[ashley8072]

So I see a lot that tobacco and alcohol will be great barter items. I was thinking about purchasing some of these items soon, but not sure where to even start. As an occassional smoker myself, I've got my supply. I was leaning towards maybe picking up some of the canisters of tobacco for trade. Their cheap here, I think about 10 bucks a canister. So I thought maybe 6 cans of different flavors. Most already come with papers and rollers, which would help in any trade. I also thought about getting a couple pounds of pipe tobacco, but keeping it fresh without the fancy boxes could be difficult. How much do you keep in supply?

As far as alcohol goes, I picked up a case of 12 cheap Boone's Farm flavored wine. On spirits: Besides drinking, alcohol has many uses already. What I'm not sure about is how to buy it. Maybe by the gallons (which is cheaper), or something a bit more compact by pints.

What are yalls views on stocking these? I'm shooting for a year supply.

 

[Turtle]

I don't know that I would waste my time/money with Boones Farm, or really, wine in general. Wine is pretty easy to make, and I would imagine that people will start cranking it out pretty quickly in the case of a complete loss of infrastructure.

Liquor will be much harder to find (immediately, until stills get set up and people figure out what they are doing) and as such, will have more trade value.

I would purchase whisky, whiskey, bourbon, and vodka, with perhaps some gin or rum thrown in to the mix. Whisky, whiskey, and bourbon drinkers will generally drink either of the three, if needs be; I know I probably drink mostly Irish whiskey, my favorite is a good Scotch whisky, but I will drink bourbon if that is all that my host has to offer. Most Americans drink some form of the "brown" liquors. Vodka probably has the most versatility, as an ideal vodka should be colorless, odorless, and tasteless, so it mixes well with other things and is a good base for infusions.

As for the sizes which one should purchase, think of it like money: Is it easier to make change for a $20 or a $100? A variety of sizes would be good if you have the room to stock it; pints, 750ml bottles, and gallon bottles are all good sizes which would give you a lot of variety with which to trade.

I used to be a bartender and a bar manager.... I can go on and on about booze!

 

[gypsysue]

I agree with Turtle about the wine and liquor. We started to stock 'booze' for barter and then realized many of our relatives, neighbors, and friends were already making wine and other alchohol products (whiskey and rum), so they wouldn't have a lot of trade value. And like Turtle said, more will start making it. They'll make stills. Btw, I've heard a pressure canner can be used, somehow, for a whiskey still, but I don't know how that works.

We've stored tobacco products, vacuum-sealed, for barter. I don't know what happens to them after time, but since tobacco doesn't grow in our climate I figure at least it's something. After vacuum-sealing each pack or can separately we put them in an airtight bucket and stored it in our dark, cool root cellar where there's a steady temperature. A person could go a step better and put Co2 packets or oxygen absorbers in the bucket as well.

One thing I can offer regarding wine and liquor is if you consume it yourself right now, save your bottles. The people we know who make wine, whiskey, and rum are always asking around for bottles. We also save the glass bottles from olive oil and wash them out good. They would work for wine or liquor. If you have a place to store them, you might be able to trade "X" number of empty booze bottles for one that's filled! I know people also use mason jars, but I'd rather keep mine for canning actual food!

 

[Turtle]

Good call on saving the bottles... my grandmother used to make wine and my mother has just started since she retired and has nothing better to do. You should see the goofy assortment of bottles in her basement!

Just an FYI about that; for wine, the darker bottles work better, but for hooch it doesn't really matter.

 

[stayingthegame]

If you need trade bottle just keep old coke or Pepsi bottles. fill them up when you trade. the large bottles of alcohol are cheaper and easier to store. I have some bottles that are 8 oz that I bought for my hot sauce, hand lotions and soaps that I sell. got them for 30 cents each. so I will use them.

 

[Turtle]

If you need trade bottle just keep old coke or Pepsi bottles. fill them up when you trade. the large bottles of alcohol are cheaper and easier to store. I have some bottles that are 8 oz that I bought for my hot sauce, hand lotions and soaps that I sell. got them for 30 cents each. so I will use them.

