Improved taste and smell

As you know, the same harmful impurities and oils give moonshine an unpleasant aftertaste and fusel smell. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of the product, it is logical to first purify it using filtration or another of the above methods.

In addition, to eliminate the specific odor and improve the taste of moonshine, flavoring is used by adding a variety of fruits, berries, herbs, and various spices. They can also be added to ready-made purified moonshine, which is infused for a certain time until the desired effect is obtained.

Initially, hops were used to flavor vodka and moonshine. Even in small quantities it can almost completely destroy fusel smell and taste. Bee honey, which is also an effective aromatic additive, has similar qualities.

Many medicinal herbs can be used for flavoring.

This vodka, in addition to its pleasant smell, also acquires medicinal properties.

If the plant infused in the same vodka is replaced from time to time with a fresh one, you will get a concentrated infusion, which can then be used to improve the taste and smell of vodka.

It is most practical to infuse the flavor with vodka in a glass container. If urgent aromatization is required (for example, before guests arrive), it is recommended to place the bottles in a pan of water on wooden blocks and boil for an hour. Then cool in cold water.

Flavoring can also be added to the starter. Herbs, lemon and orange peels are very appropriate here. However, the aroma is barely noticeable. To enhance it, it is better to first infuse the water used to make the mash with the flavoring you have chosen (or prepare a decoction), and then dilute the starter in this water.

Here are several recipes for vodka and moonshine with improved taste and smell.

"Cognac"

Ingredients: strong moonshine - 3 l, sugar and high quality tea - 1 tbsp. l., bay leaf - 3 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., clove buds - 3–5 pcs., several orange or lemon peels.

Preparation: mix all the ingredients thoroughly and let the vodka steep for 10 days.

Absinthe

Ingredients: vodka, leaves and flowers of field wormwood.

Preparation: Dry the top leaves and flowers of field wormwood in the shade, then immerse them in vodka so that they occupy a quarter of the container. Vodka can be consumed after 1–2 weeks.

Cherry vodka

Ingredients: vodka, cherry fruits.

Preparation: Fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe cherries (half of them should be pitted), fill with vodka and place in the cellar for 1.5 months.

After the specified time, drain the vodka and squeeze the cherries through the canvas. Let them sit. After a day, mix the juice with vodka, pour into bottles, and seal. It is recommended to try again after a year.

Typically, women prefer drinks that are weaker and sweeter than classic moonshine. Especially for them, we will present several recipes for drinks with a pleasant, mild taste.

Strawberry vodka

Ingredients: strawberries or wild strawberries - 3 kg, sugar - 1.5 kg, vodka - 1 bottle.

Preparation: Grind strawberries or strawberries with sugar, add vodka.

Robin

Ingredients: raspberries, vodka, sugar syrup to taste.

Preparation: Fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe raspberries. Fill with vodka and leave for two days in the shade. Drain, throw away the raspberries, put them in 1/2 of a fresh bottle and fill them again with the same vodka for two days. Drain and strain. Dissolve sugar syrup and add to taste.

Grape vodka

Ingredients: grape juice - 1 l, sugar - 1 kg, tea - 1 tbsp. l., bay leaf - 5 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., vanillin - 0.5 tsp., vodka - 1 l.

Preparation: add the listed ingredients to the vodka. Leave for 5-6 days, stirring regularly. Strain. These flavorings perfectly eliminate the moonshine smell.

Colored vodka

Vodka can be given a very beautiful color without the use of any synthetic dyes. For her to buy:

Blue color - infuse it with cornflowers;

Green - mint;

Red - on blueberries;

Purple - on sunflower seeds;

Yellow - on saffron.

Varenukha

Ingredients: dried fruits (pears, apples, cherries, plums, figs), vodka, honey, pepper to taste.

Preparation: Rinse dried fruits, pour vodka, add honey and pepper to taste.

Cover the dish with a piece of bread and coat with unleavened dough. Place in a very warm place for 12 hours (in the village - on a hot stove).

Drink hot. You can also eat fruits.

