Moonshine aromatization recipes. How and how to flavor homemade moonshine? The use of flavors through a dry steamer What to add to a dry steamer for smell

At home, it is almost impossible to get. The forcing product requires purification, regardless of the mash recipe. The unpleasant smell and taste of moonshine is given by chemical compounds formed during the distillation process.. The mechanism of softening and purification of moonshine is aimed at removing fusel oils and impurities.

The quality of moonshine is primarily affected by the recipe for making mash and the mature technology of proper distillation. A moonshine still equipped with a steamer or a reflux condenser should also be of good quality; copper is recognized as the most suitable material for it.

An important condition is to maintain cleanliness: the fermentation tank, moonshine, dishes for collecting and storing the product must be clean throughout the entire process.

However, even if all the rules of home brewing are observed, the final product needs additional cleaning and softening. It will be necessary to get rid of bitterness and unpleasant odors. There are many ways to refine moonshine and make it more enjoyable. Since ancient times, herbs, roots, spices have been used for this. In our time, the list of cleaners and additives has increased markedly.

To soften moonshine, sweeteners, acidifiers, spices, spices, nuts, charcoal, bark, etc. are used. When starting to eliminate a specific smell, it is necessary to fulfill all the conditions and proportions of the recipe, starting with small volumes of moonshine.

We clean the drink from impurities and unpleasant odors

Experienced masters of home brewing use the double distillation method - repeated distillation allows you to get a purer product. Before the secondary distillation, moonshine must be further cleaned to remove impurities harmful to the body.

To do this, prepare the product by diluting its strength to 30% - this concentration facilitates the separation of fusel oils. It is also recommended to let the moonshine settle for 2 days at room temperature before the cleansing procedure. Purification of an alcoholic beverage is carried out using:

Reference. The haul process is conditionally divided into "head", "body" and "tail". Most harmful impurities are in the "head" - in the first 10% of moonshine. In the "tail", the strength of alcohol is reduced to 30-35º, the approximate amount is up to 10% of the total amount of the product. The “head” is poured out, and the “tails” are left for breeding mash before forcing. The purest moonshine is expelled in the “body”, it is most of all freed from impurities and a specific smell.

Moonshine can be flavored during the distillation process if an ingredient used to improve the taste is added. For example, juniper berries, dry citrus peel, dry herbs.

Video on how to improve sam at home

In this video, an experienced moonshiner will tell you how to give a milder taste and improve the smell of moonshine:

Gives a softer taste

The taste of the resulting purified moonshine can be improved by softening it with additional products. At home, for this, infusion or flavoring with flavorings is used. Raw tinctures are made without chemical additives, therefore they are completely safe for health.

In cases where a lot of softener has been added, the concentration is reduced by diluting pure alcohol with water. The container must be hermetically sealed and kept at a temperature close to zero degrees.

Reference. The higher the degree of moonshine, the more difficult it is to soften the drink, optimally alcohol should not exceed 40º.

What to add to improve?

Flavoring additives allow you to give the drink a certain taste, make it look like any kind of alcohol. They are prepared on the basis of natural ingredients and are easy to use. There are a wide range of flavor additives on the market today. With the help of concentrated additives, moonshine can be given a cognac tint, a bitter taste or a sweet liquor.

Liquid food concentrate allows you to recreate all traditional alcoholic drinks: vodka, whiskey, wine, brandy, rum. Flavors may have aromas of coffee, chocolate, caramel and fruit odors. Quality products have a stable aroma and do not contain hazardous components. Supplements are available as liquid essences and concentrates. It is better to buy them in specialized stores.

note: to play with the taste of the drink, it must be well purified and free of impurities.

With Natural Supplements

You can also improve the taste of homemade alcohol with natural flavors. For these purposes, herbs, spices, berries, dried fruits can be used. When using fragrant herbal supplements, it is important to respect the proportions. Spicy plants contain valuable biologically active substances distributed in leaves, flowers, roots, fruits.

Both beginners and experienced winemakers have been thinking about how to ennoble moonshine for a long time. It seems that the drink was purified several times, the technology and deadlines were observed and everything should be fine, but women still refuse to use it. They do not like this drink either for its taste, or for its smell, or for its vigorous aroma. And the winemaker has no choice but to go to the trick and add aromatic additives to the finished drink.

Flavoring additives that improve the taste of moonshine are syrups, herbs, fruits, berries and other components. Now there are many recipes and ways to refine the drink. The main thing is to follow the written instructions and experiment less with products. But, if you are an experienced winemaker, then you can take on any, even a complex recipe and get a masterpiece. About how the refinement of moonshine takes place - we will tell further. Also in the article there will be tips from an experienced moonshiner on the question of how to make fragrant moonshine.

The basis of moonshine is fusel oils, which give it a sharp and unpleasant taste and smell. Refinement of moonshine helps to get rid of fusel oils. This process is carried out through a moonshine still. For this, additional modules, various cleaning methods and aromatic substances are used.

