Poitin

woodturner

Just wondering what you guys drink with poitin? It's nice with orange juice but haven't tried it with anything else.

Ronan|Raven

I could only ever manage drinking it mixed with hot water..
I assume we are talking about proper poitin and not the shop sold stuff?

woodturner

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

I could only ever manage drinking it mixed with hot water..
I assume we are talking about proper poitin and not the shop sold stuff?

Shop sold stuff??? Yuck

woodturner

Oh it's the proper stuff. My father said it's nice with orange juice and it's actually quite nice.

Mesrine65

Few drop's of hot tabasco sauce & slam it :eek:

A fiery Irish red head...HUZZAH

Mesrine65

Do not smoke after you slam, especially if you have a voluminous beard...

Long story

Herb Powell

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Do not smoke after you slam, especially if you have a voluminous beard...

Long story

Did it turn you into a dragon?

CJ Haughey

Makes grand punch.

rubadub

woodturner wrote: »

Shop sold stuff??? Yuck

have you had them all/many? I see 6 on sale in celtic whiskey shop and 2 different ones in tesco not in celtic whiskey shop, and a few others on wikipedia.

And how would you define "proper poitin", obviously you are inferring its illegal, but what other characteristics?

Most I have tasted tasted pretty bad and was fairly low %, people thought it was high as it was hard to drink, but that was just because of the vile taste. I am fairly alright at estimating %.

drumswan

Whats a 'proper Poitin' and why are the commercial varieties not considered 'proper'?

L1011

drumswan wrote: »

Whats a 'proper Poitin' and why are the commercial varieties not considered 'proper'?

Made by a mate of your grandfather in his shed, I imagine.

The commercial poitin I've had is bloody awful - although based on everything else I've had from the same distillery (West Cork) its the most drinkable as you can just drown it in Irn Bru to mask the flavour.

woodturner

The shop sold Poitin just doesn't compare to the other.

the beer revolu

The powers that be are currently trying to define poitin. It looks like any vodka on the market could be called poitin in the future.

Poitin is just unaged whiskey, really.

drumswan

woodturner wrote: »

The shop sold Poitin just doesn't compare to the other.

Why?

woodturner

drumswan wrote: »

Why?

There's more alcohol in it than compared to shop bought which gives it more of kick. And it does actually taste better, it's kinda hard to describe.

Ipso

the beer revolu wrote: »

The powers that be are currently trying to define poitin. It looks like any vodka on the market could be called poitin in the future.

Poitin is just unaged whiskey, really.

What is the backround to it being illegal; is it 800 years of oppression or down to dodgy preparation?

djflawless

Ipso wrote: »

What is the backround to it being illegal; is it 800 years of oppression or down to dodgy preparation?

Reasons its illegal
1) it brings joy
2)makes a few pound.most fellas sell a few bottles to a brother, neighbour etc

john the one

Best way to drink it is with a drop of water, and shoot it. Its not supposed to be drank with finesse or with your cheeseboard. Its a tool to get drunk with

who the fug

Now that 45 gallons of molasses are not so common what do they use to make the mash

who the fug

Mesrine65 wrote: »

Do not smoke after you slam, especially if you have a voluminous beard...

Long story

We have plenty of time, also do you have pictures

GY A1

who the fug wrote: »

Now that 45 gallons of molasses are not so common what do they use to make the mash

thats a rum

poitinstill

i know in west cork its fading out due to the 15 euro bottle of tesco value gin meeting the demand for a cheap fix of alcohol. but its still in demand as a rub for animals.... and also there are still semi-artisan poitins available on the "black market"... if you know the man who knows man he can get you the stuff. The good stuff usually has been produced by the same family for generations with little change to the methods.

woodturner

It's illegal because you're not paying tax on it. As a producer you're making a taxable spirit. As a buyer you should pay tax on it also.

drumswan

woodturner wrote: »

There's more alcohol in it than compared to shop bought which gives it more of kick. And it does actually taste better, it's kinda hard to describe.

But sure everyone makes a different version of 'Poitin' surely. You can make it from all sorts.

yellowlabrador

I used to have a small bottle of first run for animal emergencies. I don't think I would have tried to drink it myself.

the beer revolu

Ipso wrote: »

What is the backround to it being illegal; is it 800 years of oppression or down to dodgy preparation?

Distilling spirits without a license is illegal.
In Ireland, illegal spirits became known as poitin.
Poitin could be made from anything fermentable. Good poitin would be made from grain. Bad poitin from sugar and water.
What pretty much all poitin has in common is that it is an unaged white spirit.

There is no evidence that poitin is/was made from potatoes as is commonly believed.
Apparently, it is very difficult to extract fermentable sugars from potatoes.

