BigBadBeef Posted November 5, 2022 Report Share Posted November 5, 2022 "TL, DR: I would basically just like to ask why did the developers choose that word for the last stage of liquor brewing in Vintage Story instead of one more recognizable..." Well, my history teacher's threats of knocking some sense into me with her giant slide rule have paid off, thusly I understand that "Aqua Vitae" Is a medieval term for a concentrated spirituous liquor, derived from ancient Latin as "the water of life" for it's falsely inferred healing properties. Yet, considering that, the word "Aqua Vitae" is deemed more obscure than "Schnapps", that word being recognized almost on the same scale as american moonshine. You would argue that concerning both words, Aqua Vitae is meant to have higher alcohol content than Germanic Schnapps, but I have reason to believe that is a misconception. You see, I was once on vacation in Tyrol (That is a pretty hilly region in western Austria), and I've had a taste of the homemade thing. I tossed one right off the cap, and 15 minutes later I felt like I was one step away from talking to unicorns in my room. I think the store-bought stuff is quite diluted for public consumption... and even that is around 40%! We Slovenians know our liquors. The region I come from might as well have its regional symbol replaced with a still. So either the devil was under the cap of that bottle or the homemade brew has WAY more than 40%! So why would you not want to name it Schnapps? Or maybe Alpenschnaps to sneak in a bit of Austria into the game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal13 Posted November 6, 2022 Report Share Posted November 6, 2022 (edited) I'm pretty certain what they gave you was a home brewed absinthe (I know some Swiss and French still distill privately according to old recipes from before it got regulated, not unlikely that some Austrians do it too), the store bought absinthe usually has double the alcohol than most whiskys and vodkas (had some 77 vol%, may have been 88 vol% idk anymore, absinthe once, but I liked another absinth's taste, with way less alcohol better) but the store bought stuff is regulated in it's thujone concentration, ever since the absinthe ban has been lifted. Never saw a 40% absinthe yet, the lightest I saw was 50something vol%. Why do I think it was absinthe and not another spirit? Because to my knowledge it's the only type of spirits that had been banned at one point in Europe, leading to a underground brewing culture similar to what happened in the US through their prohibition period, and with it being regulated in thujone concentration since it got allowed again, that never fully went away. Even though the thujone seemingly never having been the halucinogetic it has been claimed to be. It could have been some Aquavit (has to have at least 37.5 vol% after mixing the raw ingredients, one of which is a spirit with 96vol% another an extract of caraway) too, but I do not know that stuff got a bigger home brewing scene. On the other side You don't have to distill yourself to make aquavit yourself... Yeah maybe it was rather home mixed aquavit (which is a type of schnapps but not the same as Aqua Vitae)... Aqua Vitae was the term used for anything watery with high concentration of alcohol which still wasn't considered pure or rectified ethanol (so basically anything between just shy of 25vol% and around 90something vol%). It's basically an umbrella term for any distillate but became more specifically the umbrella term for distilled alcoholic beverages. Aqua Vitae seems to not need to be able to be consumed safely by humans, while Schnapps is meant to be consumed? Additionally if we get something like potions (planned) and alchemy (not on the roadmap) the term Aqua Vitae would fit better, but if we'd only get potions it wouldn't matter if its spirits / schnapps / aqua vitae. Hence it being called Aqua Vitae might hint on the intend of implementing limited alchemy... Edited November 6, 2022 by Hal13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadBeef Posted November 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2022 On 11/6/2022 at 8:54 PM, Hal13 said: I'm pretty certain what they gave you was a home brewed absinthe (I know some Swiss and French still distill privately according to old recipes from before it got regulated, not unlikely that some Austrians do it too), the store bought absinthe usually has double the alcohol than most whiskys and vodkas (had some 77 vol%, may have been 88 vol% idk anymore, absinthe once, but I liked another absinth's taste, with way less alcohol better) but the store bought stuff is regulated in it's thujone concentration, ever since the absinthe ban has been lifted. I saw shriveled prunes in that knit jug and I recognized the taste on whatever taste buds were left that the drink didn't fry. I can assure you, it was Schnapps, cousin cooks this stuff too, but he is a bit conservative on the condenser. Aber dieser schnapsen hat gefuhlt das es wie von teuffel gekommen ist, so stark war est. Hausmeister und hausmeisterin haben beiden auf mich gelaucht wenn der schuss hat mich fast am rucken geschmissen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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