The purification technology of moonshine includes the following steps:

At the beginning, it is subjected to a double distillation. To do this, several dry steamers are used. Additionally, it is subjected to chemical cleaning or cleaning through filters.
When the filtration is completed, the alcohol is bottled or moved to another stage of its purification. It includes aromatization or "ennoblement". A variety of aromatic substances will help the winemaker choose what can be added to moonshine for taste and color.
When flavoring, moonshine with vegetable raw materials does not need to be distilled a second time. Aromatization is based on infusion and extraction. Most often, a cold compound of substances is used: an aromatic substance is added to the moonshine and the finished composition is set aside in a warm, dark corner of the apartment. The infusion period varies from 2-3 weeks to 3-4 months. The duration depends on the components used, the complexity of the recipe. Remember that in some recipes, ingredients are added one at a time and after a certain period of time.

Important: if the temperature in the room where the drink is infused is 50-60 degrees, then the infusion time is reduced to 1 week, so flavoring will be faster and it will be easier for the winemaker to prepare moonshine according to the recipe.

Most often, winemakers use the method of active aromatization of moonshine. For him, the aromatic substance is wrapped in a small fabric bag and attached at the inlet to the coil. Alcohol, passing through it, absorbs a pleasant smell and then cools. Remember that before you wrap the aromatic substance in the bag, you need to properly prepare it.

How to prepare the aromatic substance? Cold and hot soaking is used. The selected plant, before wrapping, is crushed and soaked in a solvent so that the liquid level is 2 fingers higher than the composition. Thus, the ratio of herbal composition to water varies from 1:2 to 1:5.

Important: when choosing a fresh plant, the infusion period is 3-5 days, if a dry plant is preferred, then from 8 to 15 days.

How to make a device with your own hands?

We take a metal mesh and make 2 strainers out of it, with a size equal to the diameter of the container used.
We attach the first sieve just above the bottom of the saucepan. We put crushed aromatic substances on it.
At 5-7 cm from the first strainer, we attach the second strainer.
Pour in the solvent so that it covers the top strainer.
We cover the container with a large lid with the edges bent to the bottom. We attach a groove to one edge of the lid. We fill it with liquid. This way the alcohol won't evaporate.
Attach a faucet to the bottom of the pot. Harmful substances and residues of fusel oils will leave on it.
The container is put on fire, and boil for 10-15 minutes.
When the composition is re-distilled, a concentrated solution with a high alcohol content and a high concentration of aromatic substances is obtained. Such compounds are called essences. Re-distillation is carried out using a moonshine still. Used: cube, set of tubes, refrigerator, alcohol receiver.

Thus, the purification of moonshine from fusel oils is carried out through a steamer. In it, the temperature and pressure decrease, and the ethyl vapors become denser. Due to this, all harmful impurities become condensate and drain to the bottom of the tank. Also in the steamer, moonshine is ennobled by adding aromatic impurities to it. Now in stores there are many additives that, according to the recipe, are added to moonshine for taste and smell. Their choice depends on the preferences of the winemaker.

What to put in a steamer for flavor?

Peels of orange, tangerine, grapefruit. Thanks to them, the drink will acquire a fresh citrus smell and taste. It is undesirable to put lemon zest in a steamer: this will make the drink tart and bitter.
Raisin. Such alcohol resembles the Georgian Chacha. Everyone will like it thanks to its fruity aroma and pleasant aftertaste.
Sliced blackcurrant leaves. Ready alcohol will acquire a rich currant taste.
Finely chopped apple. Such a drink will be similar to the Italian Calvados.
Dried fruits, sliced peach, banana, pear, melon. Such a drink, due to its interesting taste and smell, will not leave anyone indifferent.
A mixture of cinnamon and vanilla. Such moonshine will appeal to women.

Remember that if you are a beginner winemaker, then it is better to stick to the standard ways of flavoring moonshine through a steamer. So, your work will not be in vain, and ready-made alcohol will not need to be poured out. Also, the winemaker will not be superfluous to study in advance the information on how to improve the taste of the finished moonshine with the help of homemade ingredients.

How to soften moonshine

What to add to moonshine for taste in order to rid it of an unpleasant smell and taste? This question has been of interest to many winemakers for a long time, especially beginners. And if they didn’t get a high-quality drink the first time, it has an unpleasant color and smell, then you shouldn’t pour it out. There are flavors for moonshine that improve the taste and smell of the drink:

milk;
spices and spices;
berries and fruits;
herbs;
glucose and food flavorings.

Sugar

Sugar is used to improve the taste of moonshine. It softens the alcoholic beverage and changes its organoleptic properties. Sand is added to the finished alcohol and stirred. It gives the drink a pleasant and soft aftertaste. Previously, in moonshine brewing, moonshine was prepared using the fermentation of yeast and sugar, so it was not necessary to put something in a steamer. Therefore, all fusel oils remained in the composition. Now most winemakers use dry steamers, which give the drink a pleasant taste and smell and eliminate fusel oils. Therefore, sugar is used as an additive.

