My aunt’s hacienda grows a huge amount of black grapes. I don’t remember the name of the variety, it seems “Isabella”, but I could be wrong – no one remembers exactly after years of prescription. It is very fragrant, the berries are small, liquid.
My relatives make jam, jellies, wines and much more from it. But the pearl of my collection is homemade cognac. The recipe for this drink was given to me by my grandfather. I hope that I will pass it on to my grandchildren. Cognac turns out to be a rich dark color due to the secret ingredient, it has an unusual aroma and taste, similar to chocolate. I’ll tell you more about everything.
So Anna R. began her letter. I don’t know how soon she will pass on her recipe to her grandchildren, but she is ready to share it with us right now. Happy reading!
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For cooking, I use the following ingredients:
- Grapes black 5 kg.
- Sugar 0,5 kg.
- Water 0,5l.
- Oak chips – a handful.
Volumes can be taken any, the main thing is to maintain proportionality.
I want to draw your attention to the fact that it is very important to properly harvest the grapes so that they contain the maximum amount of “live yeast”. To do this, the collection must be carried out in dry weather.
It is desirable that a couple of days before that there was no rain. Grapes should be as ripe as possible, but without rot and mechanical damage. It cannot be washed. We need exactly the microorganisms from the berries themselves. We don’t add any more yeast.
Preparation
The process of making cognac is long and multi-stage. First you need to prepare the “wine material”, then overtake it, and finally add the secret ingredient. But first things first.
Preparation of “Wine Material”
“Wine material”, or in the common people, mash is the basis that is used to obtain a fortified liquid, which will be infused in the future.
It is quite easy to get such material. I carefully knead 5 kg of grapes through a meat grinder, add sugar and leave for a week at room temperature to start fermentation.
The mixture is best placed in an enameled or plastic bowl, covered with a cloth and stirred every day.
A week later, the fermentation process will begin. Now you need to separate the juice from the pulp. I filter the squeezed grapes through gauze. I pour the juice into glass bottles and put rubber gloves on top.
I will leave it in a dark warm place alone for 14 days. Sometimes I look in, check if the glove has fallen off. The “raised hand” of the bottle indicates that the process is in full swing.
Distillation
Next, I carry out a multi-stage distillation through a moonshine still.
- I filter wine through gauze.
- I pour it into the cube of the moonshine still, quickly distill it, determining the strength in every 100 ml. As soon as it fell to a fortress of 30 degrees, I stop the process, then “tails” will go, they are not needed.
- I measure the overall strength of the product. It is usually equal to 50-60 °. I dilute with water up to 30 °.
- I repeat the run. I discard the first 50 g of the product – these are harmful impurities. We stop the process in the same way as soon as the fortress drops to 30 °.
- We dilute the moonshine twice and distill again. I drain the first 50g. I stop the process at 45 °. I am preparing cognac, the maximum purity of raw materials is important here. That’s why we stop the process so early.
Infusion
All moonshine is ready. It is diluted to a strength of 40 °. Then I pour it into a three-liter jar, add a handful of oak chips and a secret ingredient – grape caramel.
Grape Caramel is easy to make. A glass of sugar, a glass of water are mixed in a saucepan and boiled until thickened with constant stirring.
Then add a glass of freshly squeezed grape juice and boil for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly over low heat. Next, add 100 ml of such caramel to each jar. We close and insist for six months.
Result
Six months in my family, the banks never stood. Cooked in September, we open for the new year, that is, in three months. To the chimes we always raise a glass of our cognac. Its taste is soft, chocolate-fruity.
A great addition to the holiday. I want to try this year to hide one jar away, so that I stand longer and compare the taste. After all, the longer the cognac stands, the better it becomes.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
What do you think: how much cognac does it take to mature? And what is better chips or an oak barrel? Is there a fundamental difference?