Still Spirits Filter Pro Complete Including Carbon 8L Spirit Filter System

The basic design of this filter is well known, but after trying unsuccessfully to source all compatible bits in safe materials to put together my own vodka filter, I finally came across this thing - and I have to say that it is worth every penny in terms of convenience of supply, build quality, performance, and convenience of use - just find a handy door, lay some kitchen towel to protect the paintwork, then hook this over it using the supplied bracket.A single slow pass through this filter will turn a cheap vodka into an expensive tasting one, perfect for cocktails. It can also turn an ill-conceived vodka flavouring experiment back into nearly neutral vodka, no need to throw that expensive booze away!The hopper (?) at the top can hold up to 8 litres, but you can do just 1 litre if you like.As consumables this filter requires activated carbon and little paper disks. It's best to run an entire large batch (e.g. 10L-20L) through in a continuous stream, then throw the carbon on your compost heap. Unfortunately, Still Spirits branded activated carbon is a bit expensive and hard to get. Luckily you can find other brands much cheaper. Do make sure it's the food safe fine charcoal kind (like large sugar grains), not the artificial pellet kind. I accidentally left the paper disk filter off the first time I ran the filter and discovered that it made zero difference, so that's one consumable I won't be buying: I haven't even used the "free" ones that came bundled with the hardware.There's only one fly in this ointment: at the bottom of the tube is a cheap stainless steel ball valve that really wants to be fully open or fully closed, it's definitely not designed for flow control. I found it nearly impossible to tweak that valve to deliver one drip per second that filters of this type need for best results (i.e. maintaining a long contact time between booze and carbon). Luckily I had a needle valve that I found would fit using an adapter, and that gave me the precision I needed.All in all I'm very happy, but I hope Still Spirits eventually switch to a needle valve similar to the one they used to bundle with their T500 still.