Burnt sugar

What else can be added to the steamer for taste? Burnt sugar can also improve the taste of the finished drink. And if you add berries to the sugar syrup, you get a sweet berry syrup. Thanks to this syrup, the finished drink will resemble a sweet berry alcoholic tincture. Remember that before adding the berries to alcohol, it is advisable to wash, remove the seeds and chop in a blender.

Glucose

To soften the taste and refine moonshine at home, many housewives add glucose instead of sugar to ready-made alcohol.

Before you ennoble the moonshine, water is added to it, and then the ennobled drink is ennobled with glucose and sugar. Thanks to this, it becomes more pleasant and soft, and the taste will acquire interesting notes.

Fructose

Flavoring moonshine and softening its taste begins with the use of glucose based on fruits and berries. It is sold in any store. Fructose is added directly to the finished moonshine. Thanks to this, it acquires excellent quality.

Honey

Flavorings for moonshine include honey. It is in almost every person at home. Therefore, making sweet moonshine with it will not be difficult even for a novice winemaker.

In order to learn how to give a pleasant taste to moonshine with honey, you need to take:

1 liter of moonshine;
2 hot peppers;
2 stars of carnation;
4 black peppercorns;
1 tablespoon honey.

All components, except honey, are placed in a deep container. Next, you need to close it with a lid and put it in a dark corner of the apartment for 14 days.

At the end of the specified period, the bank is taken out, filtered and honey is added to it.

Important: honey is a very thick substance and when it enters the jar, it immediately falls to the bottom of the container. This is normal and you should not be afraid of this phenomenon.

We again leave the jar aside for 2 days. Then we take it out: the drink will become cloudy due to the presence of honey in it. Mix the composition well. Then we set it aside again for 12 days. Then we strain it through a gauze cloth. The drink is ready to drink.

Important: if you want to make the drink more beautiful, then you can put red hot pepper in the bottle.

Glycerol

How to ennoble moonshine at home? To do this, you can take glycerin. This is a food supplement that is used not only by cooks, but also by home winemakers. He:

eliminates the persistent smell of moonshine, which distinguishes this drink from other alcoholic beverages;
softens the taste of the finished drink. Such alcohol with glycerin is more pleasant, delicate and sweet in taste;
masks the disadvantages of alcohol. Alcohol with glycerin becomes more attractive to other consumers.

Therefore, if you have already run to the store for this dietary supplement, then you should not rush. Along with many positive qualities, glycerin also has disadvantages:

Does not improve the quality of the finished drink. This nutritional supplement is able to "mask" the quality of the drink, but it cannot make it better and cleaner. Also, glycerin does not change the concentration of impurities, esters and fusel oils in the composition of the drink.
Glycerin is a dangerous food additive. This opinion is shared by many winemakers. It's true: a large concentration of glycerin in moonshine can dramatically worsen a person's health.
The additive leads to dehydration of the human body: a large intake of alcohol with glycerin leads to a long and severe hangover.

But, if you decide to try alcohol with glycerin, then you need to take 1 liter of distillate and add 1-1.5 ml of glycerin to it. The composition is stirred and drunk.

Zest

What else is added to moonshine for taste and smell? If the winemaker wants to make a tart, slightly bitter drink, then he can add zest to the mash. It belongs to flavoring additives for moonshine: it gives the drink a citrus taste and fresh aroma.

To prepare a drink, you will need to remove all the zest from two lemons or oranges, put it in a jar and pour 3 liters of moonshine. Next, put the composition in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 2-3 weeks. After the specified time, the container is taken out, the contents are filtered and consumed.

Remember that if we are giving an interesting taste and pleasant citrus aroma to moonshine, then we need to make sure that consumers are not allergic to citrus fruits.

Nutmeg

An alcoholic drink, which includes not only nutmeg, but also other spices, is called Starka.

For cooking you need to take:

1 finely chopped lemon with peel;
3 liters of moonshine;
30 grams of ground coffee;
2 tablespoons of glucose or sugar;
2.5 grams of nutmeg;
45 grams of oak bark;
a pinch of vanilla.

Put the components in a container and pour moonshine. Put the composition in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 10 days. After 10 days, the drink is filtered 2 times, cooled, ice is added to it and consumed. Infused moonshine is very fragrant.

Black pepper

Black pepper is not only suitable for cooking various dishes. It can also be used to make homemade cognac. The moonshine infused on it becomes very fragrant and fragrant.

Homemade cognac is prepared as follows:

We take 5 liters of moonshine and add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of black tea to it.
We put 10 stars of cloves and 10 peas of black pepper in the composition.
Add a pinch of vanilla, zest from 1 lemon or orange, 6 bay leaves.
We put the composition in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 10 days.

If you didn’t find all the above ingredients, then you can make lightweight cognac. For him, you need to take 5 liters of moonshine, pour 4 tablespoons of black tea and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon into it. Next, add 10 peppers, 10 cloves, 6 bay leaves and a pinch of vanilla. The composition is set aside in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 10 days. After the specified period, the drink is filtered and drunk.

