Kentucky bourbon essence, how to use it
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There's a warmth to a good bourbon that most spirits don't have, and it comes from years in a charred oak barrel. You can get a long way towards it at home in an afternoon, using an essence and a neutral base, and it costs a fraction of what a top-shelf bottle does.
What the essence is doing
Real bourbon-making is a patient business. Grain, a still, and years in charred oak. An essence skips the ageing by carrying the flavours that ageing would have given you, so you stir it into a neutral spirit and get the fruity sweetness, the oak and the bit of spice without the wait.
And because you are flavouring a bought neutral base rather than running a still, there is no ATO excise licence involved. That is the bit people are usually surprised by, and it is why the essences are the part of the range we point beginners at.
How to use one
Mix the essence into a neutral spirit at the strength the bottle asks for, give it time to settle, and taste it. The ratio and the resting time are on the pack and they move between products, so follow that rather than a number you read somewhere. If you want it rounder, a few oak chips or an oak soaker will push it further along.
What to do with it once it's made
- Neat or over ice. A whisky glass and one big ice cube, so it melts slowly and you can taste what you made.
- Old Fashioned. Muddle a sugar cube with bitters, add your bourbon, finish with an orange twist.
- Bourbon mule. Ginger beer and a squeeze of fresh lime, which is the one to make when it's hot.
Shop related products
- Edwards Essences Super Smooth Kentucky Bourbon Essence. The closest thing on the website to the Kentucky profile.
- Edwards Essences Tennessee Style Bourbon Essence. A touch smoother and sweeter if Kentucky reads too sharp for you.
- Edwards Essences Honey Bourbon Essence. For a sweeter pour, and it's the one people use for mules.
- Edwards Essences Vodka Essence. For cleaning up a neutral base before you flavour it.
Did you know we also stock the Still Spirits Top Shelf Kentucky Bourbon and plain Bourbon essences, the Top Shelf Select American Bourbon, Sam Willards bourbon oak soakers and bourbon barrel chips in the shop. Those are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.
Not sure which bourbon profile you'd actually like? Brewhilder will help you pick, or have a look at the homebrew collection.
I am the sort of person who says she can taste the oak and then puts ginger beer in it anyway.
Candeece
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