Content
- 1 How to infuse moonshine with cranberries
- 2 Preparing the berries
- 3 How many cranberries are needed per liter of moonshine?
- 4 Cranberry tincture with moonshine at home
- 5 Moonshine with cranberries - the best recipe for 3 liters
- 6 A quick recipe for moonshine tincture
- 7 Cranberry liqueur with moonshine
- 8 Conclusion
Despite the abundance and variety of alcoholic beverages on official sale, home production guarantees quality, and attractive taste and color can be achieved through fruit and berry additives. So, cranberry moonshine at home is not only a truly tasty, but also a healthy drink.
How to infuse moonshine with cranberries
Cranberries themselves are one of the most healing Russian berries. And in the production of alcoholic beverages, an important role is also played by the fact that it neutralizes unpleasant odors and softens the taste of moonshine. And the color of the finished tincture is very attractive.
There are several ways to infuse moonshine with cranberries.
- The berries are ground with sugar and then doused with alcohol.
- Another way: the berries are poured whole with moonshine, without crushing, but only pricking them to release the juice.
- The method of repeatedly pouring alcohol and then mixing all the infusions is often used.
If cranberries from the forest are used, then before pouring moonshine they are often additionally infused with sugar, causing natural fermentation. This softens the taste of the finished tincture and further enhances its aroma.
Therefore, it is useless to pre-start the process of fermenting them with sugar - the berries can only spoil.
Preparing the berries
In order for cranberries to give all their best properties to the drink, they must be fully ripe. That is, the color of the berries should be red, the surface should be shiny and translucent. Often in the autumn, cranberries are collected while still unripe, pinkish and even whitish - this greatly facilitates the assembly process and especially transportation. This way the berries crush much less and retain their shape better. But there’s nothing wrong with that, because cranberries are one of those berries that ripen well indoors. You just need to spread it in one layer on paper in a well-ventilated, darkened room and after 5-6 days the berries will fully ripen, color and acquire the desired juicy consistency.
Frozen berries are also quite suitable for making tincture. Moreover, cranberries that have survived frost become juicy in taste and are suitable for infusion. Therefore, some winemakers even specifically advise placing cranberries in the freezer for several hours before infusing alcoholic drinks with them.
If the origin of the berries is unknown or they were purchased frozen in a supermarket, be sure to wash the cranberries in running water before using them. If the berries were obtained in the forest with your own hands or through friends, then it is enough to sort through them, separating spoiled specimens and plant debris. It is not recommended to wash them, so as not to wash off the so-called “wild” yeast from the surface of the berries.
It is also advisable to use moonshine of good quality, double distillation. The recommended strength of moonshine for making tincture is 40-45 °C.
How many cranberries are needed per liter of moonshine?
Depending on the recipe, the amount of cranberries used per liter of moonshine can vary quite a bit. The classic recipe involves adding 500 g of whole berries to 1 liter of moonshine. In this case, the result is a very tasty and aromatic liqueur, which is drunk almost as easily as cranberry juice, even if its strength is about 40 ° C.
According to many other recipes, it is believed that to obtain a high-quality and very tasty drink, about 160 g of cranberries per liter of alcohol is enough. There is also a recipe for a practically healing tincture, which uses about 3 kg of cranberries per liter of moonshine. True, moonshine is also taken with a strength of about 60 ° C, in order to then dilute it with sugar syrup.
Cranberry tincture with moonshine at home
For the standard method of making cranberry tincture using moonshine, you will need the following components:
- 500 g cranberries;
- 1 liter of purified moonshine;
- 50 g granulated sugar;
- 100 ml filtered water.
Preparation of the tincture consists of several stages:
- The prepared cranberries are poured into a clean and dry glass jar.
- Grind with a wooden spoon or rolling pin until a smooth puree is obtained.
- Add moonshine and shake well.
- Cover with a lid and place in a warm place without light for 14-15 days.
- Periodically, once every 2 days, the tincture must be shaken, stirring the contents.
- Then it is filtered through 3 or 4 layers of gauze. You can also use a cotton filter. The cake is thoroughly squeezed.
- At the same time, prepare the syrup by completely dissolving the sugar in boiling water and skimming off the resulting foam.Important! In this recipe, sugar syrup can be replaced with liquid honey in the same amount (about 150 ml).
- Cool the syrup and add it to the strained tincture, stir well.
- At the last stage, the tincture is placed in a cold place (refrigerator or cellar) for at least a day. But if you keep it in the cold for about 30-40 days, the taste of the drink will improve.