Walnut

How to change the taste of moonshine and make it more piquant? Add walnut partitions to the finished drink. To prepare a drink, you will need to take 15 nuts, peel them and pour 1 liter of moonshine. Then we put it in a dark, warm corner of the apartment for 3-5 weeks. After that, the drink is filtered and consumed inside.

Pine nuts

As ingredients for changing the taste of moonshine, giving it a beautiful brown color and oak aroma, winemakers use additives such as pine nuts. You will need to take about 150 grams of nuts and pour hot water over them, and then set them aside until they swell. Next, the nuts need to be pulled out, dried slightly with a towel, pour 1 liter of moonshine. It takes about 1 month to insist alcohol. A month later, they take it out, filter it and drink it.

oak bark

How to flavor moonshine with flavoring agents? If you want to get a non-standard alcoholic drink at home, then you can infuse moonshine on oak bark. Many citizens confuse such a drink with store-bought cognac. But, the difference between infused moonshine is that it does not contain additives dangerous to human health.

To prepare a drink, we take:

5 liters of jam or granulated sugar;
15 liters of water;
350 grams of dry yeast;
1 pack or 50 grams of oak bark.

The drink is prepared like this:

Pour sugar or jam into a deep container. Next, fill the mixture with clean or filtered water.
We breed yeast in the same container and set it aside for 2 days in a warm, dry corner of the apartment. At the same time, cover the container with a lid.
After 2 days, we open the composition and strain. The strength of the drink will be 45 degrees. It makes 10 liters of moonshine.
We add oak bark to the moonshine at the rate of 50 grams per 1 liter of moonshine.
We put the composition in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 1 week.
After a while, we strain the drink and pour it into separate containers.
The finished composition has a brown color and a strength of 43 degrees.

Citrus

How to quickly give moonshine a pleasant smell and taste? Use the following very simple recipe, which is in great demand among winemakers.

To make an orange tincture you will need:

0.5 liters of moonshine;
1 orange.

In addition, it is better for a winemaker to take a needle, thread, wire.

The drink is prepared like this:

In one container we mix 2 liters of water and 0.5 liters of moonshine.
We pierce the orange with a needle and thread and hang it on a wire on the neck of the container.
Fill the container with water and cover with a nylon cloth.
The composition is set aside in a dark, warm corner of the apartment. It takes 30 days to keep it.
After this time, the composition is filtered and diluted with water to the desired strength.

Important: if the tincture has become cloudy, then this is normal, and you do not need to pour it out.

Leaving the composition for another 7 days in a warm, dark corner of the apartment, you will get a bright and saturated slightly orange color.

Wormwood moonshine

How to make moonshine delicious? Wormwood will help to cope with this issue perfectly.

To prepare wormwood moonshine you will need:

15 grams of mint;
2.5 grams of sage;
2.5 grams of wormwood;
1.5 grams of rosemary;
1.5 grams of cardamom.

We put all the components in a jar and pour 1 liter of moonshine with a strength of at least 40 degrees. Cardamom before adding to the jar needs to be crushed a little. Close the jar with a lid and set aside in a dark, warm corner of the apartment for 3-4 weeks. After this time, we get the composition, strain. Alcohol can be consumed or sent to be stored in the pantry. It can be stored for 6 months.

Juniper Moonshine

Don't know how to quickly give moonshine an unusual taste? Then we read how to prepare alcohol according to the following simple recipe:

take 1.5 kilograms of juniper berries;
we carefully crush them and fill them with 8 liters of moonshine;
set aside for 2 weeks.

Important: on the 15th day, the drink is distilled again.

After 2 weeks, we get the composition and strain. The infused drink tastes very similar to expensive gin.

Anise moonshine

How to make moonshine taste good so that women like it? For this you will need the following ingredients:

1 liter moonshine
20 grams of anise seeds;
1 liter of water;
2 grams of cinnamon;
10 grams of fennel;
2 grams of ginger root;
5 grams of star anise.

We put the components in a jar, fill it with moonshine and close the lid. The composition is set aside in a warm, dark corner of the apartment for 10 days. We filter it through a gauze cloth and dilute it with water up to 15-20 degrees. Drive the composition through the moonshine still.

Important: the first 30 ml is the “head” of the drink. It must be collected in a separate container. Drinking it is not recommended. Drive alcohol away until its strength drops to 40 degrees. The result is 0.45 liters of anise moonshine with a strength of 55 degrees.

Refinement with concentrates

Ready-made concentrated aromatic substances are now produced by many factories and are freely sold in the store. But, using them, it is important to follow the instructions on the pack. Such additives for moonshine are made using vacuum extraction using natural ingredients.

What is the best additive to use for moonshine and what needs to be added to make it taste better? The answer to this question depends on the taste preferences of the winemaker. Multi-component additives are sold in stores, from which you can make cognac, brandy, tequila, whiskey and other alcoholic beverages.

