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Will hard candy dissolve in liquor eventually?

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zxcvbob

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Jan 16, 2010, 12:38:48 AM1/16/10
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I've been eating way too many lemon drop candies lately. I bought
several big bags of them at Fleet Farm before Christmas. I probably have
1/4 pound left...

If I put a handful of lemon drops in a fruit jar with a pint of gin, put
on a tight fitting lid, and give it a swirl every now and then, will
they dissolve and make an almost 80 proof cordial?

I tried searching the Internet but all I find is ten million hits for a
drink called the "Lemon Drop" or "Lemon Drop Martini"

Bob

Dan Abel

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Jan 16, 2010, 1:07:52 AM1/16/10
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In article <7rd1n6...@mid.individual.net>,
zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote:

> I've been eating way too many lemon drop candies lately. I bought
> several big bags of them at Fleet Farm before Christmas. I probably have
> 1/4 pound left...
>
> If I put a handful of lemon drops in a fruit jar with a pint of gin, put
> on a tight fitting lid, and give it a swirl every now and then, will
> they dissolve and make an almost 80 proof cordial?

I'm pretty certain. 80 proof means 40% alcohol and 60% water. I would
guess pretty quickly, too. Think about how long they take to dissolve
in your mouth. I would use a narrow neck booze bottle, too. That's
easier to pour from.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
da...@sonic.net

Paul M. Cook

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Jan 16, 2010, 1:59:40 AM1/16/10
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"Dan Abel" <da...@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:dabel-88BBD5....@c-61-68-245-199.per.connect.net.au...

I've heard you are supposed to dissolve the candy in a little boiling water
then add it to the booze.

Paul


cybercat

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Jan 16, 2010, 3:13:21 AM1/16/10
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"zxcvbob" <zxc...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:7rd1n6...@mid.individual.net...

I bet they will. 5 dollah.


none of your business

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Jan 16, 2010, 9:01:28 AM1/16/10
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TRY IT and let us know. FGS how much does a pint of gin cost? if it
doesn't work, you'll only be out $10

Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

zxcvbob

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Jan 16, 2010, 11:00:07 AM1/16/10
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On 1/16/2010 9:50 AM, Sqwertz wrote:

> On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:38:48 -0600, zxcvbob wrote:
>
>> I've been eating way too many lemon drop candies lately. I bought
>> several big bags of them at Fleet Farm before Christmas.
>
> What is Fleet Farm - some sort of enema store?
>
> -sw

I think they may have enema kits in the veterinary supply aisle. (that's
where I buy my antibiotics) It's like the Walmart of farm supplies --
except a lot of the stuff is made in USA instead of China.

They have about 3 full aisles of bagged bulk candy, nuts, dried fruit,
popcorn, and stuff like that. And it's actually good candy, not like
the tasteless cellophane bags of hard candy you get at most grocery
stores and gas stations.

Bob

brooklyn1

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Jan 16, 2010, 11:44:41 AM1/16/10
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On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:07:52 -0800, Dan Abel <da...@sonic.net> wrote:

>In article <7rd1n6...@mid.individual.net>,
> zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote:
>
>> I've been eating way too many lemon drop candies lately. I bought
>> several big bags of them at Fleet Farm before Christmas. I probably have
>> 1/4 pound left...
>>
>> If I put a handful of lemon drops in a fruit jar with a pint of gin, put
>> on a tight fitting lid, and give it a swirl every now and then, will
>> they dissolve and make an almost 80 proof cordial?
>
>I'm pretty certain. 80 proof means 40% alcohol and 60% water. I would

>guess pretty quickly.

It will dissolve, but don't count on pretty quickly, in fact it could
take many years for hard candies to dissolve in booze at room
temperature... ain't yoose ever seen a bottle of Rock & Rye... that
chunk of rock candy won't dissolve for probably two lifetimes and
longer. In order to dissolve lemon drops in gin I'd suggest you first
dissolving as many as you can in boiling water, then pour that
solution/syrup into the gin slowly and hopefully stop before it
becomes over saturated and recrystalizes... you'll need to experiment
with how many of your lemon drops will go into solution with a
particular quantity of gin. I suggest simply dropping a few lemon
drops into a bottle of gin and not care if they fully dissolve,
actually very little will dissolve but enough to flavor the gin. Of
course I would never flavor gin, it's already flavored (gin is vodka
with flavoring ingredients added), might consider flavoring vodka
instead. Regardless what one pays for vodka the alcohol it contain is
exactly the same... when one pays more than the price of Crystal
Palace vodka they are paying for fancier packaging and advertising,
import tarrifs and longer shipping distances. All flavored vodkas,
and I mean all, are inferior, and were flavored to hide a funky taste
rather than dumped. The best quality vodka has no taste whatsoever...
Crystal Palace Vodka is as good as any in on the planet. Crystal
Palace is produced by Bartons, they package exactly the same vodka
under various labels (even the Barton's label) and charge a lot more,
but those vodkas are either exactly the same or inferior... if
flavored they are inferior... none are better than Crystal Palace.
Anyone wants to pay double for a glass bottle rather than plastic, a
five color foil label rather than two color paper, and an individual
fancy schmancy carton can go right ahead... for a glass bottle in an
odd configuration with a silk screened label you'll pay triple... just
prooves that the alcohol has destroyed your brain because yoose have
more dollars than brain cells.

