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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

July 27th, 2019, 8:18 pm

That reminds me of the man who had a terrible problem with a nest of tweety birds in the mane of his horse. He was advised to address the problem by sprinkling some yeast on the horse. Since yeast is yeast and nest is nest, and never the mane shall tweet!
 
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Paul
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 4th, 2019, 11:11 pm

Has anyone tried using a cigarette holder at the end of now-ubiquitous paper straws to stop them going soggy?
 
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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 5th, 2019, 12:18 pm

Has anyone tried using a cigarette holder at the end of now-ubiquitous paper straws to stop them going soggy?
Which end?
 
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Paul
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 5th, 2019, 3:21 pm

Definitely the mouth end. That goes soggy first in my experience. You can’t suck with gusto, you have to be quite precious with paper straws. There are metal straws in every shop now, some that fold. But you need something to clean them with. It’s a whole palaver. You just need to stop the mouth end collapsing, hence cigarette holder. (I don’t mean like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s! Just a short thing.)
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 5th, 2019, 8:53 pm

Image
 
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katastrofa
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 6th, 2019, 11:33 am

Distiller remains the greatest invention of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
I'll be setting the plum vodka today. I always remove the stones from fruits (I don't want to produce Cyclone B - I'm not German), so my vodkas have a very delicate taste (they don't have the hint of bitterness from the stones)!
 
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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 6th, 2019, 1:23 pm

Distiller remains the greatest invention of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
I'll be setting the plum vodka today. I always remove the stones from fruits (I don't want to produce Cyclone B - I'm not German), so my vodkas have a very delicate taste (they don't have the hint of bitterness from the stones)!
Very interesting! How long does the fermentation process take? I associate plums with slivovitz (spelled one way or the other) more than with vodka, but that distinction may not be important.
 
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katastrofa
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 6th, 2019, 1:59 pm

About 2 weeks from my experience. Then it an age for months.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 6th, 2019, 3:08 pm

In Italy you can buy 95% pure alcohol in a supermarket. In NL you need a doctor's prescription for a 100 ml bottle.
 
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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 7th, 2019, 12:58 am

About 2 weeks from my experience. Then it an age for months.
Sounds good. And, in between sentence one and two, the distillation takes place.
 
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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 8th, 2019, 8:04 pm

Follow-up question: does aging in a non-reactive container (like glass or steel) do much good, or does it need to be in wood? 
 
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katastrofa
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 8th, 2019, 11:15 pm

Follow-up question: does aging in a non-reactive container (like glass or steel) do much good, or does it need to be in wood? 
I think it depends on what you want to achieve in taste and colour. Obviously wood gives away both to the water in alcohol. I suspect the difference in access to air can be tricky (if not lethal), but I guess tricks are elemental to making moonshine. BTW, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I just made some plum tincture! :-)
 
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bearish
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 9th, 2019, 11:53 am

Follow-up question: does aging in a non-reactive container (like glass or steel) do much good, or does it need to be in wood? 
I think it depends on what you want to achieve in taste and colour. Obviously wood gives away both to the water in alcohol. I suspect the difference in access to air can be tricky (if not lethal), but I guess tricks are elemental to making moonshine. BTW, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I just made some plum tincture! :-)
I see. We used to do that with sour cherries when I was little. It much improved the taste (if not the texture) of the cherries, which we children were allowed to have.
 
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Cuchulainn
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

September 12th, 2019, 9:32 am

Interoperability
 
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Paul
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Re: "Best" invention of the 20th century?

January 24th, 2020, 6:25 pm

One of the few things the Scots didn’t invent, turning right on red. Genius! Come on, NY.