You can make your own 'Orujo de Hierbas'?!

[simply B]

Well, apparently so.....

Orujo de Hierbas is a Spanish Herbal liqueur - Taste the Wild

Fabulous Galicia is where our son is living now and on visits over there we have discovered this wonderfully flavoured drink. It’s full of the scents of summer meadows, chamomile, mint and hay. I bought a bottle from a lady on the market, it was in a re-used local wine bottle and wrapped in...

tastethewild.co.uk

Not able to get on Camino until, whenever, I find myself missing this. Since I am not able to access plain orujo, I am using a base of "7x distilled" vodka which is very clean though neutral in flavor...it lacks the "woody/smoky" notes of the clear Galician local product. I'll probably throw in a couple of toasted oak chips to the 1 liter batch for aging.

My first batch is a couple days in and I am encouraged by daily testings. More than likely, it will not make it to 10 days as given in the recipe before straining - - it is picking up color and flavor rather rapidly. And I am probably going to do the syrup addition in stages to get close to the desired target. I do not remember the 'good stuff' as being overly sweet.

For people in the N. Hemisphere, right now might be the last time for several months to access some of the "fresh" ingredients. But then, perhaps I just live in a small town with less fresh choices in the Fall and Winter months. Other folks may have more choices and less urgency.

@nalod.... if you are still checking in here? Perhaps you will remember me from our enthusiastic sampling of the product in question and wonderful discussions back in early March 2016 in the salon of Hospedería San Martín Pinario. (We shut the place down that night...and yet remained on good terms with all the staff.)

B

 

[Jeff Crawley]

During a lockdown "stock take" I found I have two litre bottles of Orjuo de Hierbas and one of Orujo de Miel. I always bring home a bottle of it and another of Pacharan. The Orujo tends to linger though - it really is a "spirit of place" and doesn't taste quite the same in damp England as it did atop a Spanish mountain.

 

[Pelegrin]

The orujo area in Spain is Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Leon and Zamora. In the rest the orujo de hierbas (which is a Galician drink) is now popular as dessert but for no more than 40 years more or less.

 

[Kanga]

Lockdown and Covid 19 seem a pretty good excuse for some home made hooch. I expect some clever member can tell us how to set up a still. Not that I am suggesting anything illegal....

 

[Jeff Crawley]

We once owned a holiday home in the Charente-Maritime region of France (Cognac) and it was a pre-holiday ritual for my young daughters to choose a large tin of "English" biscuits (usually Scottish shortbread) for our neighbours which gave them free reign whenever offered sweets by Monsieur et Madame.

On one visit I joked about the local wines being poor but the cognac was excellent (he was semi-retired but still kept up his little vineyard and vegetable garden)
"You like cognac?"
"Of course!"

He shuffled off and came back with a dumpy bottle, four shot glasses and a box of sugar cubes. His wife indicated to mine that you dunk a sugar cube in the drink and pop it into your mouth but it was too strong for her so I ended up with two (large) shots.

My word, I've never tasted anything like it before:
<<Fabriqué en 1968, épreuve à 68%, vieilli en fûts de chêne, non dilué, sans caramel ajouté>> (made in 1968 - it was 1993 by then - 68% proof, aged in oak casks, not watered down, no caramel added)

I went to turn the bottle to see where this nectar was made but M. Mormiche shook a finger and then pointed to himself: <<Je l'ai fait!>> and beckoned us out to the barn. There was his "alambrique" a stone oven with a leaded customs seal on the iron door, the big copper "onion" on top and the condensing coils.

My recollections of what followed are a bit hazy but apparently my French was very fluent and if I'm right he indicated a barrel in the corner of the barn - the last of a batch his father had made in 1945 to celebrate Liberation.

They popped around to us for coffee and English Cake the next week and it was his habit to bring a bottle of his home made (very good) wine with him. This time, after they left, I opened the bag to find a bottle of cognac instead!

I'm not a big drinker and still have half of the bottle left, afraid to sip in case it hasn't aged well - but then it is 52 years old!