In addition, such a concentrated powder is able to color alcohol in the desired color. Refined citizens purchase concentrates based on vanilla, coffee, fruits, spices and herbs. The store sells packages of various sizes, from which you can prepare the right amount of an alcoholic drink for testing.

Important: it is undesirable to use food additives for tinting moonshine. They will give completely unexpected results.

Also, the winemaker should not add more aromatics to the composition on his own. So the drink will become very sweet, and it will be impossible to drink it.

How to add ready-made concentrate to moonshine?

Initially, the use of flavors for moonshine begins with reading the instructions for use.
Then moonshine needs to be diluted with water. It should be 40-50 degrees.
Once again, carefully read the instructions and add all the described components to the moonshine. For example, fructose and glucose are required to make rum and brandy.

Improving the taste of moonshine at home using improving additives is a laborious process, but for your efforts you will get a drink very similar to the original. Do not forget that using natural herbs and fruits, the process of preparing the drink will take longer.

From the article, readers learned how to interrupt the taste of moonshine, but when interrupting, think about the result. It is very easy to change the taste and softness of the finished moonshine. To do this, you can use various components, but it is also easy to spoil it. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment. Thanks to such experiments, you will get a drink at home that, in terms of taste, will be no worse than a store-bought one.

Every person who wants to make high-quality moonshine and other homemade drinks needs to know how a dry steamer works. The principle of operation of this device is quite simple and is based on the selection of heavy fractions in the crude liquid. In addition to improving alcohol, a dry drop catcher is able to solve several more important tasks. Which ones - we propose to consider further.

1

Ever since the inhabitants of Russia began to make homemade moonshine, one of their top priorities has been cleaning the drink. It was on this factor that not only the taste and aroma of alcohol depended and depend, but also the well-being of the person who uses it. In the beginning, to achieve the best cleaning quality, craftsmen used natural adsorbent additives.

Even today, the smell and taste of a drink can be significantly changed, simply or with baking soda. And although these methods are effective and easy to use in their own way, it is much better to use a sump, or, as it is also called, a drip pan. As you know, the taste and smell of alcohol directly depends on how many times it has been cleaned with a moonshine. Some moonshiners repeat the distillation many times in a conventional apparatus, while others do the cleaning only once, using a steamer made from an ordinary thermos for this.

Such a sump is a small vessel that is installed between the distillation cube and the coil. The container is completely sealed and is connected to other elements of the apparatus using distillation tubes. In the process of distillation, moonshine, along with fusel oils, gets inside the thermos. Harmful accumulations settle in the container in the form of precipitation, while alcohol vapors continue their way through the moonshine. At the end of the work inside the sump, you can see a light brown liquid with a sharp unpleasant odor. The amount of substances collected inside the steamer directly depends on the design and performance of the moonshine still, as well as on the composition of the mash.

Sukhoparnik moonshine still

The average volume of fusel oils remaining in a thermos after distillation is 6 liters. moonshine, is approximately 350-450 ml.

In addition to its important role in the purification of alcohol, the drip dryer is also intended for other tasks:

serves as an obstacle, preventing the mash from getting into the purified moonshine through the tubes;
at the request of the owner of the moonshine still, it gives the moonshine a unique aroma and taste of natural ingredients;
serves as an element for refining alcohol, allowing you to make homemade whiskey or cognac;
saves a lot of time that other moonshiners spend re-distilling.

Indeed, the presence of a sump in the design of a moonshine is more than just desirable. With this module at your disposal, you can make high-quality moonshine without wasting time and effort. Moreover, your drink will have a pleasant aroma. To do this, you will need to learn how to understand natural and artificial flavors, which we will study further.

2

It is best to consider the topic of artificial flavored substances using the example of their classification. This makes it easier to understand what a particular composition is, its advantages and disadvantages. The first factor by which these supplements are divided is physical condition. So, in the market of flavors you can find substances of solid, liquid and powder type. Each of these types has advantages and disadvantages.

The first type is solid or pressed compounds. The main advantage of such substances is considered to be long shelf life. Even 6 months after purchase, these flavors will not lose their properties and can be used in a moonshine still. The disadvantages of solid type flavors include their heating during the distillation process. Because of this, they very often explode and can severely damage even a homemade sump from a thermos. There were cases when, due to the rapid increase in pressure, solid compositions fired and pierced the stainless steel cover.
The second type of compositions are liquid substances. They cannot be stored for more than two months after purchase, their value very often exceeds the real price. Another big disadvantage is the high concentration of some ingredients. The latter, by the way, are able to interact with other substances. Therefore, if you are using a homemade thermos sump that is not of very high quality, then it is better not to put liquid flavors in it at all. The advantage of these compositions is their diversity. When you visit the store, you will certainly be amazed at the number of types and brands of liquid type flavorings.
The third type of artificial formulations is powder flavors, which are rightfully considered the best option. Firstly, they are not characterized by a high concentration of one or another ingredient. Secondly, they are not afraid of high temperatures, so you can be completely calm about the steamer and its stainless steel lid. Thirdly, with a large assortment of powder flavors, you can buy at a very low price.

