Any tomatoes from the store or even tomato paste will do: I share my grandfather’s recipe for tomato moonshine and its result

Once we decided to go with my wife to the village to her parents. My mother-in-law is a kind-hearted person. She always provided us with fresh fruits and vegetables. So it happened this time. We returned to the city, carrying freshly picked tomatoes with us.

And so many that they filled the entire trunk of my car. The wife, a little thoughtful, said that if she decided to pickle them, she simply did not have enough cans. And then it dawned on me. After all, you can make moonshine from tomatoes!

The story was sent by my subscriber Sergey.

What ingredients and equipment will be needed

I learned this recipe as a child. My grandfather was very fond of moonshine from tomatoes. From him, I still have an old apparatus, which has been gathering dust in the closet for more than a year. Fortunately, the hands did not get to throw it away.

I myself have not yet had to prepare alcohol at home, however, I have not yet complained about memory lapses. And grandfather always loved to comment on his actions.

To begin with, I had to remember what is generally needed for this type of moonshine:

1. Tomatoes – 10 kg. We had more than enough of this stuff, however, if you had to buy tomatoes in a store, you would have to pay 60-80 rubles for them. per kilogram.
2. Sugar – 2 kg. There was always a small supply at home, however, my wife began to shout that with my moonshine the children would not have enough for tea. I had to go to the store and buy sugar. The issue price is 50-60 rubles / kg.
3. Water – 3 liters. Grandfather, I remember, always took spring water for moonshine. I had to limit myself to the usual filtered one.
4. Pressed yeast – 200 g. In the store they were sold only in a pack of 250 g for 230 rubles.

Attention! Tomatoes can be taken in any type and color. The main thing is that they are fresh or overripe. You can even use tomato paste.

The cooking process

After the ingredients were purchased, I proceeded to the first act of moonshine brewing in my life. Well, there’s a first time for everything. First I had to deal with tomatoes. Carefully straining my memory, I recalled how my grandfather did it:

• The vegetables were well washed under the tap. They cut out everything that I, my wife or the cat, who for some reason considered himself the main moonshiner, didn’t like. Removed tails, rot and bruising.
• After cutting the tomatoes into large pieces, I scrolled them through a meat grinder.
• I put the bay with water on gas, brought the mixture to a boil and let it brew for half an hour under the lid.
• He poured the mess of tomato and water into a container in which the mash was to be infused in the future.
• I prepared syrup according to the standard method (sugar is added to water, brought to a boil and cooled).
• Added diluted yeast to the wort.
• I closed the container with a rubber glove and left it to infuse in the pantry for 5 days.

Important! The infusion temperature should be in the range of 18-28°C.

• At the end of the period, the liquid was filtered. For this, I, like my grandfather, used gauze folded in several layers.
• Next, the moonshine still went into action. After the first distillation, I brought the product to a strength of 18o, after which I stopped the selection.
• Raw alcohol had to be diluted with water to 20o. Then a second distillation was carried out. The first 10% of the head fraction, bearing in mind the instructions of my grandfather, I poured into the sink. It seems to be very harmful to health.
• As soon as the fortress in the stream became below 40o, the distillation of moonshine was stopped. I diluted the alcohol a little.

Then it only remained to put the bottles in a not very warm place and give them a few days of aging.

Attention! It is better to store the product in a glass container. Plastic can adversely affect taste.

What will be the result

My wife, before giving 10 kg of tomato for my personal use, immediately set me the condition that when the moonshine was ready, I would not turn its tasting into an ordinary booze, but would sit with her like in the good old days.

The requirements were more than loyal, so I agreed without hesitation. A feast, or rather gatherings, were scheduled for the evening.

But how I wanted to try at least a glass of my moonshine that morning. Still, he did it himself, with his own hands. In general, I could not resist. A glass is still not a booze.

Moonshine, as it was supposed to be, turned out to be transparent. By smell – tomato juice with alcohol. But the taste is excellent. The sugar added sweetness, and the tomatoes muted the alcohol.

How to serve and with what to use

In the evening they arranged gatherings. My beauty made sure that everything was in the best village traditions.

She brought me a glass of chilled glass, which already fogged up the glass. For a snack of cucumber and black bread.

In general, I was glad that my mother-in-law had such a rich harvest of tomatoes this year. And I sat with my wife, talked heart to heart, which we had not been able to do for a long time, and I tried a new type of alcohol.

After some time, one work colleague said that moonshine can be made not only from tomatoes, but also from cucumbers and other garden goods. Have you ever tried moonshine made from vegetables?