 

[malingerer]

We once owned a holiday home in the Charente-Maritime region of France (Cognac) and it was a pre-holiday ritual for my young daughters to choose a large tin of "English" biscuits (usually Scottish shortbread) for our neighbours which gave them free reign whenever offered sweets by Monsieur et Madame.

On one visit I joked about the local wines being poor but the cognac was excellent (he was semi-retired but still kept up his little vineyard and vegetable garden)
"You like cognac?"
"Of course!"

He shuffled off and came back with a dumpy bottle, four shot glasses and a box of sugar cubes. His wife indicated to mine that you dunk a sugar cube in the drink and pop it into your mouth but it was too strong for her so I ended up with two (large) shots.

My word, I've never tasted anything like it before:
<<Fabriqué en 1968, épreuve à 68%, vieilli en fûts de chêne, non dilué, sans caramel ajouté>> (made in 1968 - it was 1993 by then - 68% proof, aged in oak casks, not watered down, no caramel added)

I went to turn the bottle to see where this nectar was made but M. Mormiche shook a finger and then pointed to himself: <<Je l'ai fait!>> and beckoned us out to the barn. There was his "alambrique" a stone oven with a leaded customs seal on the iron door, the big copper "onion" on top and the condensing coils.

My recollections of what followed are a bit hazy but apparently my French was very fluent and if I'm right he indicated a barrel in the corner of the barn - the last of a batch his father had made in 1945 to celebrate Liberation.

They popped around to us for coffee and English Cake the next week and it was his habit to bring a bottle of his home made (very good) wine with him. This time, after they left, I opened the bag to find a bottle of cognac instead!

I'm not a big drinker and still have half of the bottle left, afraid to sip in case it hasn't aged well - but then it is 52 years old!

Sir! I am in awe! As a maker of mead with a secret ingredient added I consumed a fair amount of orujo con hierbe with a great deal of glee when on camino! I never thought abut making it! As to Cognac, I preferred Calvados. If only I could afford a still I am afraid my loft might be the subject of a dawn raid by the Excise Men! I would of course have to make black powder for the blunderbuss with which to fend them off!

Samarkand.

 

[henrythedog]

During a lockdown "stock take" I found I have two litre bottles of Orjuo de Hierbas and one of Orujo de Miel. I always bring home a bottle of it and another of Pacharan. The Orujo tends to linger though - it really is a "spirit of place" and doesn't taste quite the same in damp England as it did atop a Spanish mountain.

View attachment 81690

I accumulate part bottles of local spirits and liqueurs which tasted like the nectar of the gods in their own terroir, but like furniture polish back in Cumbria. I recall splitting a bottle of ouzo with a Greek colleague whilst lunching off fish on a salonican quayside. An identical bottle here languished three-quarters full. Likewise a bottle of bison-grass vodka.

The solution presents itself annually in the form of Christmas and my wife’s family who will drink anything with some lemonade added and declare ‘ it makes a nice drink, does that’.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Sir! I am in awe! As a maker of mead with a secret ingredient added I consumed a fair amount of orujo con hierbe with a great deal of glee when on camino! I never thought abut making it! As to Cognac, I preferred Calvados. If only I could afford a still I am afraid my loft might be the subject of a dawn raid by the Excise Men! I would of course have to make black powder for the blunderbuss with which to fend them off!

Samarkand.

One of my uncles warned me off Calva having been plied with copious quantities of it by the locals as he passed through in the summer of '44. He and his mates were told it was made from apples, they assumed it was cider . . .

 

[malingerer]

One of my uncles warned me off Calva having been plied with copious quantities of it by the locals as he passed through in the summer of '44. He and his mates were told it was made from apples, they assumed it was cider . . .

my dear daddy made some wicked brews in his time! Notably when in 8th Army and being chased up and down by Rommel! The ingenuity of the average soldier in making moonshine under adverse conditions is breathtaking and I make no mention of my own! Oruba at O'Cebreiro was a somewhat secretive affair with dusty bottles being furtively pass up from under the counter! That was years ago however and I didn't bother to ask why! Something else to make me grin and think of Camino.

Samarkand

 

[Bernice M]

Lockdown and Covid 19 seem a pretty good excuse for some home made hooch. I expect some clever member can tell us how to set up a still. Not that I am suggesting anything illegal....

