SC - Platina- Venison in Pepper Sauce- KINDA LONG

[ChannonM@aol.com]

Just a few notes from my own researches...

In early uisge making, "Beere" was a more likely a term to be used 
for the to be distilled liquid than the currently favored term "wash".

Aqua vitae was a general term for "ardent spirit", and was used for 
a huge variety of distilled ardent spiritous beverages.

Some notes from the Works of John Davis, an Elizabethan navigator 
and explorer describe the presence in some far Eastern kingdoms of 
marketplace distillers who made Aquavitae from Rice, and also the juice 
of sugar cane. ( apparently these beverages were favored in some 
of the Islamic kingdoms of the East Indies, because they were not 
made of the "fruit of the vine", which was considered something of a 
loophole in the Law.

Some "High end" vodkas are Grain and spice based, and one or two 
are actually made from fruit(!) 

IMHO, Vodka is more like period aquavitae because the Aquavitae 
is rarely described as being aged in barrels, to add color and flavor... 
(which is what is done to brandy before it ever sees the light of day.)

So period Aquavitaes must have generally been been clear and 
subtly flavored with the spices and flavorings that were present 
BEFORE distillation. This is exactly how some "high end" 
Vodkas are produced. I posted several Vodkas which fit this 
description to the SCA-Distilling list when this topic was running over 
there.

Very few vodkas are actually wholly made of potatoes. a great many 
are entirely grain based.

brandu