Caraway vodka

Ingredients: cumin - 350–400 g, water - 1 l, sugar to taste.

Preparation: Distill the water with cumin through a distillation apparatus. The resulting cumin water can be stored in the refrigerator or cellar for several months. When you need caraway vodka, sweeten the water just a little, pour it into the vodka to taste - and the drink is ready.

Orange vodka

Ingredients: refined sugar, water - 1 l, vodka - 2 l, peels of 4–5 oranges.

Preparation: Boil syrup from refined sugar and water. Mix with vodka. Pour into the bottle and throw in the orange peels.

Place in a place protected from light for 3-4 days. Then filter and bottle.

This text is an introductory fragment.

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Alcoholic drinks, both homemade and industrially produced, come in different qualities. Therefore, the question of how to purify vodka so that it becomes pleasant to drink is not an idle one.

In addition, low-quality alcohol causes severe hangovers and poisoning.

Therefore, it must be at least partially rid of toxins (fusel oils, aldehydes, acetone and others like them). You can do this at home, and we will teach you how.

Actually, any strong alcohol produced at home or industrially needs to be purified:,. At distilleries and distilleries, purification is carried out using huge coal columns, in which multi-stage purification is carried out, eliminating fusel oils. At home, this happens a little differently.

What exactly is vodka? This food grade alcohol diluted with water. Alcohol can be of the highest grade (the dirtiest of food grades, despite the name), and Alpha, in which fusel oils remain in such a minuscule amount that it’s not worth talking about.

So here's what you can do at home to keep your vodka clean and soft:

1. The distillation method at home produces raw alcohol, which must first be purified, then diluted and distilled a second time, divided into fractions. After which - clean it again and only after that to the desired strength and use or do some other manipulations: soften, flavor, infuse with various components or in an oak barrel. And only after that a completely different drink is served.
2. With the help of a distillation column, it is possible to produce good quality, not inferior to the highest grade in the industrial classification. But it also needs to be brought to the correct organoleptic standards.
3. You bought alcohol to make homemade vodka (today this can also be done through online stores), but you doubt the quality. In order to prevent poisoning from the future finished product, subject it to special processing.
4. And finally, about ready-made vodka from the store. You bought one bottle or purchased a box for a family celebration and are not happy with its taste, you doubt the quality - this can be corrected. Of course, in the event that the alcohol is not completely “scorched”, produced from methyl (technical, wood) alcohol. A - from ethyl but perhaps not of very high quality.

To the treasury of knowledge

How to check the origin of alcohol? Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine by sight and even by taste what type of alcohol is in front of you. But there are still indirect indicators:

1. In order to prevent mass poisoning of the population, coloring substances are added to industrial alcohol during production, which cannot be removed from it. Therefore, first of all, you should be wary of colored alcohol (blue-violet). Sometimes they try to disguise it by adding other dyes, labeling bottles for various 40-degree tinctures.

Carefully. We cannot exclude situations where alcohol was stolen from the enterprise before dyeing. And also – the dishonesty of the manufacturer.

1. If you have normal vodka (alcohol) without additives, conduct a comparative test. Place a drop of a proven product on the back of one hand and dubious alcohol or vodka on the other. Rub it on your skin and compare the scents. If it is methyl, you will notice a strong, unpleasant odor.
2. The flame colors of ethylene and methylene are different. The food product burns with a blue flame, the wood product burns with a green flame.
3. Take a piece of copper wire, heat it and sharply lower it into the alcohol being tested. The ethyl one practically does not react to such a trick; the technical one gives off a sickening smell.
4. Dip a piece of potato into the liquid and leave for a couple of hours. If the color remains the same - everything is fine, if it turns pink - you are dealing with methyl alcohol.

Important. Don't even try to clean it, it will never become drinkable because it has a different chemical composition.

How to clean at home?

In order to efficiently purify vodka, people have come up with many ways, about which we will try to give as much information as possible.

Peculiarities. Before using any of the methods, dilute the alcohol with water to a strength 1-2 degrees higher than required.

