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Plain (Neutral) Alcohol.
stvn758
16-04-2012
Can you buy this?

Only one I have seen is in America and that is very high proof and banned in several districts. Be nice to make my own alcopops instead of buying the usual (somewhat foul) spirits I have to endure now.

Am I right in thinking ethanol has no taste to it, stick it in my Coke and enjoy.
alternate
16-04-2012
Just use vodka. About as tasteless as ethanol is going to be, especially the cheaper brands - you still have that unmistakable alcoholic taste if that is what puts you off. Alcopops just put enough sugar in so it masks any taste.
Grabid Rannies
16-04-2012
White spirit from Wilkos?
stvn758
16-04-2012
Originally Posted by Grabid Rannies:
“White spirit from Wilkos?”

Not that far gone yet, thanks.
stvn758
16-04-2012
Originally Posted by alternate:
“Just use vodka. About as tasteless as ethanol is going to be, especially the cheaper brands - you still have that unmistakable alcoholic taste if that is what puts you off. Alcopops just put enough sugar in so it masks any taste.”

I did wonder whether it was the alcohol or the grapes and stuff they're distilled them from that makes me wretch. Bicardi Breezers were nice, expensive though.
KidPoker
16-04-2012
Go buy ethanol.
dodgygeeza
16-04-2012
I used to work at a place where we regularly used Ethanol at >99%. You can buy it for industrial applications but I'd imagine the supply is pretty tightly controlled. Taxation certainly is!
degsyhufc
16-04-2012
Originally Posted by alternate:
“Just use vodka. About as tasteless as ethanol is going to be, especially the cheaper brands - you still have that unmistakable alcoholic taste if that is what puts you off. Alcopops just put enough sugar in so it masks any taste.”

I was going to suggest this. Supermarket own standard brand (not the value) or Glens.
Doesn't really have flavour like the more expensive brands do.
Gooby
17-04-2012
This isn't my area of expertise but I thought ethanol is a chemical for use in industry etc and is not made for human consumption no matter how much it is watered down.

Alcohol for drinking is made in a completely different way.

I'm pretty sure that all alcopops are based on either gin, rum, vodka or other spirit which is meant to be consumed.

If you want to create your own then essentially you are creating a cocktail and should look up cocktail recipes. Using cheap supermarket brand spirits as a base should work fine.

No-one should drink industrial alcohol like ethanol - you can easily die from stuff like that.
grassmarket
17-04-2012
The closest you can get are some specialised vodkas, I think.
stargazer61
17-04-2012
Pure Polish Spirit............not to be drunk neat but used as a mixer
farmhand
17-04-2012
Quote:
“Gooby;57708841]This isn't my area of expertise but I thought ethanol is a chemical for use in industry etc and is not made for human consumption no matter how much it is watered down.

Alcohol for drinking is made in a completely different way.

[snip]

No-one should drink industrial alcohol like ethanol - you can easily die from stuff like that.”

Kind of. Ethanol is the exact same psychoactive chemical as the alcohol we know and love in alcoholic beverages. Pure ethanol is entirely drinkable, though at 200% proof it would be like swallowing a chillie. Still, as I like cask strength whisky and rum at 140%, I'd certainly have a go at some pure stuff. Might even snort it!

I used to have a book on building a home-still and it claimed that pure ethanol is in fact better for you than most commercial distillates because it is the impurities left in the alcohol to impart flavour that really add to the hangover pain. This is why heavily flavoured (impure) spirits like dark rum and brandy make your head throb while the most highly filtered "pure" vodkas like Skyy and Finlandia are advertized as easier on the hangover.

The key difference is that drinking ethanol is made from good old-fashioned fermentation (sugars turned into ethanol by yeast), whereas some industrial ethanol is made from a chemical process which turns sulphuric and other acids into ethanol.

As one of the main (non-drinking) uses of alcohol is it's amazing solvent properties (things dissolve very easily in it), I suppose the main risk is lack of purity and the ease with which alcohol carrys any toxin/contaniment it has come into contact with. Drinking even traces of sulphuric acid doesn't bare thinking about. Horrific.

Also, IIRC industrial manufacturers deliberately add agents to the ethanol to render it undrinkable (and so avoid the drinking tax bracket.) This could either be something to make it taste disgusting or even something toxic.

@OP. My grandad used to have a still during prohibition and you can still get moonshine (or in Ireland poteen) today, but I would never touch illegal distillates off anyone I didn't know and trust.

If you want to get your own drinkable ethanol, you'll probably have to build your own still!

But like people have said, Alcopops are just cocktails. If you don't want any flavour Skyy vodka claims to be the purest, though I can't vouch for that personally....
dodgygeeza
19-04-2012
Originally Posted by farmhand:
“Kind of. Ethanol is the exact same psychoactive chemical as the alcohol we know and love in alcoholic beverages. Pure ethanol is entirely drinkable, though at 200% proof it would be like swallowing a chillie. Still, as I like cask strength whisky and rum at 140%, I'd certainly have a go at some pure stuff. Might even snort it! ”

I never even dreamed of tasting or otherwise ingesting it for the reasons you outlined later on in that post but it certainly smelt nice!
pugamo
20-04-2012
Just don't mix your vodka with coke any wonder you don't like it. Look up cocktail recipes and make something delicious like a bramble.
flagpole
20-04-2012
Originally Posted by KidPoker:
“Go buy ethanol.”

be careful

unless you've paid tax on it what you get is going to be denatured alcohol. ie ethanol with poisons added. depending on where you buy it as in hardware store, or chemical supply company it may have a bitter taste added and possibly a dye.

but eve something that is labelled as pure ethanol in a lab is likely to be mixed with ethanol.
stvn758
21-04-2012
Bought some Napoleon Brandy from Tesco and it is wonderful, stuck it in some coke and can barely even taste it let alone smell it, £15.40 a litre.

Great stuff, I am very HAPPY at the moment.
farmhand
22-04-2012
Originally Posted by dodgygeeza:
“I never even dreamed of tasting or otherwise ingesting it for the reasons you outlined later on in that post but it certainly smelt nice! ”

A fellow vodka snorter. It is rare to meet such a scholar!

By coincidence, I was looking through Robert Hess' (cocktail geek) TV show for cocktails and he mentioned the hangover/purity issue.

According to him it is not so much the impurities left in the liquor for flavour but poor distillation techniques that render spirits rough on the head.

As alcohols have a lower boiling point than many of the liquids they are found in, distillation is basically just heating a brew, capturing the alcohol vapours as they evapourate and recondensing them (by rapid cooling.) The first and last segments of the vapours, called the "head" and "tail," should be discarded for some reason.

According to Hess, not doing this properly is what makes spirits harsh, but I find it hard to believe that's the whole story.
farmhand
22-04-2012
Still trawling cocktail blogs I stumbled over this appropriately sinister looking Balkan Vodka....

At a staggering (in every sense!) 88% it is as close to pure alcohol as you probably want to get

Quote:
“Had 2 shots of this within seconds of each other last night. It felt like the firey pits of hell burning me to my very soul. I think it might have stopped my heart for a few seconds too. Bad times ”

What a p*ssy.

It sounds terrific... must get some.
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