Time to soak some cocoa nibs for Bloody Finger, Cranberry Chocolate Stout, and I don't have any vodka. I haven't actually done this before. Going to be transferring to a keg from which to add priming sugar, cranberry juice, the nibs, and a dash of vanilla to help bring out the chocolate flavor. I have some super cheap tequila, or a few different rums that might lend an interesting flavor. Maybe the rums will eff with my intended results. Leaning towards the tequila, or I do have regular white rum as well (not pictured) Soliciting opinions from the experienced
Given those choices I would probably go with the most neutral rum. How long are you giving this tincture a chance to...um...tincture...before you add it to the keg? Are the nibs roasted?
I could definitely use white rum. This is a 4oz package of Brewers Best nibs, had not planned on roasting them. Do I need to roast them? How long should I soak them? Is overnight enough?
I'm definitely not an expert on this, but I don't really know what you'll get with an overnight soak. I would think not much, but again, its not something I ever tried. Most tincture recipes I have seen are usually weeks-long processes. If you need this by tomorrow, maybe you can find a Chocolate Extract in a grocery store? I'm sure others here will be more helpful. Good luck no matter what you do. Keep us posted. **Edit** They don't need to be roasted, but I have had better luck with them that way. Of course, I was adding them at knockout, so not really much of a guide to your situation.
Thanks Nosy, any thoughts on how long I should soak them? What if I soaked them over night in a mason jar, including the muslin bag (to sanitize everything), then poured the lot in the fermenter, and leave it for a few days, or a week before transferring to the bottling stage?
Thanks Megary I am not in a rush, but would like to get this bottled to get it out of the way more than anything.
Only time I made a vanilla bean tincture I made the day I mashed in left it a week and added tincture to fermentor let that sit then packaged. I vote rum too
Week would be good. A few weeks may be better, but the flavour returns start diminishing around that time. Edit: and I'd do the rum. And I'd be tempted to do the spiced rum and white rum and do a third clean, a third with spiced and the remainder with white. I think I'd love the spiced one, but want some insurance.
You likely want to soak them longer than a day. The good news is that you can soak longer, then add the tincture at packaging.
I will give it a week, went with white rum. Kind of thinking that the spiced rum might bring a flavor that would be incongruent with the cranberry and chocolate.
