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I first heard about anise vodka when I was a child, when I watched the movie “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession”. What is anise, I knew.
I was treated for a cold with Danish King’s Drops, which included anise. Many kids didn’t like them, but I adored them. And, still not understanding what vodka is, I decided that anise vodka should be very tasty.
Today I will share with you her recipe from my subscriber Andrey Nikolaev. At the same time, we will find out if I was right as a child.
Why I decided to make alcohol myself
As an adult, I drank vodka many times. Different: and wheat, and grape, and even rice. But the “childhood dream” remained unfulfilled. Well, there was nowhere to sell aniseed vodka.
And I even began to think that it was an invention of the screenwriter.
Therefore, when I started making moonshine, aniseed vodka was one of the first drinks I decided to make. The result exceeded all expectations. And I want to share with you the easiest recipe.
How to cook mash
To get two liters of vodka, you will need:
| Sugar | 3 kg |
| Dry yeast | 45 g |
| Anise | 3 tablespoons |
We take a 10-liter glass container. Thoroughly wash with soap so that mold does not start in the wash. She is absolutely useless to us.
Pour 3 liters of clean water into a container and heat up to 80-90 degrees.
Sugar is dissolved in water so that a homogeneous syrup is obtained.
Let cool to 30 degrees and add yeast to the mixture. I usually use regular dry “Saf Moment”.
We close the container with a water seal. You can also use a rubber glove as well. During fermentation, carbon dioxide is formed, from which the glove inflates.
Therefore, you need to pierce 2-3 “fingers” with a needle so that carbon dioxide comes out. Braga must be placed for 1–1,5 weeks in a dark, warm place.
Do not put to the battery! Yeast can die from overheating!
The cooking process
Well, the glove has fallen off, and our mash is ready. Now we can pour it into the moonshine and overtake it at maximum heat, cutting off only the “heads”.
“Heads” are the first 30-50 ml of moonshine that flows out during distillation. You can’t drink them. This product is only suitable for technical purposes.
Then we continue the distillation until the strength of the jet drops below 10%. To check, you need to use an alcohol meter.
The resulting product must be purified. To do this, dilute moonshine 2: 1 – add 2 liter of water to 1 liters of moonshine and pass through a charcoal filter. I use the Makarych filter.
Anise should first be poured with hot water so that it covers the grains. And let it sit for half an hour. Then add it to the purified moonshine and leave for 7-10 days.
The resulting infusion is filtered through gauze. We pour it into the moonshine still and start the distillation.
First, be sure to cut off and merge the “heads”. I remind you: you can not drink them, it is dangerous to health.
“Heads” is the same, once popular “pervach”, the strongest and most stunning fraction of moonshine. Pervach causes severe intoxication precisely because of the high concentration of harmful substances, esters and aldehydes.
We reduce the fire and slowly distill until the fortress falls in the jet to 40 degrees. After that, we stop the race. What happened is called the “body”, the strength of the drink is 65-75%. Dilute to 40% and leave for 3-4 days to stabilize the taste.
What result did I get
Vodka is soft, with subtle notes of anise. The taste is not as intense and sharp as absinthe, and anise vodka is easy to drink. Anise vodka can be safely put on the festive table with red, black and overseas caviar, eggplant. We are no worse than kings!
I store the finished product in tightly closed bottles in the refrigerator. Because I like to drink chilled anise. But my father-in-law, on the contrary, loves this vodka at room temperature. Everyone chooses for himself.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
But it was always interesting how the housekeeper of Tsar Ivan managed without a moonshine still? And what drinks from Soviet films would you like to try?