Death's Door

[Mr Boozificator]

My people have a special blanche called "coeur de chauffe" that they don't sell, you actually have to know someone who produce Cognac or Armagnac for a living to get some, and it always comes for free, just because they don't sell it. I'll stick to that.
I really regret it doesn't travel at all, because I'd send a few of you some, it's very very nice and somehow clean. I don't know how to define the taste otherwise.
Edit: I stand corrected, some bastards have decided to put "coeur de chauffe" on a label and have started selling (idiots) it. Even around here, we have difficulties squashing all the rats attacking half millennia old traditions.

[Aloysius_of_Tahiti]

I say go for it. In my youth, I've been known to drink a cup of porch moonshine (estimated at around 170 proof) and after the fireworks faded from the world around me, I was steady enough to sit and have a cool, soothing beer.
Oh, it was a one hell of a few minutes but I like to think I'm a stronger man for it.

[EuroSlave]

noooo


the colour of a whiskey is one of the pleasures of the drink

[ThirstyDrunk]

WEll, hows about some 100 proof strawberries then...




I was in a different store today perusing the booze, looking for something different, and I don't know maybe I was hungry or maybe I thought I needed more fruit in my diet. It's like fruit juice, but you can tell it's 100 proof. I'm gonna try and drink/eat the whole jar tonight so anything I say from here on out is most likely strawberry field induced.

"Hey I wasn't lookin at his neck, man."

[Screwball]

Just don't freak out when ya start shitting 100 proof red splatters all over the place.

[Raoul_Duke]

While I agree with everything regarding the philosophy of commercially available "moonshine" and white whiskeys of today, I feel the need to clarify one thing. Death's Door's website may have mentioned the background of the name, but I've no patience for marketing speak.

Door County is the admittedly beautiful tourist trap of a peninsula on Wisconsin's mitten tip. There is one island off the tip of land called Washington Island. The calmness of Green Bay proper met with the dark turbulence of Lake Michigan between Door County and Washington Island in a strait early French explorers called "Porte des Mortes" - Death's Door. So many ships went down in this passage that the strait took on a mythology of its own. Even today, the car ferry that shuttles between the mainland and the island can get pretty rough, as gale force winds can spring up on the sunniest of days.

Washington Island is well known for its wheat fields - I'd surmise that the same types of wheat grown for this white whiskey are also those used in Madison WI's Capital Brewery Island Wheat beer. I have seen the signs planted in Washington Island wheat fields advertising their connection to the beer.

Is it commercialized and, as Peetie put it, faux macho to call it Death's Door? Yes, of course. It's also somewhat historically accurate from a source perspective. As a proud Wisconsinite, I like supporting local products when I can. 80 proof whiskey is tough to do though.

[Mr Boozificator]

WEll, hows about some 100 proof strawberries then...




I was in a different store today perusing the booze, looking for something different, and I don't know maybe I was hungry or maybe I thought I needed more fruit in my diet. It's like fruit juice, but you can tell it's 100 proof. I'm gonna try and drink/eat the whole jar tonight so anything I say from here on out is most likely strawberry field induced.

"Hey I wasn't lookin at his neck, man."

How the fuck did I miss that? i must have been drunk. Here's my proposition my friend: each year when I pay you a visit, we'll put a random fruit or something in a jar full of moonshine (I'm sure Bluespook can help in that field) and the year after when I come back, we'll just eat that stuff for an appetizer before we have the first drink of the week-end. What do you think, my giant friend?

[Mr. Viking]

put bacon in a jar of moonshine

[ThirstyDrunk]

I think I recall someone showing pics of their bacon infused vodka, or something like that.
I'd be up for putting something like cherries in some real deal shine. Or maybe some Goji berries.

[Lush City]

So, moonshine is the same as white whiskey? I thought there was a difference but there's a lot of shit I don't know. It says it's finished in uncharred barrels to meld the spirit's unique flavors. It states that they use an 80/20 ratio of wheat to barley in the mash, which is why i thought it was more like an unaged wheat whiskey.
Also it says:"the palate is unmistakably whisky: a smooth double-distilled varietal with vanilla, chocolate covered raisin, and dark cherry flavors." But hey, they'll say anything to get suckers to buy it.
Cost $34.10, by the way.

Yeah, it could be pretty difficult to filter the whiskey to get it so clear so it's simply a finer distillation nearing pure alcohol with a wisp of grain. The uncharred barrels don't do much since it's charcoal that refines the impurities but if it's 2x distilled so who cares?

[Lush City]

...
Is it commercialized and, as Peetie put it, faux macho to call it Death's Door? Yes, of course. It's also somewhat historically accurate from a source perspective. As a proud Wisconsinite, I like supporting local products when I can. 80 proof whiskey is tough to do though.

Great post, thanks! Do you suppose it's simply adulterated (diluted) to expand it's market share? Fire water is too mature for the young crowds. We've seen Jack D. take that route and it was profitable.

[Raoul_Duke]

Great post, thanks! Do you suppose it's simply adulterated (diluted) to expand it's market share? Fire water is too mature for the young crowds. We've seen Jack D. take that route and it was profitable.

I have no "inside info", but my guess is yes. It's probably dumbed down a bit for the average consumer. Even folks who fancy themselves drinkers don't seem to know what to expect from white whiskey (flavorwise or proofwise). I'm sure the marketing savants at Death's Door want to keep it accessible. That tameness earns it well-deserved scorn from those of us who know better...but you're right on the money.

[Wingman]

we'll put a random fruit or something in a jar full of moonshine (I'm sure Bluespook can help in that field) and the year after when I come back, we'll just eat that stuff for an appetizer before we have the first drink of the week-end.

we have a friend who starts next year's sangria after the previous year's easter. some of the fruit regularly dissapears...disolves, i guess. she keeps adding fruit and booze throughout the year. i'm not sure what exactly happens, but the result is damn good. the fruit by the end (that's still there...there's some fresh fruit in it, too, only a few days old at serving) is brown and tastes like everclear. shit will mess you up. y'all should come for easter....

[Mr Boozificator]

we'll put a random fruit or something in a jar full of moonshine (I'm sure Bluespook can help in that field) and the year after when I come back, we'll just eat that stuff for an appetizer before we have the first drink of the week-end.

we have a friend who starts next year's sangria after the previous year's easter. some of the fruit regularly dissapears...disolves, i guess. she keeps adding fruit and booze throughout the year. i'm not sure what exactly happens, but the result is damn good. the fruit by the end (that's still there...there's some fresh fruit in it, too, only a few days old at serving) is brown and tastes like everclear. shit will mess you up. y'all should come for easter....

This is extremely tantalizing, but around Easter I am supposed to be delivering classes all around. If I win the lottery, you'll know it by the frantic ding ding at your door, and the ding will have a French accent: Dingueu

[Lush City]

So why doesn't someone post a good recipe for this fruity treat? Need to try this. Looks real organic...