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Pisco Raki Arak etc

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  • If you know angasi you know a fair bit. They are a bit like the Brenton plate oyster. We are a few hundred k from the kingfish farms and the tuna are caught out from us. We actually get a bit sick of blue fin tuna in summer as they are always there to be caught but it is a bit of a hike out to sea. Have developed a fillet at sea technique for tuna , which is legal, to get them chilled as quick as possible but basically I like it raw then maybe a tuna steak three parts raw then give a miss till the next catch. Bit the same with oysters as get them by wheat bag if want so few natural then rest of bag on bbq for steamed. We get big kingfish while tuna fishing also plus King George whiting are like hairs on a cats back. But we got no hills or trees or rivers or people or corners to get a good motorbike ride and you can't swim in the Sea for the great white sharks ( slight exaggeration but close). Each place has its own beauty though. Frogs legs in Singapore better. $10 for 4 skun in front of you in the market at Chinatown downstairs. Tian Tian stall at Maxwell food court for the chicken and pick your mud crab second stall up in Smith Street but ask for more chilling around $50. The whole fried fish good too.

  • edited May 2016

    @GD50. Last week I was in Santiago de Chile and I went to a supermarket. Attached are two photos of pisco bottles one is Chileno Pisco which has a light brown color, the other is of 4 different bottles of Peruvian pisco. These bottles also have on the label the come from Quebranta grapes. But you can see the color difference. The psico alto del carmen with the blue label is middle range Chileno Pisco. The pisco Carpel which has the red label is gut rot US$4 per bottle Chileno Pisco and its nasty stuff. The white bottles are the Peruvian pisco which is about US$10 per bottle in Chile and its all sublime straight or in Pisco Sours.

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  • @DonMateo I have been hunting the world for a bottle of NUSTA Pisco made by Macchu Pisco. It is a distinctive ceramic bottle with a long slightly curved neck. Want it for my spirits library - and to drink. I reckon it will be relatively expensive but if you ever see one and have a bit of floating cash buy it for me and i will sort it out with you.

    Hoping to get a bit of "normal" back in my life and give my own pisco and raki a go from grape juice concentrate within the next few weeks. Actually revving up to give my whole new setup a bit of a hammering.

    Just wont be able to let the aging process take place before christmas.

  • Hey GD50. I wish you had have asked me last week as I was just in Peru for a quick job and I only got back 4 days ago. But I can tell you I spent a bit of time in a couple of bars sucking down Pisco Sours and I never saw a Nusta Pisco. I think its probably a pretty good pisco but its definitely made for the export market and its not a popular pisco. Since thinking about doing my distillery I note what bottles are in a bar and I didnt see one with a bottle like that. Let me ask a mate in Peru if you can get them in Peru.

  • edited November 2016

    GD50, here is the Nutsa Pisco website. The interesting thing is on the order page there isn't any site or location where you can order it inside Peru. I think this is a Peruvian family that make this stuff only for export and don't flog it locally. In Peru here are lots of different piscos but the most popular of the more expensive ones is Biondi. I love it.
    Matt

  • edited November 2016

    I will search that one.
    You make me jealous drinking pisco in the proper setting.

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  • Mate, It was theraputic by the end. I work in mining projects and I had to go and do an estimate of a mine closure. It was a full blind check estimate on US$500MM worth of bulk earthworks scope and I worked for 10 days straight doing 12 hour days. Once it was over I spent a couple of days in Lima having some of the best food and pisco in the world. It was probably worth it. I actually have heard of someone making Pisco with Quebranta grapes here in Mendoza. I am sure you could get this Nutsa Pisco in Peru but like I said at US$100 or 80 a bottle most Peruvians wouldnt pay that much. Biondi which is really nice is only about US$18 to 20 a bottle. So it wouldnt surprise me if its not available in Peru or maybe at one or two botellerias super VIP.

  • Matt. Biondi sell worldwide. What one do you prefer - the normal bottles are Acholado, Italia and Moscatel or the fancy shaped bottles?

  • @DonMateo .Just got an answer from the Australian Company associated with Macchu. A limited number of Nusta come to Australia per year and they "are gone within a few days ". Last years price $385 a bottle inc GST. "Do I want to go on the list "

    I dont think so.

  • I like the Biondi Italia the best. But that is for drinking shots or sipping. Moscatel is the most common for making Pisco. sours. The Fancy bottles are for the tourists as its the same stuff. The tourist industry associated with Macchu Picchu is huge. There are about 5 million tourists a year come to Peru and most go to macchu Picchu. If you want to make a bucket of money you make a product that has some kind of link to that and you make money. I think that what these people from Macchu are doing. Personally I would love to set up a whiskey distillery as the Incans had about 250 different sorts of corn of all different sizes and flavours as well as native grains and wheats etc. You could develop some very interesting flavours that dont exist anywhere else and then flog it to the punters who come for Macchu Picchu. Call it Macchu Pisshead bourbon or something catchy like that.
    Back on Nusta it would surprise me if its not much different to Biondi just in a really nice bottle. Manufacture price of Pisco $2, Nice bottle $3, marketing and fancy label $5. Sale price $385. Nice racket. How can I get into it.

