Hey there,
I'm running into a bit of a conundrum with regard to how I should prepare my product's base. I'm looking for a bit of wisdom here as my base requires a six week steep. So I'd like to maybe make as good an assumption as posssible the first time round (we'll, actually it's now the second time round).
My base formula:
- 50% Everclear
- 25% distilled water
- 25% witch hazel
Sounds simple enough right?
My base however requires steeping organics in 50/50 water/alcohol for six weeks first. So I'm not sure how best to introduce the witch hazel in the right proportion. If I add it after the steep, it will dilute the formula (alcohol will be less than 50%).
The easiest solution (no pun intended) would be to steep the organics with the alcohol and 25/25 water/witch hazel. But I'm not sure if that shortcut poses any issues. I can't for example find out what percentage of commercial witch hazel is water, and even so I'd be adding more alcohol to the mix than I want. Plus I don't know what effect if any the witch hazel might have on the steeping process.
Any thoughts? Would love some input!
Cheers
Having given this some more thought, if I use 3oz base per 4oz bottle and add 1oz witch hazel at the end, I get 37.5% abv + 14/4% alcohol from the witch hazel giving me approx 40 ABV - which I believe is sufficient for my needs.
Still curious as to anyone's though though.
I'm running into a bit of a conundrum with regard to how I should prepare my product's base. I'm looking for a bit of wisdom here as my base requires a six week steep. So I'd like to maybe make as good an assumption as posssible the first time round (we'll, actually it's now the second time round).
My base formula:
- 50% Everclear
- 25% distilled water
- 25% witch hazel
Sounds simple enough right?
My base however requires steeping organics in 50/50 water/alcohol for six weeks first. So I'm not sure how best to introduce the witch hazel in the right proportion. If I add it after the steep, it will dilute the formula (alcohol will be less than 50%).
The easiest solution (no pun intended) would be to steep the organics with the alcohol and 25/25 water/witch hazel. But I'm not sure if that shortcut poses any issues. I can't for example find out what percentage of commercial witch hazel is water, and even so I'd be adding more alcohol to the mix than I want. Plus I don't know what effect if any the witch hazel might have on the steeping process.
Any thoughts? Would love some input!
Cheers
Having given this some more thought, if I use 3oz base per 4oz bottle and add 1oz witch hazel at the end, I get 37.5% abv + 14/4% alcohol from the witch hazel giving me approx 40 ABV - which I believe is sufficient for my needs.
Still curious as to anyone's though though.