A still in Oz? It's legal to have one in NZ, along with about four other countries world-wide, most of them disreputable.

 

[simply B]

Lockdown and Covid 19 seem a pretty good excuse for some home made hooch. I expect some clever member can tell us how to set up a still. Not that I am suggesting anything illegal....

Kanga -

Plenty of resources on the Interwebz in this regard BUT:

- You need to check national law to see if the act of production is legal.

- If you wish to proceed, stick with designs in either copper or stainless steel if you seek a safely consumable product. There should be no exposure of the distilled goods to lead, aluminum, or tin-based compounds or solders.

- Do not not get greedy for "yield"...there are at least two "tailings" you need to dump to other uses. (Engine de-greasing at the first tailing of methanol. Personal hygiene for the second tailing of isopropyl alcohol - hand sanitizer?) Be satisfied with 90-100 proof (45-50% ABV) final product strength.

- It's a big topic with plenty of room for exploration but one needs to explore with caution.


@Jeff Crawley -

"I'm not a big drinker and still have half of the bottle left, afraid to sip in case it hasn't aged well - but then it is 52 years old! "

Not an expert on the topic but back in 1981 I was offered a 200 y/o brandy in Japan. I expressed concern about likely quality after so much time. My host gently replied, "Sensei, brandy is the only spirit which ages well in glass. Let us drink!"

There were not enough "o"s in smooth to describe the experience.

My suggestion? Give it a try! It may be paler than you remember at the last decant but the flavor should be superb.

B

 

[hecate105]

Most countries have their own version - I had Centerbe in Italy and always now make my own - it changes slightly with the seasons...
A safer way to make this kind of liquor is to use vodka or brandy - a good strong one. Then wander around your garden and pick a few sprigs of whatever is in season - make sure you can identify anything you use - obvs! Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, marjoram, mints, basil, - if it is edible and has a pleasant smell - pop it in a big kilner jar. (don't use lovage/valerian/ramsons - it will turn out yucky!) then add any spices you have - a stick or two of cinnamon, a few allspice berries, nutmeg. Add a few coffee nbeans and if you like a bit of tea - Lady Grey or Lapsong is good... a few bits of fruit peel (no pith) - top up the jar with the vodka or brandy and leave in a cool dark place for 3 months. Strain it off and 'let down' the alcohol with as much sugar syrup as suits your taste - I use about 20% as I don;t like it too sweet! Mix and bottle. This makes a good herb tonic - a great way to get the herb effects in the depths of winter - and excellent as a hot toddy! Keeps for years. If you make it two or three times a year - the variation in available herbs etc is interesting....

 

[malingerer]

Most countries have their own version - I had Centerbe in Italy and always now make my own - it changes slightly with the seasons...
A safer way to make this kind of liquor is to use vodka or brandy - a good strong one. Then wander around your garden and pick a few sprigs of whatever is in season - make sure you can identify anything you use - obvs! Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, marjoram, mints, basil, - if it is edible and has a pleasant smell - pop it in a big kilner jar. (don't use lovage/valerian/ramsons - it will turn out yucky!) then add any spices you have - a stick or two of cinnamon, a few allspice berries, nutmeg. Add a few coffee nbeans and if you like a bit of tea - Lady Grey or Lapsong is good... a few bits of fruit peel (no pith) - top up the jar with the vodka or brandy and leave in a cool dark place for 3 months. Strain it off and 'let down' the alcohol with as much sugar syrup as suits your taste - I use about 20% as I don;t like it too sweet! Mix and bottle. This makes a good herb tonic - a great way to get the herb effects in the depths of winter - and excellent as a hot toddy! Keeps for years. If you make it two or three times a year - the variation in available herbs etc is interesting....

Fantastic! Am going to nail this page to my favourites and proceed with cunning for the winter! A cruel fate (Meniere's disease) forbids me alcohol with my medication but ah! what the hell, I know just the person to try it on!

Samarkand.

 

[ginniek]

Kanga -

Plenty of resources on the Interwebz in this regard BUT:

- You need to check national law to see if the act of production is legal.

