Fans of strong high-quality alcohol can not always afford it: excise taxes, fees and taxes sometimes make the price of such a valuable drink sky-high. However, our people are clever and inventive. Interested people have access to gin at home from moonshine. Its recipe can be mastered not only by experienced moonshiners, but also by those who just buy a homemade liquor. A little patience, a little skill - and you can enjoy a drink that differs little from the original.
Shattering Myths: The Genie Story
Somehow, it was believed that gin is alcohol of English origin. Meanwhile, the British simply borrowed the idea. The pioneers were the Dutch, back in the 12th century, trying with the help of gin to fight the plague.
The year of the official “discovery” of gin is considered to be the 1650th, in which the doctor de La Bois patented it as a diuretic. After a couple of decades, the drink was already used for completely different purposes and for its smell was called genever, from "juniper" in French. British troops, who were an ally of Holland in those years, instantly appreciated the virtues of the genie and called him the elixir of courage. They brought the recipe home, where the British quickly launched home brewing, changing the original name into, in fact, gin. And by the middle of the 18th century, it was already monopolized by the state and was considered a national drink.
Gin at home from moonshine: a recipe and source requirements
Remember that home-made alcohol has a specific smell and includes completely unnecessary oils. Therefore, moonshine must certainly be double distillation. And before the second, it is necessarily cleaned - soda, potassium permanganate, proteins, milk or charcoal of your choice.
Make sure that the manufacturer did not forget to remove the so-called heads with tails - they are superfluous in the future gin. It would also be nice to dilute the moonshine with water up to 30 percent before re-distillation. Excess fluid will be removed, and the connection, quite strong, with fusel oils will greatly weaken.
Moonshine after the second pass through the apparatus should be very strong, not less than 80 revolutions. Before further manipulations it will need to be diluted to the desired degree.
And one more important observation: before making gin at home, pour juniper berries into small fabric bags and hold them for several days somewhere in a dry room. Gin experts assure that the fruits at the same time gain a more seasoned and vibrant aroma.
Juniper tincture
One of the easiest ways to make gin from moonshine is to withstand berries in alcohol, as is done with other tincture ingredients. The taste of the drink will be very close to the original Jenever. For half a liter of 50-degree moonshine, ten pieces of juniper are taken ; to better pick up the aroma, they choke or crush, after which they are poured into the base and insisted for two weeks. Syrup is boiled from a spoonful of sugar and a triple volume of water until bubbles appear. Gin is filtered, combined with syrup and aged for at least three days. Then you can start to celebrate or wait for the next ceremonial date.
Lazy: the right home genever
However, if you are interested in real gin at home from moonshine, the recipe recommends including berries in the composition of moonshine from the very beginning of its manufacture. It takes a kilogram of fruits - selected, ripe and fresh. They warm up well and pour in a liter of heated water, half a glass of sugar and a spoonful of dry yeast are poured here. The tank is placed under the water seal for a week or 10 days. At the end of the fermentation, the mash passes through the distillation cube twice with purification and leaving only the “body” of the gin. If desired, it can be additionally insisted, but it is at this stage that it has a classic taste and smell.
Homemade Beefeater
You can turn moonshine into gin in the middle of the process. 10 liters of good, purified, double-distilled homemade vodka are taken in 50 revolutions. In the container with moonshine are placed:
- Juniper fruits, fresh, unmarried, mashed, - 200 grams.
- Cinnamon - a broken piece at your discretion or an incomplete tablespoon.
- Powdered coriander - about two tablespoons.
- Freshly grated zest with one lemon (about a spoon).
- Fennel, anise, hyssop, licorice - for a small spoon, can be incomplete.
The bottle is loosely covered and placed for two to three weeks in the dark. Temperature - room.
The next stage is the cultivation of the workpiece to a fortress of 20 percent. Moonshine is pouring into the water! Secondary distillation is underway with the discharge of the “pervak” and “tail”. The final stage is weekly sedimentation and filtering.
The most important thing is cocktails
Gin, in which degrees fluctuate between 37.5 and 47 revolutions, is on the list of the strongest drinks. Only heavier alcohol and undiluted moonshine will be harder. Therefore, gin is alcohol rarely consumed in its pure form. In addition, the sharp taste and smell of the drink are not too conducive to drinking without pleasant additions. In addition to the well-known combination with gin tonic at home from moonshine, the recipe of which you choose, can be put into very interesting cocktails:
- “Arno”: a stack of gin, peach liquor and dry vermouth plus ice.
- "Suzy Wong": gin, fresh lemon juice, tangerine liqueur - 20 milliliters each. It is shaken by a shaker, poured into a glass and supplemented with 20 g brut.
- "Alexander": 30 ml of homemade gin, fat cream and coffee liqueur. Pass through a shaker with a pinch of nutmeg and ice.
Merry feast!