sf

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Jan 16, 2010, 2:38:21 PM1/16/10
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On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:59:40 -0800, "Paul M. Cook" <pmc...@gte.net>
wrote:

Why bother? Water dilutes the booze. If he wants them to dissolve
faster he can crush them. The finer they're crushed the faster they
will dissolve.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

John Kuthe

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Jan 16, 2010, 2:49:31 PM1/16/10
to

Yes, because lemon drops are primarily sugar and gin has water in it,
and sugar and water mix in any concentration, even as far apart as one
grain of sugar in 1000 liters of water to one drop of water to 1000 kg
of sugar.

They key is the "eventually" part! ;-)

John Kuthe...

Paul M. Cook

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Jan 16, 2010, 2:56:25 PM1/16/10
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"sf" <s...@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:pa54l5pdp9c0na5ur...@4ax.com...

We're talking a couple of tablespoons of water and probably one or two lemon
drops. Not so much dilution at all. I'd think a teaspoon of syrup would
heavily flavor the liquor.

Paul


Mark Wabster

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Jan 16, 2010, 3:50:50 PM1/16/10
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Why bother with all this mucking about?

Just buy some lemon essence and sugar syrup and add to the gin or
vodka to taste.

We make a pretty good limoncello by adding lemon zest and sugar to
vodka, it is much simpler and tastier and wouldn't have all the other
rubbish you'd find in the candies like stabilisers etc.

Cheerz Wabster.

Melba's Jammin'

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Jan 17, 2010, 1:59:21 PM1/17/10
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In article <7rd1n6...@mid.individual.net>,
zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote:

> If I put a handful of lemon drops in a fruit jar with a pint of gin, put
> on a tight fitting lid, and give it a swirl every now and then, will
> they dissolve and make an almost 80 proof cordial?
>
> I tried searching the Internet but all I find is ten million hits for a
> drink called the "Lemon Drop" or "Lemon Drop Martini"
>
> Bob

Sure. It's sugar. And if they don't, they'll taste better anyway.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller 1-9-2010

Melba's Jammin'

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Jan 17, 2010, 2:01:50 PM1/17/10
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In article <10q4h27sx5mkf$.p...@sqwertz.com>,
Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:

> What is Fleet Farm - some sort of enema store?
>
> -sw

Look 'em up, Smartypants. If FF doesn't have it, you do not need it.
Building supplies, home repair supplies, plumbing stuff, farm stuff,
toys, clothing, the only place around here to purchase canning jars
(based on price, not availability), some foods (cheap nuts), Nut Goodies
and Salted Nut Rolls.

(Or was that some kind of forger out to spoil your good name?)

Pinstripe Sniper

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Jan 17, 2010, 2:37:57 PM1/17/10
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Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:

>It really depends on how many you use. Water at room temperature
>and at sea level can only absorb so much sugar. They will only
>dissolve up to the water's saturation point. Raising them temp or
>pressure will allow you dissolve more, but not much more without
>affecting the alcohol content.
>-sw

I'm with Sqwertz. You should be able to dissolve about the same amount
of sugar into 10 ounces of gin 80 proof as you could in 6 ounce of
water. (Seagrams Gin is $12 for 1.75 liter where I live! Food4less
stores in Las Vegas)

Perhaps searching on "sugar solubility alcohol" would have been more
revealing. Also, I wonder if the boiling of sugar before adding
recipe was to sterilize the stuff or just to ensure completely
dissolved sugar? I'd imagine 40% alcohol is strong enough but I'd be
more confident with Everclear %ages.

I'd be curious to know how it turns out? Both rapidity of dissolving
and the flavor.


PsS

--------------------------------------------------------------------
A fictional account of how to drastically reform the financial world...
More at http://PinstripeSniper.blogspot.com and if that gets banned, check
www.PinstripeSniper.com

Mark Thorson

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Jan 17, 2010, 3:03:01 PM1/17/10
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Sqwertz wrote:
>
> It really depends on how many you use. Water at room temperature
> and at sea level can only absorb so much sugar. They will only
> dissolve up to the water's saturation point. Raising them temp or
> pressure will allow you dissolve more, but not much more without
> affecting the alcohol content.

If you just dump some lemon drops into alcohol,
I'd expect a sugar-saturated layer to form on
the bottom, which would be visible through
the bottle because of its different index of
refraction.

Shaking the bottle once or twice a day would
promote dissolving the lemon drops because it
would force the saturated layer to mix with
the rest of the contents of the bottle.

zxcvbob

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Jan 17, 2010, 3:47:36 PM1/17/10
to

The lemon drops were in an apothecary jar, and I added some gin last
night. It's dissolving much faster than I expected, considering the jar
is in a cool basement and the gin started out cold. I just tasted a
little of it, and it is very sweet with almost no sourness to it. The
lemon flavor is not bad, and the color is good but cloudy. (I expected
a clear yellow.)

It will be good mixed with lemon juice, but I don't think I'll make it
again.

Bob

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