- If you wish to proceed, stick with designs in either copper or stainless steel if you seek a safely consumable product. There should be no exposure of the distilled goods to lead, aluminum, or tin-based compounds or solders.

- Do not not get greedy for "yield"...there are at least two "tailings" you need to dump to other uses. (Engine de-greasing at the first tailing of methanol. Personal hygiene for the second tailing of isopropyl alcohol - hand sanitizer?) Be satisfied with 90-100 proof (45-50% ABV) final product strength.

- It's a big topic with plenty of room for exploration but one needs to explore with caution.


@Jeff Crawley -

"I'm not a big drinker and still have half of the bottle left, afraid to sip in case it hasn't aged well - but then it is 52 years old! "

Not an expert on the topic but back in 1981 I was offered a 200 y/o brandy in Japan. I expressed concern about likely quality after so much time. My host gently replied, "Sensei, brandy is the only spirit which ages well in glass. Let us drink!"

There were not enough "o"s in smooth to describe the experience.

My suggestion? Give it a try! It may be paler than you remember at the last decant but the flavor should be superb.

B

 

[hecate105]

Making a drink from legally bought alcohol is definitely legal in the UK - I make fruit liqueurs as Xmas presents annually! I cannot see why it would be illegal anywhere - where alcohol is legal anyhow!
The use of a still is interesting.... in UK law it is legal for your own consumption but heaven help you if you start selling it! they don't like losing the huge amount of tax... In many European countries people take stills from place to place and distill your excess fruit - plums into Slivovich etc... A good way of storing/preserving - assuming you add fruit back to the distillation!
As a child part of my education (!) was standing by a small still making sure it was running smoothly - my Father thought it was good for my science knowledge...

 

[Canada Wanders]

We once owned a holiday home in the Charente-Maritime region of France (Cognac) and it was a pre-holiday ritual for my young daughters to choose a large tin of "English" biscuits (usually Scottish shortbread) for our neighbours which gave them free reign whenever offered sweets by Monsieur et Madame.

On one visit I joked about the local wines being poor but the cognac was excellent (he was semi-retired but still kept up his little vineyard and vegetable garden)
"You like cognac?"
"Of course!"

He shuffled off and came back with a dumpy bottle, four shot glasses and a box of sugar cubes. His wife indicated to mine that you dunk a sugar cube in the drink and pop it into your mouth but it was too strong for her so I ended up with two (large) shots.

My word, I've never tasted anything like it before:
<<Fabriqué en 1968, épreuve à 68%, vieilli en fûts de chêne, non dilué, sans caramel ajouté>> (made in 1968 - it was 1993 by then - 68% proof, aged in oak casks, not watered down, no caramel added)

I went to turn the bottle to see where this nectar was made but M. Mormiche shook a finger and then pointed to himself: <<Je l'ai fait!>> and beckoned us out to the barn. There was his "alambrique" a stone oven with a leaded customs seal on the iron door, the big copper "onion" on top and the condensing coils.

My recollections of what followed are a bit hazy but apparently my French was very fluent and if I'm right he indicated a barrel in the corner of the barn - the last of a batch his father had made in 1945 to celebrate Liberation.

They popped around to us for coffee and English Cake the next week and it was his habit to bring a bottle of his home made (very good) wine with him. This time, after they left, I opened the bag to find a bottle of cognac instead!

I'm not a big drinker and still have half of the bottle left, afraid to sip in case it hasn't aged well - but then it is 52 years old!

I got a chuckle out your story. Brought to mind visiting my parents a couple years ago, and their next door neighbour saw us (wife and I arrive). He had heard about my serving overseas in former-Yugo, and had to share with me his 'Slipovich" or plum brandy. It was in a big glass bottle, clearly homemade from the odd colour and floaties.
My wife, she got her shot with a bit of maple syrup added...he made me shot mine straight...because for sure, I don't need my eyesight! Just like the stuff I remembered overseas...great for peeling paint off of your carrier.

 

[Robo]

A still in Oz? It's legal to have one in NZ, along with about four other countries world-wide, most of them disreputable.

Looks like it's legal in Oz too.
Just need to get a licence and pay tax on what you make.