The problem with that is that if it is not in an original, sealed container, you have no idea what you are getting. I personally wouldn't trade for any booze that wasn't in it's original sealed container, because you will have unscrupulous types cutting their vodka with water, or worse, rubbing alcohol or turpentine. There are a lot of dangers that go along with bootlegging; it's the origin of the "pimp walk" that you see kids emulating without even knowing the origin. Poor blacks in the south often drank moonshine that had been cut with other chemicals to make it stronger and cheaper; this would cause nerve damage and make them limp.

Unless I was trading with someone whom I well knew, I would not take the chance of drinking unknown liquor.

 

[ashley8072]

Awesome Turtle! thnx everyone for the comments. The Boone's farm was more for us. With a frozen chill, it basically tastes the same as my $15 bottle wine. My grandpa actually makes wine, and I hadn't thought about needing my own bottles to refill. I would only take consumable products from people I would trust always also. There's a local here that makes a good moonshine, and you gotta bring ur own jar. I picked up 2 cases of mason jars for just in case...those will make nice whatever jars.

 

[Emerald]

I make my own wines and most of them are aging in the one gallon glass jugs cuz I don't have enuf wine bottles at the moment. But lucky for me I do have about 8 empty gallon jugs that I can rack my nearly finished wines into so that I can start over again... But I am down to only one packet of good yeast.. Most folks use on whole pack for one gallon of wine but me I have learned to take just a bit of the juice(or fruit) and start some yeast in a smaller amount and when it takes off I then can dump it into the bigger amount of juice/fruit. I can make several gallons of wine with only one tiny packet... Now to learn how to "wash" my lees and get the yeast back out... You can start wine with the left overs of the first batch and you can do that a few times before any bad yeasts start to take over.
One good side product of wine is also vinegar... I have made my own vinegar but it was only just Okay-I needed to take better care of it and it molded on me before it turned all the way...

 

[gypsysue]

Emerald, you are so cool! I've learned so much from you!

I bet a person could drop in at a bar or other place that serves wine and liquor, especially toward the end of the evening, and ask for empties? At least I'm pretty sure our local friendly tavern/restaurant/community-gathering-place bar would. You know, if you need some bottles right now.

I've never made wine but it sounds like something I could and should learn. I like the idea of being able to make vinegar too.

Do you use regular baking yeast? I've heard of "champagne yeast", like for making root beer. I wasn't able to find any back when we were going to try to make root beer. I bought the root beer extract and that's where it stopped.

 

[Emerald]

Emerald, you are so cool! I've learned so much from you!

I bet a person could drop in at a bar or other place that serves wine and liquor, especially toward the end of the evening, and ask for empties? At least I'm pretty sure our local friendly tavern/restaurant/community-gathering-place bar would. You know, if you need some bottles right now.

I've never made wine but it sounds like something I could and should learn. I like the idea of being able to make vinegar too.

Do you use regular baking yeast? I've heard of "champagne yeast", like for making root beer. I wasn't able to find any back when we were going to try to make root beer. I bought the root beer extract and that's where it stopped.

I've thought about checking one of the big wedding venue places here to see if they would save the champagne bottles and wine bottles but the gas prices are a bit too steep to run and get them every Sunday. I don't mind the gallon jugs but that is a bit of drinking to do at one sitting so most of the time I only take it to big family events.. My wine tends to be a tad "high octane" too... gotta work on that... lol. I buy a couple different types of wine yeasts.. one is a champagne type. one of the ones I like the best makes a high alcohol content yet also retains a really nice fruity/floral flavor. Lavlin LC-1118. I want to start brewing beer this year as I am getting quite a few hops on my bines.
I heard that bread yeasts do better with beers if you run out of other yeasts. as most beer is yeasty anyhoo.

