Zwack Unicum from Hungary and 58% Kaoling sorghum liquor from Taiwan. The Kaoling can melt the bottom of plastic cups.
Had a bottle of fermented mare’s milk Kumis gifted from Kazakhstan, but it tasted like rancid cheese. Didn’t want to risk keeping it around once the bottle had been opened.
There have been a few people mentooning not drinking alcohol, so perhaps the next thread will be about “what is the must unusual non alcoholic ingredient in your home bar?”
There are a couple of things I have to order online, that aren’t in the shop here but I like - Heirloom Pineapple Amaro is one. I do make liqueurs so those I guess are the rarest. Like someone else in this thread, I tried infusing cocoa nibs, but in whiskey and it was similarly awful.
I guess the spirit itself - vodka - is not unusual, however I like to infuse local produce, and I have a fucking delicious passionflower vodka made from ripe local fruits. I also had a pawpaw rum, but that has a short shelf life so I had to imbibe it quickly.
Vodka in and of itself is not that unusual, but there are unusual vodkas, and I would absolutely classify home made passionflower vodka as beeing unusual.
At the moment Inonly have one bottle of vodka at home, a bottle of Nemiroff DeLux vodka from Ukraine, I just saw it at Systembolaget and thought it was a cool way to both get Vodka and in a small way support Ukraine.
I also have a bottle of Japanese rice vodka on order, I mainly ordered it as it has a beautiful bottle.
Cacique, which is Costa Rica’s national liquor (only rare because it’s hard to import).
It’s essentially sugar cane hooch that the government decided to nationalize in an attempt to end secret production, back around the mid 1800s. Their plan worked and it became a sort of national identity. The whole history of it is pretty neat.
It doesn’t taste like anything on its own, so it’s mixed with everything and the kitchen sink.
Pisang Ambon, banana liqueur, I tried it in a bar in Spain, really liked it, and bought it. But what do you do with Banana Liqueur in your house? Nothing mixes well with that. Occasionally I sip it, but I've had it a decade and drunk maybe a third.
Centerba. It means hundred grasses in Italian. It tastes like grain alcohol infused with whatever they cut down in a field. Maybe a hint of mint too? It’s fluorescent green now because food coloring is cheaper than bright green glass apparently.
A handle of tequila with cacao nibs added. I do infusions, and this was a failed experiment. Should have tried it in a mason jar.
Though it usually works out well. I have a bottle of premium Costco vodka with two anise stars and some simple syrup added. It’s like a homemade ouzo and delightfully sippable for $18 a handle. I also have slices of pear in another bottle, and it’s yummy. And a mason jar of bourbon with black peppercorns, which I like to splash into an Old Fashioned.
Hot tip: Buying flavored liquor is expensive and never as good as infusing it yourself.
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