In our family, moonshine has been brewing for three generations, and for us it is no longer just a monotonous job of distilling mash, but a whole art!
We are constantly experimenting, coming up with our own recipes and using products that seem not made for tinctures at all. Today I’m going to talk about a wonderful fragrant beetroot tincture, the brainchild of the collective mind and the desire to try something new! So let’s go.
The story was sent by blog subscriber Maxim.
Ingredients and equipment
I’ll start with the equipment, since we only need a 1,5-liter container (preferably glass) and something to filter the future tincture from the pulp and sediment. Personally, I always use cheesecloth folded in 4 layers. The result is a pure liquid without any impurities.
To prepare beetroot tincture, we need:
- beets – 400 g (I had 2 medium-sized beets from the last harvest);
- orange – 350 g (weight is taken into account without peel);
- prunes – 180 g;
- moonshine or distillate of at least 40% strength – 1 l.
Let’s calculate the cost right away:
- 1 liter of moonshine costs from 150 rubles;
- 1 liter of distillate from 250 rubles;
- the beets cost me 16 rubles;
- orange – 30 rubles;
- prunes – 120 rubles.
Thus, beet tincture will cost from 316 to 416 rubles, depending on the choice of alcohol base. I gave approximate prices for the ingredients, since the cost of the same oranges can vary greatly in different regions of the country.
The cooking process
The cooking process does not take much time. The main thing is to properly prepare the ingredients so that they give as much juice as possible:
- Thoroughly wash the beets, remove the peel and rub on a coarse grater.
- Cut the peel off the orange to leave a little zest and cut into small cubes. Bones, if any, are discarded.
- Prunes also need to be washed very well and finely chopped.
- We put our ingredients in layers in a jar (or other similar container) in layers in the following sequence: beets, oranges, prunes.
- Pour all this on top with a liter of moonshine or distillate, close the lid and put it in a warm, dry place for 2 weeks.
After 14 days, our beetroot tincture is almost ready. It remains to strain it, taste it, and, if necessary, reduce the degree.
Beet tincture
I filtered through cheesecloth, folded in 4 layers. The pulp remaining from the infusion, using the same gauze, must be squeezed well so that the ingredients give up all the juices. As a result, at the output we get not 1, but 1,3 liters of tincture.
Result
Beetroot infusion has a beautiful ruby color! A glass with such a drink is very similar to wine, only stronger, of course.
What a wonderful layered fragrance! Oddly enough, the first thing you hear is prunes, then beets, and only on the exhale – orange zest.
Red beet tincture
And the most interesting thing is that with different strengths, the taste of this “wine” changes towards one of the main ingredients:
- 40% – prunes come first, then beets, and tart citrus notes predominate on the exhale;
- 30% – orange and its characteristic sourness are most clearly felt, then prunes and only then beets;
- 15% – beetroot with all its sweetness is well felt, then orange and only at the very end the “dusty” aroma of prunes.
In a word, experiment with the strength and look for “your” taste of beetroot tincture.
The most interesting thing is that the ladies from our friendly company preferred a stronger version of the tincture, but the soft “beetroot compote” fell in love with the strong half of humanity! Here’s a funny paradox.
Additional Ingredients
In addition to oranges and prunes, other “secret” ingredients can be added to the beetroot tincture recipe:
- currant leaves;
- black chokeberry berries;
- ginger root;
- cloves;
- spice;
- chocolate.
When choosing additives, be guided by your personal taste preferences and you will succeed! Have you tried making tinctures from vegetables? Share your experience in the comments!