Liquid flavors for moonshine

In addition to physical condition, flavors are classified by their value. The lion's share of our market is occupied by goods from the budget and middle price categories at a price of 300 to 1500 rubles. for packing. Artificial compositions at a higher cost should be sought only through intermediaries. Prices for them range from 50-200 dollars.

Considering the topic of artificial flavors, one cannot help but recall their ingredients. From the name it is easy to guess that they contain citric acid, various food additives, a large amount of vanillin and other preservatives. Indeed, not the safest substances. Therefore, it is best to use natural supplements - products that each of us can grow right in our garden.

3 What are the advantages of natural ingredients?

The first and main advantage of natural type flavors is their safety. Products will not bring any harm to alcohol, even if you put them in a steamer twice as much as normal. Unlike artificial compounds, fruits and other food products do not change their properties during long-term storage.

Among the most popular ingredients for refining moonshine, it is worth noting products such as raisins and currant leaves. Using the first one, you can make excellent alcohol, the taste of which will resemble. Currant leaves will be appropriate if you are distilling fruit mash. True, in addition to the main ingredient for refining, you need to add a little water to the sump.

Your drink can have a very interesting taste if you put a few sprigs of mint in a steamer. Like other herbs, this ingredient makes the aroma of alcohol very original. Another popular ingredient is fresh apple slices. They will be useful if you want to make drinks with a taste reminiscent of Calvados. True, do not forget that apples, oranges and other fruits can only be used to distill the corresponding mash.

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For most people, moonshine causes negative associations. Hearing this word, many imagine a cloudy liquid that has an unpleasant taste and smell. This is all because not everyone knows how to ennoble moonshine. If you carry out a number of additional manipulations with it, you can get high-quality homemade alcohol.

The process of refining moonshine

The quality of homemade alcohol depends on many factors. If you know how to refine moonshine, this does not guarantee you will get a usable drink at the exit. It is extremely important that the original product is of good quality. The distillate must be prepared from good home brew using an appropriate moonshine still. If these conditions are not met, then no methods will allow you to get a quality product at the output.

If you are sure that you have prepared the right moonshine, then the next step should be refining. This multi-stage procedure can significantly improve the taste of alcohol. So, you can get at the exit not just moonshine, but cognac, vodka or even whiskey. How to improve moonshine? This procedure includes the following steps:

first of all, the drink must go through a purification procedure to get rid of harmful impurities, cloudy color and sediment;
at the second stage, it is necessary to add appropriate additives to the liquid, which help to give moonshine a pleasant aroma;
Naturally, the drink must be allowed to brew.

Cleaning methods

If you do not know how to refine moonshine, then perhaps you should start by cleaning it. If you want to get true pleasure from alcohol, then it must be rid of all harmful impurities. Since moonshine and other foreign substances create an unpleasant odor and taste. In order to rid your drink of them, you can use the following methods:

Re-distillation of moonshine is the most effective method of its purification. For this you need a special device. At the output, you will get strong and pure raw materials, from which it is quite possible to make high-quality cognac.
Filtration can be done with charcoal or any other substance that has absorbent properties. Their action should extend not only to suspended particles, but also to dissolved ones. It is necessary to pass liquid through the filter several times in a row.
A common folk method for cleaning moonshine from impurities involves the use of egg white. It absorbs all excess substances, leaving the liquid crystal clear.
The most effective and at the same time the longest method involves the use of a device such as a column for cleaning moonshine. It is advisable to use it in the case when the strength of the drink exceeds 50 degrees. After cleaning moonshine from foreign substances, it can be diluted with water.

Natural additives for making cognac

To be delicious? You can go one of two ways - use natural or artificial ingredients. Many choose natural. It is important to understand that it will take a lot of time to prepare the drink, but the result is worth it. When adding natural ingredients to moonshine, special attention should be paid to their combination and proportions. Each product has specific properties that can change when mixed or placed in certain conditions.

Few people know that with the help of certain additives, ordinary moonshine can be turned into real elite alcohol. Your guests will not be able to distinguish a homemade drink from an expensive store-bought one. So, you should pay special attention to the following best recipes for homemade cognac from moonshine:

For a liter of purified semi-finished product, you need to take a small pinch of soda, a couple of black peppercorns, a bag of vanillin and a teaspoon of black brewed tea. Put the vessel with the liquid on low heat and heat. The maximum temperature of moonshine should not exceed 70 degrees, otherwise the alcohol will evaporate. After you turn off the burner, cover the container with a lid and let it brew until it cools completely. Filter the future cognac and leave for a week in a dark place.
A fairly common component of homemade cognac is a walnut (large handful). In this case, it is not the core or even the shell that is used, but the partitions that are inside it. You will also need a small amount of cloves, cumin and a couple of packets of vanilla sugar. Send all these ingredients to a three-liter bottle of moonshine and leave for 2 weeks. To give the drink a touch of freshness, you can experiment with lemon zest.
Real cognac is prepared in a wooden barrel. But unfortunately, at home this is not always possible. To do this, you will need oak bark, which is pre-steamed in boiling water. For every one and a half liters of moonshine, you need to take a tablespoon of infusion. To give the drink a spicy flavor, you can add a little cinnamon and a couple of peppercorns.

