How long does it take to make poteen?
How is poteen made. Traditionally poteen is made from milk whey or potatoes, but it can also be produced from grain sugar beet and fruit (particularly apples). The base ingredients are fermented, traditionally in wooden barrels for about three weeks, to produce a ‘beer’.
What is the main ingredient in poteen?
The key ingredients were Potatoes + Sugar + Yeast, very different to today’s whiskey with Barley + Water + Yeast. It was generally produced in rural areas.
Is it illegal to make poteen?
It was a way for the Irish people to express their irreverence towards the colonial British Empire.” Its illegal status made poitin even more popular, and the spirit went underground. Produced primarily in rural Ireland, poitin was crafted in homes, sheds and in the woods.
Why is Potcheen illegal?
Poitin dates back to at least the 6th century, an ancient farm-based spirit that’s made in a single pot still, and takes its name for the Irish word for ‘little pot’, pota. Poitin was later made completely illegal in 1661, as the government wanted the ability to tax all alcohol, and couldn’t easily tax farm liquor.
Can poitin make you blind?
He told a local newspaper that patients in Kerry still present to hospital violently ill from poitín consumption. He said it could cause blindness. Poitín was sometimes contaminated by substances such as battery acid, he said, and unscrupulous people would take short cuts in its production.
Is Moonshine the same as poitin?
As nouns the difference between moonshine and poteen is that moonshine is (literally) the light of the moon; moonlight while poteen is (ireland) illegally produced irish whiskey; moonshine.
What do the Irish call a shot of whiskey?
For you see, the word taoscán has been used in households, bars and storytelling in Ireland for generations, and like ‘dram’ it holds multiple meanings depending on the context but commonly would have been used to refer to alcohol.
Is poteen a whiskey?
Poitin is The Original Spirit of Ireland. A uniquely Irish spirit etched in the very fabric of Irish society and folklore. If you’ve never heard of poitín before, you are not on your own. A lot of them were making whiskey but most were making Poitín.
What does poitin smell like?
“IT SMELLS like fire and burning.” Traditional Irish poitín (pronounced potcheen) was outlawed in the 1600s but since then legal versions of the drink are now available. ‘Poitín’ in Irish means ‘little hangover’, coming from the word ‘poit’ which means hangover.
What strength is poteen?
Poitín (Irish pronunciation: [ˈpˠotʲiːnʲ]) or poteen is a traditional Irish distilled beverage (40–90% ABV).
How do you drink poitin?
Stir the poteen, lemon juice, ice cubes and sugar, in a tall glass until the sugar is disolved. Top up with soda water, garnish with a cocktail stick, with the cherry and twisted orange and lemon slices.
Can poitin kill you?
O’Donovan said that more people die every year from poitin than is ever reported. Old people may use it to keep the cold at bay, but it does this by opening the outer blood vessels and this allows the body to lose heat and they can die of hypothermia.
Is Poitin the same as vodka?
Because dirty secret: most commercial poteen is actually flavoured vodka re-distilled from 96% ethanol. So this was a good call. After all distilling to 96% in a bog isn’t very traditional, but then I guess neither is 94.7%. So Irish poteen is no longer a flavoured vodka…
Why is my moonshine blue?
While it may not happen all the time, moonshiners with copper stills may experience a blue batch every once in a while. Basically, this is caused by the alcohol vapor corroding the copper metal. As the copper is literally eaten away, fragments transfer into the moonshine batch, which ultimately gives it a bluish tint.
Can you drink the heads of moonshine?
The heads are not worth keeping for drinking and should be set aside. In general, roughly 20-30% of the liquid collected during a distillation run will be heads.
Why is my moonshine yellow?
One possible reason why your moonshine has a yellow tint is because of a large concentration of minerals in the water. When this happens, there’s a chance that some of the excess minerals and chemicals in the tap water can change your moonshine’s color.
How can you tell if moonshine is poisonous?
Folklore tells us one way to test the purity of moonshine is to pour some in a metal spoon and set it on fire. 6 If it burns with a blue flame it is safe, but if it burns with a yellow or red flame, it contains lead, prompting the old saying, “Lead burns red and makes you dead.”