Is it illegal to distill alcohol in Australia?

NO! It is NOT illegal to distil alcohol in Australia. Distilling is like driving, it's perfectly legal so long as you have a license. And depending on the purpose of the alcohol you are distilling, it's possible you don't need a licence at all. People assume the license has to do with safety...

distilleryking.com.au

Not sure how the idea will go down with 'she who must be obeyed'

 

[simply B]

So, owing to popular demand, I have made a few batches since the commencement of this thread. Which is weird, as many in my Camino experience have believed it better suited for use by arsonists or rocket fuel manufacturers.

Anyhow, I was very happy with the authenticity of flavor of every batch but I could never achieve that almost Chartreuse color. (Which makes for a fine warning light observable from across the room for those who do not care for the stuff.) My goods kept coming out orange-brown.

I finally devoted some biochemistry background to the task and, "Voila!", am very happy with the result. I just added the decanted and filtered goods to the syrup yesterday and put it away for a while before bottling.

The color is a bit brighter yellow, with more of a green tinge than the camera shows. And, the flavor, even before 10 days to 2 weeks of mellowing is right on target.

The ONLY changes made to past batches, and they are easy, were:

- the addition of Vitamin C which keeps the green components GREEN. (No oxidative browning)

- the brief addition of turmeric which dials up the "yellow" spectacularly. (Wear rubber gloves for peeling and slicing if you do not want heavily stained fingers.)

So, if not getting the color right has been a bother for you? There's a trick for that.

Buen Camino,

B

 

[jpflavin1]

So, owing to popular demand, I have made a few batches since the commencement of this thread. Which is weird, as many in my Camino experience have believed it better suited for use by arsonists or rocket fuel manufacturers.

Anyhow, I was very happy with the authenticity of flavor of every batch but I could never achieve that almost Chartreuse color. (Which makes for a fine warning light observable from across the room for those who do not care for the stuff.) My goods kept coming out orange-brown.

I finally devoted some biochemistry background to the task and, "Voila!", am very happy with the result. I just added the decanted and filtered goods to the syrup yesterday and put it away for a while before bottling.

The color is a bit brighter yellow, with more of a green tinge than the camera shows. And, the flavor, even before 10 days to 2 weeks of mellowing is right on target.

The ONLY changes made to past batches, and they are easy, were:

- the addition of Vitamin C which keeps the green components GREEN. (No oxidative browning)

- the brief addition of turmeric which dials up the "yellow" spectacularly. (Wear rubber gloves for peeling and slicing if you do not want heavily stained fingers.)

So, if not getting the color right has been a bother for you? There's a trick for that.

Buen Camino,

B

You are a true distiller? I never found the Herbel Orujo challenging to drink but the Blanco quite potent.

Cheers

 

[simply B]

You are a true distiller? I never found the Herbel Orujo challenging to drink but the Blanco quite potent.

Cheers

Not a distiller at the moment, @jpflavin1 though I have been in the past. (Still brew beer and mead though.)

I got started toying around with this because a friend had distilled some of my excess still mead AND I came across the article in the OP. That first batch exhausted, I have turned to 100 proof vodka of good quality as the base.

You and I agree on palatability differences of the two types but, in my experience, most pilgrims that I met turned up their noses at either.

B

 

[jpflavin1]

Not a distiller at the moment, @jpflavin1 though I have been in the past. (Still brew beer and mead though.)

I got started toying around with this because a friend had distilled some of my excess still mead AND I came across the article in the OP. That first batch exhausted, I have turned to 100 proof vodka of good quality as the base.

You and I agree on palatability differences of the two types but, in my experience, most pilgrims that I met turned up their noses at either.

B

Maybe some day our paths will cross and we can share a few drinks and stories.

Best regards,
Joe

 

[Anamiri]

I think we must have a lot of people around here with a still - just before lockdown, the locals bought up the whole stock from the local home brew shop. We had a few days notice.

Just in case, I mean who knew how long Lockdown would last.

(My sister used to make her own, it would have stripped off more than paint - very potent stuff, I never touched it. My dad used to joke that it would burn the hairs off inside your nostrils.)