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Something besides mead ???

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Speaking of illegal...

To get "almond" flavor you have to use bitter almonds, which are illegal (yes, ILLEGAL) in the USA. We only have sweet almonds here. See, the government loves you and wants you to be safe, and this little girl ate bitter almonds once and felt sleepy so they thought they might be poisonous. Hence, they're not allowed in this country because your babies will die and terrorists will make weapons from bitter almonds. Making bitter almonds illegal has nothing to do with certain natural health benefits of bitter almonds that might prevent big pharma from making more money if the knowledge became mainstream. It's because the government really, really cares for your safety and people like me are crazy aluminium foil hat wearing lunatics.

:bs:
 
Almonds come in "bitter"? Hmm, time to visit Canada.

I made cinnamon-anise liqueur, that turned out really nice and a very pretty brown color. Could go well with a touch of ginger too. Same basic idea, soak the stuff in vodka (or whatever), wait, strain, add sugar-water to taste.
 
I've never seen bitter almonds for sale so I don't know where one would obtain them... of course, I've never gone looking... That kind of sweet "almond" flavour that almond extract tastes like (reminds me of the smell of peach pits if you crack the stone) doesn't really taste like almonds to me at all anyway, I'd try it with regular almonds if I were going to do it myself. Amaretto doesn't taste like real almonds the way Frangelico tastes like real hazelnuts... <shrug>

Hehe, we have codeine over the counter too... (and strangely, no codeine junkies I've ever heard of). Come to the dark side.... :p

Speaking of things not allowed in US, have you guys got black currants? That's another of my favourite JAO variants since I can never get my black currant bush to produce more than a couple handfuls (grew from seed in a pot on my balcony so it's allowed to be puny) ... but I'd heard there was some disease down there but resistant strains were being developed...
 
Uh oh! What's a "reputation post"? Because I just got one! :eek:

Now where'd I put that tin foil hat...

Anyways, it is legal to sell bitter almonds in Canada, and if you ever try one you'll know where that "almond" aroma and flavor come from. I agree that sweet almonds don't taste like almond flavoring...but bitter almonds do! The aroma ring is called benzaldehyde. It's also found in apricot pits, apple seeds, loquat seeds, and several other sources. In most plants the aroma chemical is bound up with a few other molecules. You'll see that macromolecule referred to as Latrile, Amygdalin and (misnomer) vitamin B17. It's not an actual vitamin, but it's rumored to be a cancer preventative. I've read the papers and the science is pretty sound, though there's no way to do peer reviewed research because, well, the stuff is illegal. Also, don't believe the quacks who say it's a cancer cure, because it is not. It might prevent certain types of cancer, but it is not a cure.

Getting back to the subject, you can make amaretto by crushing apricot pits into vodka, however it's not as potent and you will need more seeds to get the same quality as you would from bitter almonds.
 
Chevette Girl said:

Speaking of things not allowed in US, have you guys got black currants?
Click to expand...

In New York, it has been legal since 2003 to grow black currant cultivars that are resistant to white pine blister rust. One of my favorite meads used a mix of red and black currants. I'm hoping to do one with just black currants this summer.
 
I'll put my hat in the ring for the beer brewing suggestion. This is Hefeweizen season. You can easily do a malt extract version if you don't want to deal with grain mashing. It requires minimal hops and a very short fermentation/conditioning time. 1-2 weeks in your primary bucket and 1 week in the bottle for carbing and you'll be ready to drink. Hefeweizens do not age well, so don't keep them around long. They're best when relatively fresh. You also don't have to worry about letting them "clear" since part of a Hefeweizen's flavor comes from the suspended yeast.

Watch out though...may cause a bit of gassiness... ;)
 
Well I just bought a Corona knock-off beer kit from The Brew House. I'm a huge fan of Corona during the summer months so hopefully this works out well. I plan on mixing it up tonight so hopefully it'll be good an ready to drink by the Canada Day!

It's my first foray into beer making...and while it's a mix and sit beer kit I'm still considering it made by me. :D

Now I just need to go out an get enough bottles to hold another 5 gallons of liquid.......
 
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