Firstly, fusel oils and other harmful impurities are better adsorbed this way, since the stronger the alcohol, the stronger the bonds between the components at the molecular level. Secondly, during cleaning it is possible to reduce the strength by a couple of degrees.

Application of coal

We need charcoal; stone is not suitable for our purpose. It happens:

• Berezov. For distillery purposes, the best is BAU-A, that is, birch activated carbon.
• Kokosov(KAU-A). Today this type is most in demand in the vodka industry. Its peculiarity is the presence of pores of different diameters, as a result of which more alcohol impurities are retained.
• Homemade or for the grill. When purchasing the latter, make sure that it does not contain ignition substances, otherwise you risk spoiling the alcohol.
• Activated from the pharmacy(pills). The option is risky, because additives to the tablets (talc, starch, etc.) sometimes cause a bitter taste in purified vodka.
• Domestic coal water filter.

The charcoal is crushed before use. The usual method: beat a bag of coal with a hammer and then sift through a fine sieve. Do not use dust, as well as large pieces (then grind them further), and add the fine fraction to vodka for cleaning.

Proportions for 0.5 liters of alcohol:

• When using crushed coals - 25 g or 1 tablespoon (approximately that much can fit in it) per 0.5 liter of raw alcohol or vodka with a strength of 42-45°.
• 1 crushed tablet of pharmacy activated carbon.

After preparing the coal, you should follow technologies that differ depending on the chosen cleaning agent. Pharmaceutical tablets are placed between two layers of cotton wool, this filter is placed in a watering can and alcohol is passed through it.

It’s even easier to pass the vodka through a carbon filter into a jug.

Note. Have a separate filter for alcohol, store it in the refrigerator. Pass water through the new filter, as required by the instructions, three times, otherwise it can take up to 50% of the strength of the alcohol base passed through it. A prepared person takes no more than 2°.

Wood (coconut) charcoal requires not filtering, but infusion:

1. Pour the prepared charcoal into a bowl with vodka and close the lid.
2. Shake the dish and leave for 3 hours, 3 days or 3 weeks.

Such different recommendations are apparently dictated by our own experience. And in the case of three-hour infusion - the theory is that coal absorbs harmful impurities during this time, and when the pores become clogged, it begins to return them back to the drink. We won’t judge whether this is true, but if you decide to use this method, you should filter and refill the vodka with charcoal 3-4 times.

1. During long infusion (except for the last day), the dishes need to be shaken.
2. A layer of sediment forms in the jar (bottle), from which it is better to remove the liquid to facilitate filtering using a straw.
3. Prepare a watering can-filter. To do this, cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle with a long neck. You can throw away the cork or make holes in it. Insert cotton pads twisted into a tube into the neck with light tension.
4. Place your watering can in a jar and pour the vodka removed from the sediment.
5. The liquid will flow through the discs in a thin stream, coming out perfectly clean.
6. When everything has leaked, you can pour in the sediment with the remaining vodka. Cover with a cut bottom so that the alcohol does not evaporate, since the flow will turn into dripping, and then may stop altogether. In this case, drain the fluid and replace the discs.

2 ways using milk

The first method is with subsequent filtration of ready-to-drink alcohol, the second is with repeated distillation:

1. Milk must be low fat, pasteurized. Fatty homemade brew may cause the drink to become cloudy (it becomes whitish, like in films about moonshiners:

• For 10 liters of vodka, take 100-150 ml of pasteurized milk with 1-1.5% fat content. You can also use separated fresh homemade milk (skim milk);
• pour in the milk and watch the flakes form and fall out. It is they who remove fusel oils and other impurities from vodka;
• leave the closed container to settle for a week, shaking daily;
• strain through several layers of gauze, then pass through a cotton filter several more times.

Important. If there is slight cloudiness in the vodka, filter it through a homemade cotton-charcoal filter.

1. If you are planning a second distillation, you can take milk of any fat content. Its amount is significantly greater than in the first case - 1 liter per 10 liters of raw alcohol.

