Contents
Anyone who has ever been to Georgia will never forget the hospitality of the local population and delicious, hearty, aromatic local cuisine. Kharcho, khachapuri, tkemali, suluguni, barbecue and the same wine or stronger drinks.
I have been, I respect Georgian cuisine, I often cook at home, but I have never experimented with alcohol. And it looks like the time has come…
The story of my subscriber Sergey.
How did the idea come about
Somehow I felt such a longing for Georgia in the summer that I could not resist and decided to try to make the famous strong drink of Georgians – chacha.
Now, of course, you can buy whatever you want, but a bottle of a purchased drink loses all the charm of a Georgian feast.
Anyone who has a distillation apparatus at home and a desire to experiment can make chacha. The drink turns out to be strong, strong – up to 50%.
In Georgia, they check its strength by setting fire to a finger that has been dipped in chacha. If you didn’t burn yourself, congratulations, you got a real chacha! I did not dare to set fire to my fingers, I checked it in a modern way – with an alcohol meter.
What will you need?
So, to make this old Georgian chacha, we need:
- grapes Rkatsiteli or other white varieties – 10 kg;
- water – 20 liters;
- large plastic or copper containers;
- wooden spoon;
- gauze.
As you can see, the ingredients are simple and affordable. It’s all about the manufacturing process itself.
White grapes used to make chacha
You can make chacha in many ways, the Internet is replete with the most exotic recipes. I opted for the classic version without yeast.
Method of preparation
Chacha is made from pomace, even the name itself is translated as “crumpled grapes”. We sort out 10 kg of berries and separate them from the branches. It is not necessary to wash the grapes, because there are natural yeasts on the peel of white varieties of berries, and under their influence our drink will ferment.
Mnem grapes in any way possible. I kneaded with a drill with a nozzle. Bones do not need to be removed, they add astringency. Pour the resulting mass with water and mix with a wooden spoon.
The classic Georgian recipe uses a copper container. However, in our conditions, plastic is also suitable. The main thing is not to use aluminum, because the final taste of the product will be sour.
Cover the wort with gauze and leave to infuse for a day. Then put a water seal on the container and let the mixture ferment for 3-4 months. Once every few days, stir it with a wooden ladle. A dense crust forms on top, it must be destroyed and the wort gently stirred.
How to understand that chacha is ready for use? The formation of bubbles stops, and a thick mass settles to the bottom.
Experts advise setting fire to a match over the mixture. If it does not go out, the drink is ready. And if the liquid is set on fire and it burns with a blue flame, the fortress is suitable.
Then you need to remove the sediment and cake by straining the mixture through gauze into another container. We put the liquid on a small fire and stir, not bringing to a boil.
Alternatively, you can run it through the distiller several times. Strain again and dilute with water to the desired strength. We pour it into beautiful bottles and you can invite guests to a feast!
What happened as a result
I made chacha according to the classic recipe, without any exotics. Now this drink is not made from anything – from tangerines, dried fruits, but this is no longer the same chacha that I got used to during my trip to Georgia.
This is what my Chacha looks like
It is necessary to drink chacha, enjoying the taste and bouquet, with meat dishes or as an aperitif. Freshly prepared chacha is best drunk chilled, but aged chacha is consumed at room temperature.
Do not forget that chacha is a noble drink, which is highly respected by the natives of Georgia. It should not be mixed with other alcohol, but should be drunk in small sips.
I think the experiment was a success! I am pleased with the result, my friends also appreciated it. Have you ever tried making your own chacha?