Back in Soviet times, when cognac cost no more than vodka, I made rowan cognac.
Now I can’t afford it and dodge it as best I can, I really love rowan cognac. That’s what I decided to share with you.
This story was sent by my subscriber Tatyana Ivanovna.
Preparation of raw materials
It is known that red rowan berries become sweet and lose their astringent properties when they fall under the first frost. However, don’t wait for frosts, otherwise the birds will peck at your future wine. I collect as soon as the mountain ash has reddened well and has become sweet and sour.
Many winemakers wash the berries and then lightly freeze them in the freezer. I do not do this, so as not to wash off the natural yeast coating that covers the berries. And I prefer that astringency that only mountain ash has.
I clean the berries dry from debris, particles of dirt. The process is long, but necessary. I am currently listening to music or an audiobook.
Let’s start making wine
Berries, to reduce the astringent effect, pour boiling water for half an hour, then drain the water. You can repeat the procedure, but I do it once.
I grind the berries with a blender. Sometimes the sense of an ordinary pusher. Depending on quantity. Next, the resulting slurry is poured with water heated to 70 degrees. Let it stand until cool.
Ingredients:
- red rowan berries 5 kilograms;
- water 2 liters;
- granulated sugar 2 kilograms;
- wine yeast (according to instructions).
Recipe tested over years of personal experience. The quantity is easy to proportionally increase.
I put 1 kg of granulated sugar into the cooled porridge and pour out the yeast. I cover the container with a cloth and put it in a warm place near the battery in the kitchen for 4 days. The initial fermentation process starts. I constantly stir the mixture, if this is not done, mold will instantly appear.
Then I pass the resulting wort through several layers of gauze. I squeeze carefully. I pour the remaining sugar into the fermentation bowl, pour the resulting liquid there. The smell is already amazing! On top of the bottle I leave approximately one quarter of the void.
I put it in a dark place. Instead of a lid, I put on a rubber glove. In the process of fermentation, it inflates and “sends greetings”.
After about a month and a half, fermentation subsides and a precipitate forms. So, it’s time to pour into another container without disturbing the thick. I close this dish already tightly and put it away in a cool place for 3 months. During this time, I carefully drain it several times, freeing it from sediment.
Then, in theory, it’s time to pour into bottles and use on holidays. But we have, if you remember, a different recipe. Rowan on cognac. We created the rowan part. How to make cognac?
Cognac for rowan
Many years ago, back in Soviet times, cognac cost a little more than vodka. I confess that at that time I simply poured a bottle of cognac into a 10-liter bottle of rowan wine.
Now cognac, as you know, costs much more and is simply unbearable for me. But there is a great way out. You can turn vodka or moonshine into cognac. I personally choose vodka. The cheapest. Moreover, I fill it at about the same time as the wine itself, let it stand.
For 10 liters of wine, which turns out to be 12-14 degrees by strength, I take a bottle of vodka with a capacity of 0,7 liters. I pour it into a liter bottle and fill it with a few ingredients.
- 8 pieces of cloves.
- 3-5 vanilla sugar crystals (do not overdo it!).
- 25 grams of oak bark (available in pharmacies).
- A tablespoon (without a slide) of black tea.
- 8 walnut partitions;
- 4 coffee beans.
- 5 peas of black pepper.
Seasoned with spices, vodka is placed in a dark, cool place until the end of the preparation of wine. Then it is filtered. It turns out a dark amber fragrant 40-degree drink.
You can do the same with moonshine, but it is difficult to cope with the taste of fusel oils. It already requires double distillation and scrupulous cleaning with manganese, activated carbon. In other words, a long process.
I know that some people add another spoon or two of honey to the future cognac. I do not do this, because a number of acquaintances are allergic to honey.
Moment of the truth
And now the moment of truth! Strained vodka is poured into a bottle of wine. Worth another week, and you can try. The strength of the drink turns out to be 18-22 degrees. The color is noble tea.
That is quite a ladies’ drink. But men will also like it with its unusual taste, tart, bitter and fragrant in rowanberry.
As they say, not for alcohol, but for entertainment. The process of making homemade drinks is very interesting and exciting. When a product of taste joy is born before your eyes and your efforts, it is worth the time and effort spent. Do you agree with me?