How to turn moonshine into “cognac” without grapes in two days: I share my methods

Cognac is an amazing alcoholic drink made from grape spirit.

To be honest, I don’t like it, and there are several reasons for this: firstly, it’s impossible to make real cognac at home (no matter what anyone says), and secondly, cognac is significantly inferior in “purity” to whiskey, hence the headache in the morning and the inability to mix it with other drinks.

Knowing that I have been fond of moonshine for a long time, my close friend asked me to cook cognac for his birthday, which was two days away.

To all my assurances that it was impossible, he answered only “Well, at least some.” I have never made cognac from moonshine, so I became interested, and I decided to try it, today I am ready to share my results.

The story was sent by my subscriber Oleg.

Two ways – “simple” and “very simple”

I have determined for myself two ways of preparing a drink. But it is worth mentioning that this is still not brandy, but rather a tincture, because grape alcohol at home is extremely difficult to obtain, if not impossible, and even more so not in two days.

The first way is to tincture on oak chips or bark, caramelize the product and add all kinds of spices. The second is even simpler, it is ideal for those who are not a gourmet in the choice of alcoholic beverages.

It is enough just to paint over pseudo-cognac with oak cubes, and if a person does not distinguish cognac from whiskey in taste, then he will perceive it as the most magnificent cognac.

The main factor affecting the quality of the resulting drink is its base. The same moonshine that needs to be properly expelled and cleaned of harmful impurities, so the manufacture of moonshine must be given special attention.

Preparation of the basis

Many amateur moonshiners are sure that to prepare the base for pseudo-cognac, it is best to drive the product from:

1. Berry brew.
2. Fruit malt.
3. Grain mash.

But it’s not. Our cognac is a tincture, so the only condition we set for the base is its purity. Additional aromas, aftertaste and flavor will still be overwhelmed by the ingredients to infuse the product.

I used ordinary, the cheapest sugar mash. To drive with fruit, and even more so with grain, specifically in this case, I consider it a waste of money. I already had mash on turbo yeast, so I just had to overtake it.

It is necessary to distill carefully, carefully separating the heads. Leaving even the smallest fraction of the tails does not make sense, since sugar mash will not have any pleasant aroma, no matter what you do.

It is enough to distill twice, but three is better, only after the third distillation I am sure of the purity of the product at the exit.

We insist two pseudo-cognacs

I took two 2 liter jars and filled them 3/45 full with 5% distillate. In one of them, I just threw XNUMX pieces of oak cubes purchased at a specialized alcohol store.

They cost a penny, but they give confidence that they are processed and do not contain any parasites in the wood. I understand that if the worm got into the alcohol, then these are the problems of the worm, but still it would be unpleasant for me to feel it in my mouth.

With the second jar, I got a little confused: I added 5 grams of planed oak chips, a couple of clove buds, a gram of coriander, two nutmegs and two cinnamon sticks. But that’s not all, I heated about 300 grams of sugar on a steam bath, making something between caramel and syrup.

Having poured in the sweet liquid, I thoroughly mixed everything, hermetically closed both jars and put them in a warm, dark place.

Since my time was limited, the drinks were infused for only two days or even less, but there was nothing to do, pouring the miracle “cognac” into a presentable bottle, I went to a friend for a holiday.

Result

It is worth noting that one of the cognacs received really came out worthy. The one that was infused with spices.

He would stand another week or two, and it would be generally excellent. Moreover, next time I would add honey instead of caramel, yes – not cognac, but an interesting mead would come out.

The second drink did not cause delight in anyone. Perhaps I went too far with the cubes, but the impression was that I was not drinking cognac, but eating a plinth. The hard and unpleasant wooden aftertaste remained in the mouth for a long time.

As practice has shown, if you already make a drink, then make it normally. “Very simple” options generally rarely lead to a decent result, and once again I was convinced of this. How do you make cognac from moonshine?