Ginseng Vodka Tincture

[caffeine211]

Disclaimer: I am not doing any kind of distilling or liquor production.

A friend of mine is a professional acupuncturist and has a lot of schooling in eastern herbal medicines. She was once served some homemade ginseng vodka but never got the recipe. According to her it tasted great and apparently has some very good health benefits.

Knowing that I am a home brewer she came to me for help in recreating the recipe. Unfortunately I don't really know much about creating tinctures (aka soaking something in liquor to extract flavors and nutrients). From my limited research this seems pretty simple though.... but I have been wrong many times about things that sounded very simple to replicate.

My basic recipe/process go like this:

1. Coarsely chop ginseng into 1/4" - 1/2" pieces
2. Put in a sanitized glass container and add enough vodka to cover the ginseng
3. Let it soak at room temp for 2-4 weeks, shaking daily
4. Strain through cheese cloth to remove large chunks
5. Cold crash in the fridge for 2 weeks
6. Siphon off any sediment that has dropped out
7. Do shots of ginseng vodka

Again, this seems pretty straight forward... but I still have a few questions:

1. Is 2-4 weeks soaking time enough to get full extraction? I'm guessing yes based of how long it takes to get full extraction from fruit in mead.
2. Can I over extract and get off flavors? Again, I'm guessing yes based off of experience with fruit in mead.
3. Can I cold crash in the freezer since vodka won't actually freeze? Or would this create a layer of ice on the bottom as sediment drops out?

I plan on using top shelf vodka (Belvedere or Ketel One or Grey Goose). She quoted the ginseng at about $100, so it seems like a high quality vodka would be appropriate.

Any feedback or experience would be greatly appreciated!

 

[chams]

Disclaimer: I am not doing any kind of distilling or liquor production.

A friend of mine is a professional acupuncturist and has a lot of schooling in eastern herbal medicines. She was once served some homemade ginseng vodka but never got the recipe. According to her it tasted great and apparently has some very good health benefits.

Knowing that I am a home brewer she came to me for help in recreating the recipe. Unfortunately I don't really know much about creating tinctures (aka soaking something in liquor to extract flavors and nutrients). From my limited research this seems pretty simple though.... but I have been wrong many times about things that sounded very simple to replicate.

My basic recipe/process go like this:

1. Coarsely chop ginseng into 1/4" - 1/2" pieces
2. Put in a sanitized glass container and add enough vodka to cover the ginseng
3. Let it soak at room temp for 2-4 weeks, shaking daily
4. Strain through cheese cloth to remove large chunks
5. Cold crash in the fridge for 2 weeks
6. Siphon off any sediment that has dropped out
7. Do shots of ginseng vodka

Again, this seems pretty straight forward... but I still have a few questions:

1. Is 2-4 weeks soaking time enough to get full extraction? I'm guessing yes based of how long it takes to get full extraction from fruit in mead.
2. Can I over extract and get off flavors? Again, I'm guessing yes based off of experience with fruit in mead.
3. Can I cold crash in the freezer since vodka won't actually freeze? Or would this create a layer of ice on the bottom as sediment drops out?

I plan on using top shelf vodka (Belvedere or Ketel One or Grey Goose). She quoted the ginseng at about $100, so it seems like a high quality vodka would be appropriate.

Any feedback or experience would be greatly appreciated!

Have you considered medium grade vodka and grocery store ginseng as a control?

 

[caffeine211]

Have you considered medium grade vodka and grocery store ginseng as a control?

No I had not considered that... and this is why I ask question before starting to do stuff lol. Very good idea!

 

[fatbloke]

Well, you mentioned using expensive vodka before, but as you'll be extracting from ginseng, that'd probably be a waste of money.

I suspect you'll need to research the actual method of extraction first, as different herbs/spices are extracted in different ways with different base liquids i.e. alcohol, water, steam, oil, with boiling, or steam distillation, or cold soak, etc etc.

If it does transpire that alcohol soaking is the appropriate method, then everclear type high strength spirit is likely the best bet..........

Then it'd just be the ratio of spirit to get the flavour level/depth correct.

