Poitín -difference between shop bought and unlicensed

ahclassbai

Whats the difference and why do people say that shop bought is not as good? I would have thought that the rough way in which its made in the hills and garden sheds would amount for low quality? especially seing as most poitín is only distilled once and the shop bought ones have been distilled two to three times. Thanks

R P McMurphy

ahclassbai wrote: »

Whats the difference and why do people say that shop bought is not as good? I would have thought that the rough makeshift way in which its made in the hills and garden sheds would amount for low quality? especially seeing as most poitín is only distilled once and the shop bought ones have been distilled two to three times (judging by the old photos of illegal stills) . Thanks

Biggest difference would be the strength. Most shop bought would be up to 40 per cent. Home distilled could be anything. As for quality, of course it depends on who you would get it from, some of the traditional distillers would produce a consistent and professional batch year after year. West Cavan would be home to a lot of traditional distillers

ahclassbai

R P McMurphy wrote: »

Biggest difference would be the strength. Most shop bought would be up to 40 per cent. Home distilled could be anything. As for quality, of course it depends on who you would get it from, some of the traditional distillers would produce a consistent and professional batch year after year. West Cavan would be home to a lot of traditional distillers

Ah cool enough.. Ever heard of any one ageing it in oak casks? could be worth a shot , literally a good few shots down the gizzard!

mickdw

I've never seen it made but from my grandfathers time, I remember it was said that any that was only run through once was dangerous.
The safe poitin makers would run it through twice or many 3 times - I forget exactly.
Many stories of men that went crazy on bad stuff.

ahclassbai

mickdw wrote: »

I've never seen it made but from my grandfathers time, I remember it was said that any that was only run through once was dangerous.
The safe poitin makers would run it through twice or many 3 times - I forget exactly.
Many stories of men that went crazy on bad stuff.

Do you mean run it through more than once still or the first couple of jars ?

stimpson

Both Glendalough and Teelings do poitin around the 60% mark. I'm sure I've seen 90% on sale too. I think Glendalough have sherry finished poitin on sale. Try the Celtic Whiskey shop on Dawson street.

I've used the real deal for medical purposes and it was surprisingly smooth to the point that it was drinkable neat.

R P McMurphy

stimpson wrote: »

Both Glendalough and Teelings do poitin around the 60% mark. I'm sure I've seen 90% on sale too. I think Glendalough have sherry finished poitin on sale. Try the Celtic Whiskey shop on Dawson street.

I've used the real deal for medical purposes and it was surprisingly smooth to the point that it was drinkable neat.

I thought that couldn't possibly be right but sure enough there is a 90 per cent poitin available to buy - knockeen hills.

ahclassbai

stimpson wrote: »

Both Glendalough and Teelings do poitin around the 60% mark. I'm sure I've seen 90% on sale too. I think Glendalough have sherry finished poitin on sale. Try the Celtic Whiskey shop on Dawson street.

I've used the real deal for medical purposes and it was surprisingly smooth to the point that it was drinkable neat.

yeah I saw that alright! looks high quality , wonder is it as good as you could get in an old style still with old style methods!

stimpson

It goes without saying that if you try any of the high abv stuff that you should treat it with respect. It can easily mess you up.

mickdw

ahclassbai wrote: »

Do you mean run it through more than once still or the first couple of jars ?

As far as I know they would run the distillation process twice at least.
Don't know how good their equipment was though.

ahclassbai

stimpson wrote: »

Both Glendalough and Teelings do poitin around the 60% mark. I'm sure I've seen 90% on sale too. I think Glendalough have sherry finished poitin on sale. Try the Celtic Whiskey shop on Dawson street.

I've used the real deal for medical purposes and it was surprisingly smooth to the point that it was drinkable neat.

stimpson wrote: »

It goes without saying that if you try any of the high abv stuff that you should treat it with respect. It can easily mess you up.

yeah tis true can make ya very sick , I find poitín gives you a sort of dangerous narcotic , makes you go a bit mad if you over indulge..

ahclassbai

mickdw wrote: »

As far as I know they would run the distillation process twice at least.
Don't know how good their equipment was though.

Yeah cool . Id imagine when the monks were making it in 500ad ,being were famous for their spirit making , that they would have maby kept the whiskey in oak wooden casks or some other wood as it was shipped abroad in large quantities . Surely they would have discovered the browning of their whiskey and ageing qualities! Glendalough was well known by the kings of Europe for their whiskey (Ireland being the first to discover distilling in the world) and kings would often send off for it.

ahclassbai

mickdw wrote: »

As far as I know they would run the distillation process twice at least.
Don't know how good their equipment was though.

Yeah cool . Id imagine when the monks were making it in 500ad ,being were famous for their spirit making , that they would have maby kept the whiskey in oak wooden casks or some other wood as it was shipped abroad in large quantities . Surely they would have discovered the browning of their whiskey and ageing qualities! Glendalough was well known by the kings of Europe for their whiskey (Ireland being the first to discover distilling in the world) and kings would often send off for it. Suppose nobody had time for all that distilling craic when the method became know around ireland . Liquid money

john the one

Got a bottle of Poitin as a gift 2 years ago. It was smooth enough to drink but a few drams will really knock you off your feet.