Ready concentrates

If you are not sure about your knowledge about the use of natural ingredients, then it is quite acceptable to use ready-made flavors for moonshine. Their main advantage is the balanced composition, thanks to which you can accurately repeat the aroma of real cognac or other elite drinks. In addition, the cooking time is significantly reduced.

On the packaging of the finished concentrate, a clear sequence of actions for preparing a drink close to the original is described. You don’t have to experiment with combinations of ingredients and standing time on your own, just follow the instructions. The main rule is that the strength of moonshine should not exceed 60 degrees, otherwise the taste may turn out to be distorted.

Serious attention should be paid to the fact that in order to be tasty, the concentrate must be of high quality. You should not save on this supplement, because if it turns out to be base, then a feast can lead to serious health problems. It will be better if you buy a concentrate where you can pre-taste the finished drink.

Moonshine from apricots at home

What could be better than fresh fruit? They can be eaten fresh, put in baked goods, make jam from them, and so on. But you can also use them to make alcoholic beverages. So, the following recipe is quite popular. At home, the following recipe is often used:

wash 10 kilograms of fruit thoroughly, remove stones and pass through a meat grinder (or use a blender);
add 5 kg of sugar to the resulting slurry and pour 15 liters of water;
to speed up the fermentation process, add 100 grams of fresh yeast;
within 7-10 days, the liquid should be infused in a warm place, in a hermetically sealed container (if you decide not to add yeast, then the preparation of the drink is delayed for up to 45 days);
a signal that the mash is ready will be the formation of sediment at the bottom and the acquisition of a bitter taste by the liquid;
first you need to filter the future moonshine several times through several layers of gauze;
using a special apparatus, distill until the drink reaches a strength of 45 degrees.

This moonshine is very soft. Light apricot notes will make the drink special.

Recipe and yeast

The basis of moonshine is mash. Despite the fact that its composition is quite simple, the cooking process requires the fulfillment of certain conditions. The recipe for sugar and yeast mash requires the following proportions of ingredients:

3 liters of purified water;
1 kilogram of sugar;
150 grams of yeast (if you prefer to use dry raw materials, then you will need 50 grams, but in this case you will also need a little citric acid).

As for the technology of making mash, it begins with sugar syrup. To do this, heat the sugar with a small amount of water until completely dissolved. The liquid should boil for about 10 minutes. Next, you can add citric acid, after which the fire is reduced and the syrup is left to cook for another half an hour.

The quality of water is of great importance for the preparation of delicious moonshine. To avoid the formation of sediment and an unpleasant aftertaste, it is worth using purified water. If you take liquid from the tap, then in no case boil it. Better let it brew for a couple of days. Water is mixed with pre-prepared syrup.

Sourdough is made from yeast. To do this, just fill them with water according to the instructions to activate this ingredient. To start the fermentation process, add yeast to a container with pre-prepared components. They should stand in a warm place for 5 days. The signal for the end of the process will be the cessation of carbon dioxide emission.

To improve the taste of moonshine, mash must undergo a degassing procedure. To do this, it is necessary to warm it up, as a result of which the active release of excess carbon dioxide will begin. If after that you add a little white clay or gelatin, then the mash will become much cleaner and lighter.

How to give moonshine color

If you are interested in the question of how to ennoble moonshine, then you should understand that it needs to be given not only a pleasant taste, but also a beautiful, rich color. For this, it is not at all necessary to use synthetic dyes. The following natural ingredients can give a pleasant shade to your homemade alcohol:

To give the drink a pleasant golden hue, use saffron. But since this spice is very expensive, it can be replaced with orange peels or walnut partitions.
Moonshine will acquire a rich red color if you add a few dried blueberries to it.
To make the drink sunny yellow, use mint or lemon balm. Parsley and celery also have a similar effect.
If you add dried cornflower flowers to moonshine, they will turn it into an exotic blue color.
In order for moonshine to become emerald green, it is worth using blackcurrant leaves. They can be replaced with green onions. To get rid of the unpleasant taste and smell, the juice squeezed from the feathers must be boiled over low heat until the volume is reduced by half.
If you want the drink to take on a brown cognac hue, add a little burnt sugar to it. You can also use black tea, but it must certainly be of high quality.
The easiest way to color moonshine is to add some jam to it. So you will not only give the drink a bright shade, but also make it sweetish, with subtle fruity notes.