 

[partdeux]

I just put the word out for friends and relatives to save wine bottles. I have 200+ bottles of wine in bottles right now, 9 different kinds

 

[ZoomZoom]

I'm with Turtle with one addition. 190 proof Everclear. Kind of a catch-all booze and can also be used as an antiseptic.

 

[Emerald]

I'm with Turtle with one addition. 190 proof Everclear. Kind of a catch-all booze and can also be used as an antiseptic.

It would be good for making tinctures of good medicinal herbs too. Plus if you put a bit in home made wines it would fortify them and make them last longer without using sulfites.

 

[Turtle]

I'm with Turtle with one addition. 190 proof Everclear. Kind of a catch-all booze and can also be used as an antiseptic.

Can't argue with that logic!

When I was working in bars, we would periodically have people stop by and ask for our empty bottles. The trick is to stop by early in the night before it gets busy, so they can save them through-out the night. Most often, the bartenders are happy to help out.

 

[BlackPaladin]

Wine is pretty easy to make, and I would imagine that people will start cranking it out pretty quickly in the case of a complete loss of infrastructure.

First thing after they got out of the ark!

 

[Turtle]

First thing after they got out of the ark!

If the only people left alive in the world were my family.... I would need a drink, too!

 

[Jezcruzen]

I was reading about an account of colonists first making landfall in the "New World" and the first order of business was setting up to brew beer. :beercheer:

Then there was an article about our Founding Fathers and how they seldom would drink water due to the chance of getting sick, so they mostly drank spirits during the day. Makes me wonder if they were often buzzed during the organizing and formation of our Republic.

I live close to the moonshining capital of the US - Franklin County, Va. If the maker takes pride in their product, some really good 'shine can come out of those woods. OTOH, if quick profit is the motive you could be drinking pure death.

To the north of me is Nelson County. Its famous for its apple and peach brandy due to the number of large orchards that flourish there. Story was that at Christmas time, the Superintendent of the State Police would have a trooper stop by the little store up there. While he was inside having a Coke, someone would place a gallon of apple brandy in the trooper's car, which was meant for the Superintendent.

Many of these notorious whiskey and brandy making areas have switched to a new product - marijuana. Its easier to produce, transport, and market.

 

[Turtle]

I was reading about an account of colonists first making landfall in the "New World" and the first order of business was setting up to brew beer. :beercheer:

Then there was an article about our Founding Fathers and how they seldom would drink water due to the chance of getting sick, so they mostly drank spirits during the day. Makes me wonder if they were often buzzed during the organizing and formation of our Republic.

I live close to the moonshining capital of the US - Franklin County, Va. If the maker takes pride in their product, some really good 'shine can come out of those woods. OTOH, if quick profit is the motive you could be drinking pure death.

To the north of me is Nelson County. Its famous for its apple and peach brandy due to the number of large orchards that flourish there. Story was that at Christmas time, the Superintendent of the State Police would have a trooper stop by the little store up there. While he was inside having a Coke, someone would place a gallon of apple brandy in the trooper's car, which was meant for the Superintendent.

Many of these notorious whiskey and brandy making areas have switched to a new product - marijuana. Its easier to produce, transport, and market.

I used to live in Roanoke and work in Christiansburg ... I am very familiar with that area and it moonshine! My best friend still lives down there; his wife is from Franklin County. You should check out a book that I just finished, "Chasing the White Dog", a lot of it takes place in Franklin County.:beercheer:

 

[mickbear]

its a lot easier to make liquor than most folks think.as far as tobacco goes i dont smoke and never have,dont plan to either, but i grow tobacco in my garden every year.you can get a bunch of tobacco seeds for next to nothing.its some what easy to grow,and doesn't take up much space.i cut the leaves through out the summer and hang them to dry in my shop then vacume seal them when i get a good bunch.i gave some to a nieghbor and he said they were good.

 

[ComputerGuy]

We have some hard liqueur put away. Need to start making some wine. I have about 20 cases of home brewed beer put away and aging!!