Mesrine65

who the fug wrote: »

We have plenty of time, also do you have pictures

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94159321&postcount=20

GY A1

nice as hot whiskey

CJ Haughey

Has been used for years in bars mixing it with real whiskey, after a feed of guinness on a Friday after pension or mass on Sunday getting a tonic of poteen and whiskey you would never notice.

djflawless

On the subject of poitin, a polish guy is getting me a bottle of their version of back shelf brew.called brenbear or something along those lines...
Had an argument with him about which is stronger

tony 2 tone

drumswan wrote: »

Why?

Cos it's cooler to say you know a guy, who knows a guy, who might be able to get you some, than to buy it in a shop. :rolleyes:
There is a poteen available in Celtic Whiskey shop that is 90%, http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Irish-Spirits-and-Liqueurs-Home-Page/knockeen-hills-extra-strength
That should be comparable to the "bandit" made stuff, strength wise any way.

um7y1h83ge06nx

tony 2 tone wrote: »

Cos it's cooler to say you know a guy, who knows a guy, who might be able to get you some, than to buy it in a shop. :rolleyes:
There is a poteen available in Celtic Whiskey shop that is 90%, http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Irish-Spirits-and-Liqueurs-Home-Page/knockeen-hills-extra-strength
That should be comparable to the "bandit" made stuff, strength wise any way.

Shocking price though, would buy a bottle of Redbreast first and have change.

the beer revolu

djflawless wrote: »

On the subject of poitin, a polish guy is getting me a bottle of their version of back shelf brew.called brenbear or something along those lines...
Had an argument with him about which is stronger

It's not difficult to make a strong (70% abv) spirit. Pretty much every spirit is diluted down to bottling strength.
Strength does not equal quality.

rubadub

woodturner wrote: »

The shop sold Poitin just doesn't compare to the other.

Again I would ask you which ones you have had, out of the large amount of varieties out there. At least give people some names to avoid.

This thread reminds me of the nonsense you hear about butchers vs supermarkets. As though all butchers and all supermarkets are identical. And someone says butchers are always better, then someone says the local one is really bad and you get this stupid cop-out reply "well find a better butcher so".

Most poitins I have had are pretty vile, and not particularly high in %.

the beer revolu wrote: »

Poitin is just unaged whiskey, really.

I would just define it as illegally distilled alcohol.

woodturner wrote: »

There's more alcohol in it than compared to shop bought which gives it more of kick.

There are 90% commercial ones. I doubt many illegal ones are that, certainly not the ones I tasted. Like illicit powdered drugs it can be diluted down along the supply chain.

Ipso wrote: »

What is the backround to it being illegal; is it 800 years of oppression or down to dodgy preparation?

Its the tax issue, but people perpetuating myths have led to a wariness of the thought of legalizing it. The preparation is easy & quite safe, in many countries it is currently legal to distill, some homebrew shops here sell distillation equipment. There are myths abound about going blind, I have challenged numerous people to find a single instance of someone going blind or hospitalized after drinking home distilled alcohol made from fermented wash. None could ever find one. You will find hundreds of links to people going blind or dying from drinking illegal alcohol, it is invariably criminal gangs selling industrial alcohol as drinking alcohol. This would be a risk here too of course, there have been fake bottles of smirnoff with high levels of other alcohols in them.

If this minimum pricing comes in you can expect more cases.

GY A1 wrote: »

thats a rum

Tesco value vodka is molasses based, so are a few others. So if somebody has an illegally brewed bottle of alcohol made from molasses would you insist on calling it rum, instead of poitin, or do you have some other name? Poitin simply means little pot.

the beer revolu wrote: »

Good poitin would be made from grain. Bad poitin from sugar and water.
What pretty much all poitin has in common is that it is an unaged white spirit.

If offered I would go for the sugar based one. There is good reason why a lot of the home distillation community use sugar in their washes when making a neutral spirit. Sugar washes only produce trace amounts of methanol as a by product. Grain ones will have lots more, nothing is produced during distillation, some people think the process is what creates the methanol and other nasties. There is methanol naturally occurring in your beers.

Ian Wisniewski, one of Britain's leading spirits experts, and Tom Innes, the former editor of bar and lifestyle magazine, Theme

VODKA TEST
After tasting the following vodkas blind with spirits experts Ian Wisniewski and Tom Innes, here are the winners and the losers. All the vodkas are widely available.
1st: Glen's (£8.69)
2nd: Russian Standard (£13.29)
3rd: Absolut (£14.99)
4th: Wyborowa (£15.99)
5th: Finlandia (£14.19)
Joint 6th: Smirnoff Red (£12.19);
Stolichnaya (£14.99);
Belvedere (£30)
9th: Grey Goose (£30.79)
10th: Smirnoff Black (£15.99)

Glens is molasses based,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/5770943/10-vodkas-put-to-the-test.html