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My friend and work colleague once invited me to his name day. He was then 50 years old. Since it was an anniversary, he decided not to save money on the party. This was the reason why he bought a case of Finlandia vodka for the festive table.
There were both classic versions of it, and with different tastes. I was especially struck by Finlandia Grapefruit (grapefruit flavored). As soon as I tried it, I immediately decided that I would cook something similar at home. Especially since I had a cooked moonshine.
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What ingredients and equipment will be needed
In order to prepare moonshine tincture on grapefruit, of course, you will need two main ingredients, this is moonshine itself and grapefruit. As for the necessary alcohol, I caught up with it in advance. It turned out clean and of high quality, however, as always, after two distillations.
Grapefruit I bought in the store. The main thing here is not to be confused with an orange. I’m kidding, of course. The fruit itself is desirable to take a large size and heavier, this is a clear sign that it is ripe. It can be orange, yellowish or red. It should not have rotten brown spots.
That’s basically it. The only other thing to consider is glassware. That is, moonshine should be infused in glass. I take either simple cans, or sometimes I immediately use real vodka bottles.
Important! When buying a grapefruit, expect that for 0,5-1 liter of moonshine you will need 1 large fruit.
The cooking process
I have prepared different types of grapefruit tinctures, but it would be best to talk about the classic version. To do this, I took the fruit and first of all removed the zest from it. This is its orange (red or yellow) crust. You can do this with a small grater. The main thing is not to touch the white layer under it.
The wife removed a thin layer of zest.
Then I cut the fruit and separated the segments from the inner white layer of the peel – the albedo. If this is not done, then it will give bitterness to the future tincture. I prefer to crush the slices so that they give juice. Then the resulting mixture and the zest were thrown into a glass container.
Grapefruit slices and nothing more.
It remains only to pour everything with the right amount of moonshine, tightly close the container and put it in a dark, cool place for at least 2 weeks. I waited three to be sure. In the process, do not forget to shake the tincture. Some people do it every day. I think this is superfluous, so I shook it once every 3 days.
Important! By shaking, the aroma and taste will be better transferred from fruit to moonshine.
What will be the result
Looking ahead, I want to say that I was very pleased with the result. I did even better than the Finlandia Grapefruit vodka I tried at a friend’s birthday party. This is not surprising, because I used natural products.
The color is closer to orange. The grapefruit itself is red inside, but this juice is diluted with clear moonshine, which ultimately gives an orange or sometimes even a yellowish tint.
The smell of my Finland is very sharp and bright. The aroma of citrus fruits is basically strong, so it clogs even the smell of alcohols and leaves a pleasant impression.
That’s what I did.
The taste is also top notch. As you can see, I didn’t add sugar. I prefer to make a tincture in this version. It is clear that grapefruit will be felt in moonshine.
But here the peculiarity is completely different, namely, in the invigorating and refreshing aftertaste of this citrus. Especially if you drink it chilled.
What can be added / replaced in the recipe
As I said, in addition to the classic version of grapefruit tincture, there are many others. To give originality, a variety of ingredients are used, for example, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and other fruits are added.
You can insist not on moonshine, but on white wine or cognac. These alcoholic drinks also have fruity flavors and aromas, so why not add grapefruit as well? Those who like sweeter tincture can experiment with honey or sugar.
I also tried this option. I took (for 1 liter of moonshine) the juice of one grapefruit, added cloves and cinnamon at the tip of a teaspoon, then poured 250 grams of sugar. I waited for the sugar to melt and the resulting liquid to boil.
I let it boil for 3 minutes, so that the spices better give off their taste, and then cooled. The resulting syrup was poured into a jar with zest and moonshine. It has a wonderful sweet taste.
Important! Keep in mind that when sugar is added, moonshine will lose a little in degrees.
How to serve and with what to use
I prefer grapefruit tincture in its classic version. It is unsweetened, so you should drink it like ordinary moonshine or vodka. I mean in small piles with the usual snack. These may be the simplest homemade dishes.
Another great option in terms of snacks can be considered fruits. This tincture goes well with apples, pears, bananas. You can also take a slice of orange, and thus reunite the tastes of two different citrus fruits.
Sweet tincture (which sometimes loses in degrees up to 20-25%) can be drunk with chocolate or sweets with filling. Drinking it is also better in piles, but it goes much easier.
Tinctures themselves are preferable to moonshine, because in its pure form it is not the most pleasant thing in the world. Although, I remember how, at the dawn of my passion for home brewing, I insisted it on grapefruit cake, which remained after the juice.
The crap turned out to be rare! Do you want me to tell you next time how not to do it?
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!