  • I read up on the Moscatel and it is made from the muscatel grape which is the concentrate i have. I see they distill it before it is finished fermenting so there is residual sugar in the wash. The Italia is more dry and the Acholado is a mix. The quebranta version is readily available in Australia also. My wife is a potter and she likes the bottle the Nusta comes in and said she will make me some if my product comes out OK. Those bottles are probably slip cast but she would actually throw hers. Time will tell if she can throw a neck that long though she says it would be easy to throw the neck half way and partially dry the add the rest.

  • Yeh mate. The real deal Peruvian pisco is made with Quebranta grapes. The moscatel is the chileno stuff and it gives you nasty hangovers. Your spot on with the italia. Its by far the best and makes the best Pisco sours.
    As for pottery I know nothing. But the locals in Peru have been making pottery for about 4500 years. The make some great stuff. Some great erotic figurines which are fertility talismans. I once gave one to my ex twisted hyper stuck up Catholic private school teacher sister in law.. She was not amused. I thought it was hilarious. If you can get some chenin blanc concentrate or organic quebranta wine or juice you can make decent pisco. I am going to try here just for fun. Matt

  • The only two whites available in SA from TARAC Industries are Neutral White made from Chardonnay / Semillion and the Muscatel plus reds of course. These are all low temp / vacuum concentrated to 1.34 SG I actually ran into Jon Lark from Kangaroo Island Spirits right out super remote bush with chef Simon Bryant doing some cooking show and he told me he used grape spirit from TARAC and said their stills are amazing and huge. He thought the quality of their spirit was excellent. He makes my all time favorite Wild Gin using native juniper ( boobialla ) that i have written about before.

    I will give the Muscatel a go and then maybe get some Neutral White and give that a go. From what i have read Peru also use muscato in one of their brews.

  • That wild Aussie Gin from Kangaroo Island Sounds great. To answer your last question you can get some cheaper piscos that have a blend of quebranta and Muscatel. Anyway I just want to make whiskey.

  • edited November 2016

    I heard this mentioned in a podcast today, anyone familiar with it?

    Singani @ Wikipedia

    More of the same or a beast of its own?

  • edited November 2016

    Most interesting - never heard of it. The article stated Pisco's cousin and many similarities. Different grape and high altitude but similar post distillation holding in non reactive containers and no wood. The main differences I saw were Singani is distilled cold and stopped early to limit fusal oils but comes off at high proof whereas Pisco can't be watered download. The best thing adopt Pisco is the Pisco sour but this is drunk straight or with warm milk and spices which sounds great to me. Also mixed with bubblie drinks like champagne or ginger beer.

    @DonMateo will have to do the taste testing for us and give us his opinion. Can't find any source in Australia but plenty in USA

  • Actually gents I dont. I have never been to Bolivia but a mate of mine lived there for a couple of years. Actually I know a few guys that lived there. I will ask them what its like. Apart from taste Pisco is all made on the coast. There arent wines made at elevation in Peru that I am aware of.
    Matt

  • Hey guys, I was at a mates place last night in Chile and he had a bottle of craft pisco made in Chile with Moscatel grapes but made using a proper fractioning still. It looked like Peruvian pisco and tasted a lot better than the Chileno horsepiss they normally sell. A mate of mine his mother in law has a vinyard with Moscatel de Fernanda, a lighter version of Moscatel, grapes in the south of Chile so we are going to try and get a 4" column into Chile and see if we can make pisco there. I wonder how my mate is going to go having to negotiate with his mother in law.
    Anyway the reason why I post is you I found out you can get really nice pisco with Moscatel grapes but only if you use a fractioning still. The research was tough.

  • It's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

  • I was taking one for the team.

  • It looks as though I am going to be in the Pisco business guys. A mate of mine his mother in law has a moscatel vinyard around Chillian about 500kms south of Santiag, and he wants to set up a distillery. Lets see if I can make some good hooch.

  • Dont forget to share some of your experiences and new found knowledge with a known convert and lover of pisco. I got my first batch bubbling away right now and just come in from setting up my new baby ( 12 plater - not for Pisco )

  • edited November 2016

    @GD50 You beat me to it mate. Can you let me know how your batch goes ? I havent done it before but let me know how it goes. Right now me and my mate have just taken the decision to do it. So we are about 3 months from having any product. We have to get a still and boiler and start all that stuff. But his mother in law has a huge shed and 8 hectares of grapes. Could be a good thing.

  • edited November 2016

    Best of luck to you @DonMateo.

    StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America

  • Definitely watching your progress Don.

  • Thanks guys. I am going to be trying to start up my distillery in Mendoza at the same time. My name is Matt too. In Spanish they use the term of address Don which means Mr or Sir. So I use that for all my handles.

  • @DonMateo said: Thanks guys. I am going to be trying to start up my distillery in Mendoza at the same time. My name is Matt too. In Spanish they use the term of address Don which means Mr or Sir. So I use that for all my handles.

    Kinda like Don Corleone?

  • @GD50, How was your first pisco run ?? @FloridaCracker Not quite like Don Corleone but the linguistic link is there. Spanish and Italian are very similiar in the linguistic terms for formal salutation words.

  • edited November 2016

    @DonMateo. Not at that stage yet as it is still in fermenter. Seems a bit slow bubbling so a little worried about initial ph. Might stir it up and check ph and progress and decide what to do with it.

    On the other hand I got 170 l TPW going as well and that is bubbling its little heart out. From other posts today I am tempted to try a kale wash next.

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