Probably stupid question -- olive-based liquor?

[Dusty Chalk]

No, not as a garnish...you know how vodka is fermented potatoes, and wine is fermented grapes, and beer is fermented...uh...barley? I think beer is a family of fermented things, there's rice beer, and barley beer, and wheat beer, and so on...and tequila is fermented agave -- so is there one that's fermented olives? I had a really good olive last night, and I imagine it would be good, but perhaps there's something about it which prevents it from happening (quantity?).

[The Expanding Man]

With all of the examples you gave, they all contain starchy sugars. Yeast eats the sugar and excretes alcohol. I doubt olives contain the necessary sugars.

Now, you could use olives for no more than a flavouring agent, but you would have to use something else with the required sugars to produce the alcohol.

Somehow, my idea of the resulting flavour doesn't float my boat.

YMMV.

[Dusty Chalk]

Well, so far, all I've found is this. I have no idea which of the two scenarios you've described it is, but I'm going to try and track some of it down.

Thanks for your input!

[Upstateguy]

Interesting question....

I would have thought it required more sugar than olives have, but then I found http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request115.asp....

however, it does not really use olives.... it uses Autumn olives, which are an Asian berry like fruit....

[Dusty Chalk]

I suspect you're both right, and that most olives don't have enough sugar, but some of the more Mediterranean olives can be quite sweet (I think they're Mediterranean).