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Making tinctures and other drinks from vegetables seems strange. But once you begin to understand that the differences between fruits and vegetables are often purely semantic, fiddling around with these versatile ingredients becomes easier. So what can be prepared from the ingredients for borscht?
I am constantly on the lookout for interesting homemade drink recipes. Some of them fit in with my readers’ interests and come to life in the form of articles with a selection of thematic recipes, such as the article on nut liqueurs. Other recipes are so extravagant that publishing them seems like madness. But they exist, they are real, taken not from my head, but from verified sources (namely, verified, that is, they were prepared at least several times by the author). It is for such recipes that I decided to establish a series of articles called “Intoxicating Experiment”.
And here they are, crazy, daring and definitely experimental vegetable tinctures. Some ingredients may seem incompatible with alcohol, some will bring smiles to your faces, but believe me, they are all suitable for our craft and undeservedly deprived of attention. And the process of preparing such tinctures is no different from the process of preparing any other drink by infusion. Try to abstract and not hang labels. So, four recipes for vegetable tinctures for the first “drunk experiment”.
Tincture “Surprise with sweet pepper”
In the world of vegetables, where coolness is defined by units on the Scoville scale, the invariably pleasant, tender, sweet pepper can be considered a diligent straight-A student in a light-colored dress. But when this sweet girl falls into the arms of fragrant Reposado tequila, flavored with aromatic oils of orange and sweetened with agave syrup, she turns into a daring senorita, who, as they say, can give a head.
- 450 ml of vodka or moonshine 40-50%
- 250 ml tequila (preferably Reposado)
- 3 red sweet peppers
- 1 orange (zest)
- 200-250 ml agave syrup
Wash, peel and coarsely chop the pepper. Remove the rind from the orange. Mix vodka, tequila, sweet pepper, orange peel and agave syrup (sold in markets) in a one and a half liter jar. Mix the contents well, close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 7-10 days, until the liquid acquires a strong taste and smell of sweet pepper. Strain the drink through a sieve into a clean liter jar, do not squeeze out the solid ingredients. Close the jar tightly and store in a dark place. After a couple of weeks, the tincture can be filtered and poured into clean bottles. It is recommended to drink it within 1 year!
Tincture “Carotene Gold”
In the same world of vegetables, carotene is gold. A harbinger of vitamins C and A, a pure golden color and natural sweetness, the color and aroma of yellow bell peppers and carrots, combined with a dash of fresh ginger, make for an amazing sweet-spicy triumvirate in this tincture.
- 450 ml golden rum
- 250 ml of vodka or moonshine 40-50%
- 2 yellow sweet peppers
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 1 piece 2,5 cm ginger root
- 200-250 ml simple syrup
Wash peppers and carrots, peel and chop coarsely. Peel the ginger and finely chop. Mix rum, water, sweet peppers, carrots and ginger in a one and a half liter jar, mix well. Infuse in a dark, cool place for 7-10 days, until the infusion acquires a bright taste and smell of sweet pepper with ginger. Strain the drink through a sieve, do not squeeze. Add syrup to drained liquid. Let rest for 2-3 weeks, filter and bottle if desired. Store the tincture in a dark, cool place. Consume within 1 year!
Tincture “Roots”
There are root beers, root whiskeys, and a huge variety of complex aromatic liqueurs and liqueurs, which include various roots. Why not make a drink made from root vegetables? It seems that this is exactly what the pre-industrial reasonable Bang was supposed to revel in to death.
- 750 rye vodka, whiskey or moonshine 40%
- 2 medium parsnip roots
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 1 small beet
- 2 tbsp. l. finely chopped horseradish root
- 200-250 ml brown sugar simple syrup
Rinse parsnips, carrots and beets well, peel and chop coarsely. Mix all root crops and sugar syrup in a one and a half liter jar, pour everything with rye distillate / rectified and mix well. Insist in a dark cool place for 7 days. Strain the mixture through a sieve, do not squeeze. Let rest for 2-3 weeks, filter and, if desired, pour into clean bottles. Use the tincture preferably within 1 year!
Tincture “Sugar beet”
Beetroot is sweet (by the way, the second most common sweetener in the world), but you do not know about it, because during the cooking process this quality is lost. But if you put it in sweetened alcohol, the result is a unique ruby colored drink with a bright candy taste of natural origin, which comes from the very sweetness of the beets.
- 750 ml light rum (or a mixture of vodka and rum)
- 4 small red beets
- 1 large orange
- 200-250 ml simple syrup
Rinse the beetroot well, peel and chop coarsely. Pour boiling water over the orange, rub it well with a hard towel, remove the zest from it and squeeze out the juice. Mix rum (or a mixture of rum and vodka, preferably with a predominance of rum), beets, sugar syrup, orange zest and juice in a one and a half liter jar, mix everything well and send to infuse in a dark, cool place for up to 7 days. When the liquid smells strongly and tastes like beets, drain it through a sieve, do not squeeze out the hard parts. Let the tincture rest in a closed liter jar for 2-3 weeks, then filter and bottle if required. Consume within 1 year!