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I don’t drink in my life. But I have always been interested in how alcoholic drinks are made. Everything is clear with vodka. I was interested in various tinctures and liqueurs. I have a sweet tooth and they are sweet. I really liked the taste of milk chocolate liqueur.
But there was no Internet before, and in Soviet Russia there was a complete monopoly on the manufacture of alcoholic beverages. All secrets were kept in the strictest confidence. You could only learn them from your grandmother. But I didn’t have one.
This story was sent to me by my subscriber and part-time aunt of my wife Anastasia Alexandrovna. I myself drank its tincture more than once, but I did not know how it was first prepared.
Why I decided to make alcohol myself
In the yard were 90 years. Perestroika brought a simultaneous lack of both money and goods. Everyone survived as best they could. But there was an opportunity for free business, and with it advanced craftsmen.
They began to print books with various recipes and sell them to newsstands. They were cheap and sold out quickly. I bought one of these editions.
It was a small pamphlet, which had the uncomplicated title “Homemade Spirits”. It described the preparation of tinctures on berries and alcohol.
I am no cook – I don’t like to cook from birth. But one recipe was so simple that even I could do it. It was the Monastyrskaya tincture. One of the ingredients was blackcurrant.
Like everyone else at that time, I had a garden. But there was no smell of currants. All 6 acres were densely planted with potatoes and other vegetables. But there was a country road nearby. And along it grew thorn bushes.
In September they were covered with small blue berries. These berries had a rather pleasant taste. For those who don’t know, the turn is a wild plum.
I thought. I definitely don’t have anything to buy currants for. Why not try replacing it with a turn. It’s free. No sooner said than done. I spent two hours picking thorn berries. Bushes are thorny. I skinned all my legs and arms, but I scored the right amount.
Attention! Blackthorn berries ripen in mid-September. Collect them at this time. Later they become lethargic and fall off.
What ingredients are required
The recipe stated that for the tincture you need:
- 1 liter of vodka or alcohol
- 3 kg of sugar
- 2 liters of berries.
I want to remind you that at that time, both vodka and sugar were on coupons. All this property of the nation was bought up monthly and stored in cabinets.
Spoil a liter of vodka – get a huge scandal with your husband. And spoiled sugar (only a kilogram per person for a month) is unsweetened porridge for children. But… Hunting is worse than captivity.
Manufacturing process
It had to be done in great secrecy. Products from the stash were also taken on the sly. The process was as follows:
- We take a three-liter glass jar.
- We put 2 liters of berries in it. The bank is two-thirds full.
- Fill the berries with 1 liter of alcohol. The jar is filled completely, close the screw cap.
- We put in a dark place.
- We insist for three months, shaking regularly.
The dark place was my salvation. I don’t know what I would do if the jar needed to be kept in the light. And so I safely hid it on the far shelf in the pantry and waited. After three months, the manufacturing process must be continued:
- The liquid from the jar is drained into a separate glass container, which is tightly closed with a lid.
- The remaining berries are covered with 1.5 kg of sugar and infused for another month.
- For a month, sugar draws juice from the berries. It must be poured into a container with alcohol tincture, mix thoroughly.
- The remaining berries are again covered with half of the remaining sugar. The process is repeated.
- A month later, years are covered with sugar for the last time. The resulting juice is drained into a common container.
The contents are thoroughly mixed and infused for another two weeks. After that, the tincture is ready, and the drink can be bottled for storage.
Attention. If the berries become completely dry after the first or second time, then the process can be stopped.
What result did I get
The preparation process took almost 7 months. The result was amazing. It was a clear liquid of dark cherry color with a very pleasant specific taste. It didn’t look like a plum or a cherry.
But it was just extraordinary. Words can not convey it, because there is nothing to compare. But you can try by preparing this drink. And I flashed my achievements, treating my girlfriends on March 8.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
Do you have tinctures that you consider your “signature” ones? Share your recipes with me. And then summer is coming, and, as you know, you need to prepare for it in advance.