It seems that for no one will be news the news that, by international standards, cognac is made exclusively in France. Moreover, only six French districts can produce a drink under the brandy Cognac. All others are required to name their brandy alcohol product. But all these conditions are valid only for international trade. In domestic markets, manufacturers are entitled to name their products as they like. And you, too, having mastered the preparation of cognac from moonshine, have every right to put the aforementioned drink on the table, and not hide it behind the modest word “brandy”.
Homemade cognac. Recipe
It is quite possible to make a drink from moonshine, which in color and taste resembles, if not French, but Georgian or Armenian, but still cognac. However, not all connoisseurs of this drink drink exclusively “Camus” and “Napoleon” with “Courvoisier”. Winston Churchill, for example, preferred the Armenian “Dvin” to all cognacs.
In fact, cognac is grape spirit infused in oak barrels . That is, it is possible, without greatly sinning against the truth, to say that the French simply store moonshine in barrels for several years, and then sell the resulting drink under the brandy “Cognac”.
And even though few people drive grapes from us, we still know how to make moonshine like cognac. The technology is simple: you will need the original product and some spices.
Any manufacturer of pervach knows how to make moonshine like cognac - just insist the resulting drink on nut membranes or simply add tea leaves to it. But it will not be brandy at all, but simply colored moonshine. Moreover, to taste and smell. But in cognac, a bouquet is valued above all. We will act differently.
We will twice distill our pervach, getting rid of most of the aldehydes in the liquid, and clean the distillate with potassium permanganate and activated carbon. Yes, it will take more than one day, and not even one week. But you want to know how to make moonshine as cognac, and not a burda that looks like it. Moreover, we do not force you to insist on moonshine for five to seven years in oak barrels, so a couple of weeks looks nothing compared to five years ...
Having waited until all the muck in the liquid settles to the bottom, it must be filtered and, preferably, once again overtaken, but no one will insist on this point. Pour it into an enameled saucepan and set it on low heat, covering it with a lid - you don’t want part of the future cognac to evaporate? On 3 l of strong moonshine you put 3 peas of
allspice, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of tea leaves, vanilla on the tip of a knife and a little cinnamon. Connoisseurs are also advised to add 2-3 inflorescences of cloves and 2 bay leaves, but you can do without them. But to give a taste to the drink, it will not hurt to put two tablespoons of oak bark in moonshine.
In no case bring the liquid to a boil: it must be hot just enough so that the tea can give it its noble color. As soon as the moonshine is close to boiling, immediately turn off the stove. Cool it a little and pour into bottles. Future brandy does not need a particularly long exposure, and after a couple of days after filtering it is completely ready for use.
Now you know how to make moonshine like cognac, and you can serve almost a real noble drink on the table. For greater effect, we recommend placing it on the table in authentic bottles. See for yourself that most guests will never recognize the forgery.