What is hanged man and how to cook it

Hangman is not even a drink, it is rather a way of making a drink. Probably every moonshiner-distiller once tried to give his product a pleasant citrus aroma, so it is not surprising that I also had such a desire.

I’m new to this, so I made a lot of mistakes. Still, I managed to do it, albeit not the first time. My path was very long.

This story was sent by my subscriber Denis K.

First try or first pancake lumpy

I wanted to make a soft drink with a pleasant lemon flavor. And, like many beginners, I simply decided to infuse the distillate with lemon zest.

The result, to put it mildly, was simply terrible. At the exit, I got a cloudy drink, the aroma was too pronounced, and it was impossible to drink it. The bitter taste was worse than the cheapest store-bought vodka.

But after all, I used a good 42 ° rectified, which I distilled four times, carefully selecting the tails! As experts have already suggested to me on the forum, insisting on a lemon is a utopia. There is a special technique for creating citrus drinks.

hangman on a string

For proper preparation, you need to use not the lemon zest, but the fruit itself. Moreover, one half of a lemon is enough for 10 liters of rectified! By the way, when I insisted on my first version of the drink, I used about 500 g of peeled zest, which was undoubtedly more expensive.

So, I decided to finish what I started and master the preparation of a lemon drink. What I used:

• 2 whole lemons (half for every 10 liters);
• ordinary cotton threads;
• just a little bit of ground cinnamon.

Next, I got to cooking.

I lightly sprinkled two halves with ground cinnamon (as an experiment) and tried to fix them on my container.

Infusion of such a drink is not a quick matter.

It is best to fix the lemon by crushing it with a cork. The main condition is that the lemon should in no case touch the base, otherwise the whole point is reduced to zero and the result will be similar to what I did the first time.

I do not know the physics of the process, but alcohol-containing liquids really actively absorb flavor, you just need to give it time. I insisted for almost 2 weeks and removed the hangmen only on the 13th day.

It is worth noting that when I took out the lemon, it was not dry, but it did not have any smell either. I even had the courage to taste it – the fruit distinctly left an alcoholic aftertaste. But the quality of the drink at the same time, remained beyond praise.

The result is a pleasant aroma and light taste.

The drink did not change color and remained the same transparent, however, instead of the characteristic smell of alcohol, a pleasant, but unobtrusive aroma emanated from it. Surprisingly, the taste also changed, it became even softer, a certain light acid appeared, which complemented the fruity notes of the aroma.

I will also say that cinnamon powder did not give any result. Drinks from containers with pure lemon and sprinkled were no different. The aroma of cinnamon is probably just “clogged” with the smell of lemon. Since then, I often make hangings, but I no longer use cinnamon.

I tried to make drinks not only with lemon, but also with orange, tangerine, grapefruit, but they did not live up to expectations.

Only grapefruit can be singled out, since my wife really liked the smell of my tincture, but how much effort it cost me to push half a grapefruit into the narrow neck of the container …

Therefore, I consider it optimal cooking on a lemon, only you need to take into account some nuances:

1. Between thick-skinned and thin-skinned fruit, it is better to give preference to the second.
2. Do not rush and keep the drink for at least 10 days.
3. Pay special attention to the quality of the base, it must be free of tailings, and its strength must be at least 35 °.

Have you tried this method? What do you think will happen if you use overseas citrus fruits like pomelo, lime, yuzu or bergamot?