Homemade Pastis - Stage #1

I started on a new distilling experiment yesterday - to make some Pastis.

I based my recipe by combining two I found in this article. I found I could get 1l of 96% ethanol online, from ExtractLab, which is ideal for the initial maceration (and will also be good if I do any more absinthe).

This was my recipe.

• 500ml of 96% ethanol
• 20g star anise
• 20g aniseed
• 20g green fennel seeds
• 10g corinader seeds
• 5g calamus
• 5g melissa (lemon balm)
• 5g liqorice root
• 5g angelic
• 5 green cardamoms

Ready to get started.

I have some handy little scales I use for distilling. Here's my star anise

All my herbs in my mortar and pestle. It was hard work grinding them!

And here is mys macerate.

I need to let the mixture macerate for 1 week, shaking twice a day. This is how it looks today.

That's a lovely green colour. Next step, dilute with 1l of water next Tuesday. More anon!