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It’s not difficult to make persimmon moonshine at home if you know all the stages of preparing a strong drink. This is facilitated by the increased sugar content of the fruit and good distillation characteristics. Difficulties can only arise when purchasing raw materials due to the increased cost of fruit. Moonshine made with persimmon is characterized by a soft, pleasant aftertaste. This feature fully justifies the cost of purchasing raw materials. Therefore, many craftsmen are trying to find an opportunity to purchase southern fruits in season for an original fortified drink.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
To prepare a fortified drink, you need to choose ripe and overripe fruits. Moreover, persimmons can be of any variety and size. Even fruits with minor defects will do.
Before starting the procedure, the fruits need to be washed and placed in a colander to remove excess moisture. But if you do not use yeast to prepare mash, then this preparation step should be skipped.
Then you should clean them from the stalks and remove rotten and damaged areas. Before placing raw materials into a container, it is necessary to remove the seeds so that the tannins contained in them do not spoil the taste of the final product. At the end of the preparatory stage, you should mash the fruits to a mushy state.
Recipe for persimmon moonshine without yeast and sugar
To prepare moonshine according to this recipe, you must use unwashed fruits. But in this case, there must be confidence that they have not been treated with various insecticidal and fungicidal preparations.
Persimmon mash recipe for moonshine
When using this recipe, the fermentation process will be activated by wild yeast, which is contained in the persimmon peel. In this case, it will take at least three to six weeks to infuse the mash, depending on the maintenance regime. The advantage of this method is that the final product retains the distinct taste and smell of natural raw materials.
Required components:
- 14 kg of persimmon;
- 7 liters of water;
- 35 g citric acid.
The procedure for preparing mash:
- Grind the fruits until mushy.
- Transfer the resulting mixture to a large container, add water and add citric acid.
- Mix thoroughly until smooth.
The volume of the resulting mixture should be no more than 75% of the fermentation tank. After the preparatory stage, the container with the workpiece must be placed in a warm room with a temperature of +28-30 degrees and a water seal must be placed on the neck.
The readiness of the mash for distillation can be determined by the absence of gas emissions and bitter taste. In this case, a pronounced sediment will appear at the bottom of the container, and the liquid in the upper part of the container should lighten significantly.
Distillation of moonshine
To prepare high-quality persimmon-based moonshine, you need to properly distill it. Any mistakes made at this stage may lead to failure.
Moonshine distillation process:
- Distill the mash at the first stage, without dividing into fractions, selecting the raw material until its strength drops to 30 degrees.
- Determine the mass fraction of alcohol in raw milk by multiplying its volume by the strength and dividing by 100%.
- Dilute the preparation with water to a strength of 20 degrees.
- Re-distill the raw material, but this time dividing it into fractions.
- Take the first volume within 10-15% at 1-2 drops per second at a temperature of 65-78 degrees.
- Then 80% of the intake is carried out in a stream slightly thicker than a match, until the strength drops to 45-50 units.
- The remaining 5-7% are fusel oils, which are best not separated, as they can negatively affect the quality of moonshine.
- At the end of the distillation, you need to add water to the drink so that its strength is 45-50 degrees.
Recipe for persimmon moonshine with sugar and yeast
Using this recipe, the fruits must be washed first. The process of preparing a fortified drink is significantly accelerated by adding sugar and yeast to the mash and takes about 12 days.But in this case, the aroma and taste of moonshine, according to discerning connoisseurs of distillates, are inferior to the drink prepared according to the previous recipe.
Persimmon mash recipe for moonshine
For mash, you need to prepare a large container in advance. You should also allow the water to settle beforehand or pass it through a filter.
Required ingredients:
- 5 kg of persimmon;
- 1 kg sugar;
- 9 liters of water;
- 100 g pressed or 20 g dry yeast;
- 45 g citric acid.
Procedure:
- Dissolve the yeast in 3 liters of water, stir with a spatula and leave the mixture for a few minutes in a warm place until foam appears.
- Place the mashed persimmons in a prepared container.
- Add the remaining water, sugar and citric acid to it.
- Stir the mixture until smooth.
- Pour the yeast solution into it in a thin stream, stirring constantly.
- Install a water seal on the neck of the container.
When finished, transfer the mash to a dark room with a temperature of +28-30 degrees. Keep in this mode until the fermentation process ends.
Distillation of moonshine
You need to start distillation when the mash becomes noticeably lighter, the gurgling stops, a cloudy precipitate forms, an alcohol smell appears, and bubbles and foam disappear.
Stages of moonshine distillation:
- Heat the mash to 50 degrees, and then put it in the cold for several hours to remove the gas and lighten the color.
- Carry out the first distillation at high power without dividing into fractions.
- Selection is carried out until the strength of the raw material drops to 30 units.
- Dilute it with water to 20 degrees.
- Carry out a second distillation, but with division into fractions.
- The first 12% of the product should be taken 1-2 drops per second at a temperature of 65-78 degrees.
- In the future, take about 80% of the “body” of the drink in a stream, a little thicker than a match.
- It is better not to select the remaining tail fraction, since it represents fusel oils, which will negatively affect the quality of moonshine.
At the end of the procedure, the resulting drink must be diluted with water to a strength of 40-45 degrees. To saturate the taste and give softness, moonshine must first be kept at a temperature of +5-7 degrees for three to four days.
Persimmon tincture with moonshine
You can also prepare a moonshine tincture based on persimmon at home. This fortified drink has an original taste and medicinal properties. To prepare it, you should select ripe, but not overripe fruits to avoid a cloudy tint.
Required ingredients:
- 3 pieces of persimmon;
- 100 g sugar;
- 500 ml moonshine;
- 1 medium sized orange.
Cooking process:
- Wash the orange thoroughly and pour boiling water over it.
- Remove the zest, and then peel off the white partitions so that only the pulp of the citrus remains.
- Divide it into two or three parts and set aside.
- Prepare the persimmon, remove the peel and seeds, cut the pulp into small pieces.
- Pour it into a container, add orange and zest, sugar and mix the ingredients thoroughly.
- Close the container tightly, place it in a dark place with a temperature of +25 degrees and leave for 12 hours, stirring the mixture periodically.
- After the waiting period has expired, the persimmon will release juice and the sugar will dissolve.
- The resulting mixture must be poured with moonshine, stirred, and the container tightly closed.
- Infuse the drink for two weeks in a dark place, and shake the bottle every three days.
- After the time has passed, pass the mixture 2-3 times through a cotton-gauze filter.
- Discard the remaining pulp without squeezing.
- Pour the drink into glass bottles for storage and seal tightly.
Conclusion
Persimmon moonshine at home is a fortified soft drink with a pleasant aroma of southern fruits. Anyone can prepare it if they strictly follow the recommendations for preparing the ingredients, infusing the mash, and performing the distillation process. In this case, you will get a high-quality drink that is in no way inferior to store-bought vodka, and in some respects it will be even better.