I actually ditched most of the bottle just in case the little one ever got hands on!

Markcheese

Pretty sure loads of other cultures had distilling before us.... 99% certain the Arabs did.... Does the wooden casks always impart a colour ? You can get single cask scotch which hasn't been standardized and hasn't had caramel colour added , but that's unusual ...

ahclassbai

Markcheese wrote: »

Pretty sure loads of other cultures had distilling before us.... 99% certain the Arabs did.... Does the wooden casks always impart a colour ? You can get single cask scotch which hasn't been standardized and hasn't had caramel colour added , but that's unusual ...

"Poitín {potcheen}, is the first drink ever distilled, with earliest records dating back to approx
584ad. Irish whiskey is a direct descendant. In fact all whiskey and all distilled drinks can be
traced back to poitín making in Ireland 14 centuries ago.
It was first made with expertise and reverence in monasteries like Glendalough by Irish monks
who were the master distillers of their time. "
found that on roguewine.com and saw a video which said it was too. But then others say it was "one of the first" to be distilled. But sure who knows!

ahclassbai

john the one wrote: »

Got a bottle of Poitin as a gift 2 years ago. It was smooth enough to drink but a few drams will really knock you off your feet.

I actually ditched most of the bottle just in case the little one ever got hands on!

Yeah blows the head off ya! Was just thinking when I was a teenagers robbing drink from the cupboards and I was very sick a good few times! Dangerous as hell to have lieing around the house with kids haha!

L1011

The Coomara 40% stuff in Tesco is the roughest crap I've ever drunk, if you were ever considering it.

ahclassbai

L1011 wrote: »

The Coomara 40% stuff in Tesco is the roughest crap I've ever drunk, if you were ever considering it.

hahahaha sounds rough man jaysus

irish_goat

ahclassbai wrote: »

"Poitín {potcheen}, is the first drink ever distilled, with earliest records dating back to approx
584ad. Irish whiskey is a direct descendant. In fact all whiskey and all distilled drinks can be
traced back to poitín making in Ireland 14 centuries ago.
It was first made with expertise and reverence in monasteries like Glendalough by Irish monks
who were the master distillers of their time. "
found that on roguewine.com and saw a video which said it was too. But then others say it was "one of the first" to be distilled. But sure who knows!

Aristotle has writings about distilling water and wine, although there's sources that say the Chinese and Mesopotamians were also distilling long before 500AD.

Mesrine65

I get presented a bottle every Xmas off a 4th generation distiller/friend from Tyrone, wonderful stuff, just add a splash of water to it.

SteeveeDee

Well here's the thing, all "wild poitin" is different and each distiller makes it differently so you can never really know which is better without tasting each and every one. I personally like 3 or 4 "wild poitins" I have tasted and regularly receive and they are indeed very different from each other. I have tasted a few others and to be honest was not impressed, some were like creamy vodka and others like a very dry sharp tasteless gin. Some people prefer what the impurities impart in the taste, I am one of those people, so prefer a less refined drink. Usually they distill it twice as doing only one run will result in a very inconsistent poitin.

I only ever tried the Glendalough sherry cask finish poitin. I quite liked it, although it was aged a bit.

the beer revolu

Up until recently most commercial poiteens were pretty much flavoured vodka. Now poiteen /poitín has been legally defined as a GI and has to be brewed, fermented and distilled from a list of various agricultural sources. There should be some interesting poiteens knocking around in the future.
Black's of Kinsale have a nice one out.

I reckon most poor illegal poiteen was made from granulated sugar, the good stuff from various grains.
I have tasted some very good illegal poiteen.
A good poiteen made from grain is, essentially, unaged whiskey.

Pinch Flat

My grandmother used to be a fan of the illegal variety - used it for (ahem) arthritis apparently. I got my hands on a bottle a few years ago - from a mate - brought it to London for some after dinner digestifs after my English friends asked me to get some, when I think if it it was in my bag going through Heathrow - pre 9/11 and all that.

Anyway apparently methanol and lead are the two major items that can cause you hassle (ie kill you!) so you don't want that - lead was from distilling it through old car radiators which wasn't uncommon back in the day, methanol I think develops if distilled at wrong temperature, but open to correction.

In saying that the stuff I had was drinkable - too much though and you'd be hungover for a week. Also had poteen jelly at a party one time - quite nice

The flame test is one way of testing purity - blue flame good. Yellow flame suggests too much impurity and best avoided.

http://youtu.be/Pu9ENsxWoDM

Test for moonshine, but same principle

Carawaystick

I think the methanol thing is bull, If you use grain or sugar, it's hard to see yeast making it.
You could get fusils and other higher alcohols in a fast fermentation, which might leave a hangover.

I've a bottle of rye poitin from Conemara, its drinkable with about half its volume in water and tasty as a hot toddy with a spoon of sugar.