 

[Matrix4b]

Well, you mentioned using expensive vodka before, but as you'll be extracting from ginseng, that'd probably be a waste of money.
....If it does transpire that alcohol soaking is the appropriate method, then everclear type high strength spirit is likely the best bet..........

Then it'd just be the ratio of spirit to get the flavour level/depth correct.

This is acutally not correct. I have read tests of making vanilla extract with vanilla beans and various different proofs of alcohol. A higher alcohol content does not equal a higher extraction. The most efficent extraction happend about 35-40% alcohol by volume. Higher proof did not extract more.

Also a lower quality of vodka will be a choice. Now since this is making for shots and not extract then I agree with the higher quality is better. I remember a mythbusters that went through a couple of vodka myths, essentially the quality difference is mostly a filtering issue. But since your doing shots quality is better.

As far as what you describe from the tincture, I would go a month. I don't know if longer will create off flavors. Vanilla extract takes 2 months, Orange extract only takes 2-3 weeks. I am experimenting with hazelnut at the moment as a bounce into other nut extracts for brewing.

Personally, I would chop the ginsing finer for more area coverage. I may make a Ginsing extract myself for brewing so I would be interested on how yours turns out. Actually for drinking in shots, I prob would only do 2 weeks as you have have too much of the ginsing extracted for too potent of a flavor.

Oh, Also with vanilla beans, you can use the same beans 2-3 times and still get a good extract out of it. so you may be able to extract more than one batch out of the ginsing and retain it's potency.

Experiment and see is what I say. AND let us know.

Matrix.

 

[Braxton]

Yeah, depending on the substance you are extracting, times can vary widely. There's no reason not to do it to taste, though. I'd try a small sip after a week. Most things taste gross when they've been over-extracted.

 

[caffeine211]

Did a little more research on this today...

I wanted to try a control batch with some cheap ginseng root... apparently though it's not something that you can just buy at "the store". Grocery stores definitely don't have it, and even the specialty spice stores don't carry it. The closest lead I found would be an Asian market. Maybe this will be a good excuse to go to China town and stumble into my favorite duck shop. So that suggestion, although great, doesn't look viable right now.

But in researching it my process looks pretty solid. I'm going to chop the ginseng up smaller than I had originally suggested. Also, using 80-100 proof liquor seems like the best option. A lot of tinctures specifically avoid grain alcohol. Since I'm mainly going for taste, top shelf vodka is a must. I'm going to let it soak for a week and then start tasting every other day. Filter through cheese cloth and then cold crash to get the rest of the particulate to settle out. Hopefully I'll be able to get a second run of the ginseng...

There are also commercial brands of ginseng vodka. So next time I make it out to the huge liquor store in Delaware I'm going to search for a bottle.

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll let you know how it goes once it's started...

 

[Chevette Girl]

Did a little more research on this today...

I wanted to try a control batch with some cheap ginseng root... apparently though it's not something that you can just buy at "the store". Grocery stores definitely don't have it, and even the specialty spice stores don't carry it. The closest lead I found would be an Asian market. Maybe this will be a good excuse to go to China town and stumble into my favorite duck shop.

The Asian superstore I go to has a ginseng shop, I wish you luck in finding "cheap" ginseng though if this shop's any indication. Good luck in Chinatown, happy duck-hunting!

 

[caffeine211]

The Asian superstore I go to has a ginseng shop, I wish you luck in finding "cheap" ginseng though if this shop's any indication. Good luck in Chinatown, happy duck-hunting!

Haha yeah, that's the other problem! I don't know what the current prices are for ginseng but I read that at one point it was $1000/lb ($62.50/oz.)... There are different quality roots but I have a feeling that the only "cheap" ones would be really low quality, which I suppose would be ok for a control group since it is mostly to see "does this work?"

But if I can get a duck out of it, I'll at least feel less guilty about making the hour+ drive just for duck... plus who knows what other mead ingredients I'll stumble upon???

Edit: I also found a recipe for cayenne vodka (similar process as the ginseng vodka) which sounds pretty good. Might make for a nice shot/mixer or possibly a nice marinade for steak/chicken? Dried cayenne peppers are on my "To Find" list also...