As the weather warms, and events open, I find myself thinking, what is next?
I have to write a paper to pull my research and experiments into one place. I need to make some new clothes. But after that, I think it is time to try to make oriental vinegars.
I have pretty much succeeded in making European vinegars. I have made a wide variety of wine vinegars. I have made malt vinegars. I have made mead vinegars. I have made cider vinegars. I have made aged vinegars. I have made vinegar from coconut water. I have mostly made balsamic vinegar (or at least as close as I can get without rare woods and the caves of Modena).
Oriental vinegars don’t start directly with sugar. They start with starch. Rice, barley, pea, and millet.
The next step is then to make sake. I have made vinegar from commercial sake and rice wines but time to make my own. Then apply that process to converting the starches in oriental grains to make something like Chinese Black vinegar. Just as balsamic was the end goal for European vinegars, Chinese Black vinegar is the goal on the oriental side of things. This might take several more years as my drive and time allow.