If the cranberries came from a reliable natural source, then the recipe can be slightly modified:
- The berries are mixed with the amount of sugar specified in the recipe and left in a warm place for 2-3 days to ferment.
- As soon as a whitish foam appears on top of the berries, they are transferred to a glass jar and filled with moonshine.
- Then they act in the standard way, but the infusion time can be increased to a month.
- After straining and filtering, if you have to add sugar syrup, it is only to taste when the tincture turns out to be too sour.
Moonshine with cranberries - the best recipe for 3 liters
According to this recipe, cranberry moonshine turns out to be very aromatic, although it requires a little more attention.
To make the finished tincture about 3 liters, the following ingredients are needed:
- 500 g cranberries;
- 2200 ml 60% purified moonshine;
- 500 ml of water, preferably spring water or, in extreme cases, boiled;
- 200 g sugar.
The process of making the tincture is as follows.
- The berries are pierced in several places with a needle. To simplify the process, you can tie 3-4 needles together.Comment! If there are not very many berries, then this process will not take much effort and time, but later you will not have to suffer with repeated filtration.
- Whole chopped berries are poured into a dry and clean three-liter jar and 600 ml of moonshine is poured so that it only slightly covers them.
- Close the lid and leave for about 7 days in a dark and warm place, shaking the contents of the jar every day.
- Then pour the resulting tincture through cheesecloth into another jar and set aside in a cool place.
- Add another 600 ml of moonshine to the first jar of berries and leave for about 5 days.
- After which it is again poured into the second jar.
- Add 1000 ml of moonshine to the first jar and leave for another 5 days.
- They pour it again into the second jar, and add water to the first one.
- Leave for 3 days, after which sugar is added and the aqueous solution is slightly heated until the sugar is completely dissolved, but not higher than + 50 ° C.
- Drain all the infusions together through a filter. As a filter, it is enough to use thick single gauze.
- Mix thoroughly and leave to infuse for at least another 2-3 days.
- The tincture is ready, although its taste will only improve over time.
A quick recipe for moonshine tincture
In principle, cranberry moonshine can be prepared very quickly - literally in 3-4 hours. Of course, some of the beneficial substances will be lost due to heat treatment, but the tincture can be prepared when the guests are almost on the doorstep.
You will need:
- 300 g cranberries;
- 700 ml moonshine;
- 150 ml water;
- 150 g granulated sugar.
The cooking process is just right for a beginner.
- The berries are scalded with boiling water, the water is drained, and the cranberries are poured into a jar, sugar is added and rubbed with a wooden spoon.
- Pour moonshine into the jar and leave for 2 hours.
- Strain the tincture through a double layer of gauze, squeeze out so that not a drop of liquid remains on the gauze.
- Boil water and cool to a temperature of + 40 ° C - + 45 ° C..
- Add water to the tincture and stir well.
- Cool and pour into clean bottles.
- The resulting tincture can be stored in the refrigerator with the stopper closed for up to 12 months.
Cranberry liqueur with moonshine
The liqueur is traditionally made by fermenting the berry mass with sugar and then fixing it with strong alcohol. But lately, frozen cranberries have become more common, and it’s already very difficult to get them to ferment. After all, there is no wild yeast on it anymore, and preparing a special starter is not always convenient. An excellent way out of this situation is a liqueur recipe that is more reminiscent of a tincture. This drink is suitable for women because it has a strength of about 20-25 °C.
To make it you will need:
- 500 g cranberries;
- 1 liter of 60% purified moonshine;
- 1 liter of water;
- 1 kg sugar;
- 2-3 dry mint leaves;
- 1 tsp. chopped galangal (cinquefoil) root.
Manufacturing will take a long time, but the result is worth it.
- Grind the cranberries using a wooden spoon, add chopped galangal and mint and pour in moonshine.
- The contents of the jar are mixed, covered with a lid and placed for 2 weeks in a warm room without light.
- After 2 weeks, sugar syrup is prepared from sugar and water, cooled and mixed with cranberry tincture.
- Keep it in the same place for about 10 more days.
- Strain the finished tincture through several layers of gauze and a cotton filter.
- The liqueur can be stored in a cool place with a tightly closed lid for about 3 years.
Conclusion
Moonshine made with cranberries at home is very tasty and aromatic. There is practically no specific taste in it and it is not at all difficult to prepare, and according to some recipes it is very quick.
