Adding spices

[Steve50]

Do I need to boil the spices in bourbon before adding to the secondary or can I just let the spices soak before adding them ? Thanks
Steve

 

[odie]

I think bourbon will take care of anything you might fear...

I doubt there is much of anything growing in your dried spices anyway

 

[mattrettig]

Don’t boil. All that nice alcohol from the bourbon will boil away. I’d say just let them soak for a few days before adding. The alcohol in the bourbon should be plenty to sanitize your spices, and anyway I think it’s that very same alcohol that actually helps extract the nice flavor & aroma compounds from your spices. Good luck!