Another recipe for the legendary peppercorns, in which the taste of chili peppers is complemented by spices and slightly softened with honey. If you strictly adhere to the specified technology, the pepper tincture will turn out to be balanced, each individual ingredient will not stand out.
Cooking requires fresh small chili peppers of any variety, the choice does not affect the taste. Thai varieties are usually green or yellow, while Brazilian ones are red.
As an alkyl base, vodka of the middle price segment, refined grain or sugar moonshine (preferably double distillation) or ethyl alcohol diluted to 40-45% is suitable. Since pepper tincture should by definition be strong, I recommend using a base of 45% vol.
Ingredients:
- vodka (alcohol 40-45%, moonshine) – 3 liters;
- chili peppers (hot) – 3 pods;
- paprika – 1 tablespoon (with a slide);
- black peppercorns – 6 pieces;
- vanilla sugar – a third of a teaspoon;
- ground cinnamon – half a teaspoon;
- liquid honey – 0,5-2 tablespoons (to taste).
Finely chopped dried paprika is ideal, but you can also use powdered paprika. Honey softens the taste of pepper and slightly sweetens the drink. It is advisable to use fresh linden or flower honey. On buckwheat, the taste is sharper.
The color of the finished tincture depends on pepper (green, yellow, red), paprika and honey. It is difficult to predict the shade in advance. Classic pepper is made on red hot pepper, then the color will turn out yellow or straw (with yellow paprika and linden honey).
Recipe for chili pepper tincture
1. Place chili peppers in a container for infusion (do not pierce, do not cut). Add cinnamon, vanilla sugar and black peppercorns. If the paprika is in chunks and not powder, add that too.
Attention! If powdered paprika is added immediately, the taste of the drink will be much worse, you will get something like tincture on bell pepper.
2. Pour in the alcohol base, mix, seal tightly. Leave in a dark place at room temperature for 10 days. Shake every 2-3 days.
3. Add powdered paprika to the infusion. Mix. Leave for a day. If paprika is added in pieces at the very beginning, this step can be skipped, limited to 10 days of infusion.
4. Strain the resulting tincture through cheesecloth, then filter through cotton wool or a coffee filter to remove particles of ground cinnamon and paprika. Rinse chili peppers with warm running water.
5. Sweeten the liquid part of the tincture with honey to taste. I advise you to add at least half a tablespoon to soften the burning taste. Mix.
6. Pour the drink into bottles or jars for storage. Add chili peppers to each bowl. Close hermetically. Leave in the refrigerator for 5-7 days to stabilize the taste. If long-term storage is planned (more than 6 months), it is better to remove the pepper so that the drink does not become too hot.
If sediment appears, filter again through cotton or coffee filter.
The shelf life of homemade tincture on chili peppers is up to 5 years. Fortress – 37-38% vol. (if the alcohol base is 40%).
Attention! Preferably served at room temperature. The first stack is usually not eaten. Even healthy people are not recommended to drink more than 100-150 ml per evening.