don't throw ginger into the fermentation process. Instead, they steep... peeled ginger root, often a vanilla bean, and other ingredients are steeped in brandy for a few days to a few weeks, and then filtered out. Some commercial brands may just add a ginger extract (and other flavorings) to brandy, and declare victory.

There are indeed a lot of brands of ginger brandy available... it seems to be reasonably popular. Not particularly expensive, either.

I'd be curious to know how well a "ferment the ginger with a source of carbohydrates, and then distill" approach actually works out. Some of the essential oils in ginger root would probably come across in the distillation, but others might be left behind, or destroyed by the heat involved.
User avatar
Catawampus
Posts: 2145
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:47 pm

Re: Ginger brandy

Post by Catawampus »

Dave wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 1:50 pm I'd be curious to know how well a "ferment the ginger with a source of carbohydrates, and then distill" approach actually works out. Some of the essential oils in ginger root would probably come across in the distillation, but others might be left behind, or destroyed by the heat involved.
It's pretty simple to do, though the results can vary considerably in quality. The ginger flavouring does come across fairly well.
Post Reply