Moonshine without smell

Quite often moonshine has a very unpleasant smell. This is one of the main reasons why this drink has gained notoriety. How to drive The answer is simple: strictly follow the technology. It is important that the machine is kept clean and that the water and other components are of good quality. Also, a fairly common mistake is overheating. If you could not avoid the unpleasant odor, then the finished product can be rid of it in the following ways:

For three liters of moonshine, you need to take about 2 grams of manganese. Dissolve it in liquid and wait for the precipitate to fall out. After that, the drink must be passed through the filter. The procedure can be repeated several times until the smell disappears.
To remove fusel oils from moonshine, use baking soda. It must be added to the liquid at the rate of 10 grams per liter. After 12 hours, a precipitate forms at the bottom, and therefore the moonshine must be carefully drained.
If you do not want to add any foreign substances to your homemade alcohol, then the unpleasant odor can be removed using a method such as freezing. Just place a glass or metal container of moonshine in the freezer. Water with foreign impurities will freeze to the walls of the vessel, and alcohol will remain in a liquid state. It remains only to pour it into another container.
Charcoal is an excellent absorbent. It must be well crushed, and then wrapped in several layers of gauze. Through such an impromptu filter, you need to skip the moonshine several times.
Residents of rural areas, where access to various kinds of plants is almost unlimited, quite often use violet root to eliminate unpleasant odors. It just needs to be placed in moonshine for 2 weeks.

Popular aromatic drink recipes

To make the aroma and taste of moonshine pleasant and refined, use the following proven recipes:

To make the drink acquire a pleasant sweet and sour taste, pour 2.5 kilograms of blackberries or raspberries and add a little vanillin. The longer the moonshine is infused, the brighter the berry aroma will be.
You will get a fragrant and tart drink if you add mountain ash to the moonshine. The number of berries should be such that the liquid covers it by 2/3.
The recipe for Moscow moonshine can be considered quite interesting. To prepare it, 20 grams of ginger and 50 grams of mint per 3 liters of liquid are added to homemade alcohol. Such a drink should be infused for about a month.
Real mead can be prepared by adding 4 tablespoons of the sweet product per liter of moonshine. To make the drink even more intense and spicy, add a little coriander, lemon balm and oak bark.
Autumn is the time for apples. Tightly fill a glass bottle with fruits, then pour moonshine into it so that it fills all the free space. Place the container in the sun for 10 days. In this case, the liquid must be constantly shaken. After you strain the drink, add sugar of your choice to it and let it brew for a couple of days.

conclusions

Unfortunately, a drink like moonshine has fallen into disrepute in the eyes of most people. Nevertheless, the preparation of homemade alcohol can be compared with a real art, because it is able to satisfy the needs of even the most picky gourmets. To do this, it is important to know how to ennoble moonshine. It is worth noting that no filtration and flavoring will help make your drink elite if the production technology is not followed. If you are confident in your knowledge, then you can safely experiment with different flavors and aromas.

With the advent of a dry steamer with a collapsible design, its new function was also identified, namely, the aromatization of alcohol vapors directly in the distillation process. If before you were fond of only tinctures on moonshine or vodka, we recommend that you definitely try a new way to get fragrant strong drinks, but for this you need (we recommend choosing a device with a brand distillation column). You can first familiarize yourself with in order to choose the most convenient collapsible steamer in operation, since they come in different designs. Let's now determine what is better to put in a steamer to add aroma, smell to moonshine, so that it becomes a noble drink already in the process of secondary distillation.

A little about the process. When hot alcohol vapors pass through the plant components, maceration occurs - the separation of plant cells in tissues. In turn, intercellular juices and aromatic substances dissolve in alcohol vapor, and then condense together with them. Thus, at the output we get a strong drink flavored with natural ingredients. Therefore, it is important that in the end we get a product that does not require additional purification. And this is possible only in the case of re-distillation of raw alcohol, but not like not during the distillation of mash.

The difference from the infusion of ready-made moonshine on vegetable raw materials is that in the case of steam maceration, NOT ALL components go into an alcohol solution. So, the color of the drink most often does not change, i.e. the drink remains colorless. And on the example of citrus fruits, you can see that with steam maceration, the drink will not acquire bitterness, as is the case with infusion. Agree, this is a good reason to get new interesting drinks.

So, what can be put in a steamer in a moonshine still:

spices (cinnamon, anise, cloves, star anise, allspice, coriander, vanilla - you can list for a long time);
peel or peel of citrus fruits (lemon, orange, lime, tangerine, grapefruit, etc.);
berries and fruits (apples, pears are especially often used, but you can take any to your taste);
dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, kumquats, prunes, etc.);
fresh and dry leaves and herbs (oregano, mint, lemon balm, currant, lime blossom, St. John's wort, etc.);
crackers or bread.

This list can be continued, the main thing is to have a fantasy. You can add anything and in any combination to the sukhoparnik to improve the taste, as long as this “something” is fragrant, and several components taken are compatible with each other.

As a result, the drink retains transparency and colorlessness, acquires a light aroma of the component that you put in the steamer, and it usually reveals best in the aftertaste. The taste turns out to be less bright than when insisting, but it is clearly present. In general, it can be noted that such a function of the steamer is very convenient for quickly obtaining fragrant alcoholic homemade drinks and allows you to diversify the feast at any time of the year.