After a week of infusion and shaking, remove the sediment, strain, dilute in half with water and distill a second time, collecting the heads and tails in a separate bowl.

Recipe with potassium permanganate

We will not discuss whether this method is harmful or useful, it still exists today, so we will tell you about it.

For each liter of vodka you need to take 1 g of potassium permanganate. This amount is like the tip of a knife. It is sometimes recommended to first dilute manganese with water and then mix it with vodka. But, since this will slightly reduce the degree, and we are already dealing with a 40-degree product, you can pour the powder directly into the container with vodka.

Then mix well (the substance also dissolves in alcohol) and leave to settle for a week. During this time, the vodka will return to its natural transparent color, and flakes will settle at the bottom. Drain and filter.

Egg white cleaning

The method is based on protein binding of impurities and settling them to the bottom. It is better to take vodka (alcohol) with a strength of 45°, since liquid is also added, which can slightly reduce the strength.

For 1 liter of alcohol you need 2 raw proteins. Beat them with a whisk, adding water (up to 1 cup, less if possible) until smooth. We don't need fluffy foam. Add to vodka, let stand, shaking occasionally, for a week. Filter.

Rye bread

Take 100 g of freshly baked rye bread per 1 liter of vodka. Crumble it into a container with alcohol and leave it to brew for 5-7 days. Filter. This method gives the drink a bready aroma and eliminates unpleasant odors and turbidity.

Carefully. This method can turn vodka into a faint cognac color!

Oil

Unrefined sunflower oil, or even better, odorless corn oil, tends to mix with fusel oils (these are also oily substances) and retain them in the total mass of the oil. Add 100 ml of oil per liter of alcohol. Cover with a lid and shake well.

After a day, when a film of oil floats on top, lower the tube down and drain all the vodka without touching the oil. You can filter further.

Soda

Baking soda will not only help clean the alcohol, but also make it taste more pleasant. For each liter, take 10 g of baking soda, mix with vodka, and leave for a day. This method requires careful filtration, preferably two or three times through a cotton filter.

Fruits

By getting rid of the fusel, you are at the same time flavor vodka. Cut 1-2 oranges, lemons or apples into pieces. Leave for 3 days - a week and strain.

Cold

Place the vodka in a metal pan, cover with a lid and place in the freezer of a modern refrigerator for 12 hours. Drain what is not frozen. This product is much purer than the original, but will become stronger.

If you are not satisfied with the strength, dilute the vodka with clean (preferably bottled) water to the desired strength. Pour vodka into the water. And for exact proportions, use.

Attention. The more fusel oils are extracted from vodka, the purer it is from a chemical point of view, the harder it will become.

Therefore, in addition to cleaning, softening is also used to make the product more pleasant to use.

How to make vodka soft and pleasant to the taste?

Vodka is a mixture of alcohol and water. Without softening, it leaves the mouth feeling dry. Distilleries often use softeners to make the product more enjoyable to drink. In addition, the additives neutralize the specific alcohol odor.

But it’s easy to do this at home by adding special components to the product.

It is important to adhere to reasonable proportions, since an excess of ingredients will spoil the product. The main substances used to soften industrially produced vodka are: sugar, glucose, glycerin and fructose. They are the ones you see most often on the label. Sometimes they simply write – taste stabilizers.

Softening additives

Let's look at what you can add to vodka at home to soften it:

1. Burnt sugar. It is better if it is refined sugar - it is better refined than regular sugar. Lightly moisten the refined sugar with water and melt in a dry frying pan without oil. Don’t over burn it, otherwise you will feel it in the alcohol. A teaspoon of the resulting caramel is enough for a liter of alcohol.
2. Glucose in the form of a solution or powder from a pharmacy - an excellent component for fixing strong homemade alcohol. For 1 liter of vodka, take 20 ml of the prepared solution or 3 g of powder.
3. Fructose. Sweeter than sugar, so half a teaspoon per liter is enough. Dissolves in alcohol.
4. Glycerol. You only need food grade, no more than 5 ml per liter.
5. Ascorbic acid(regular vitamin C) – up to 5 g per liter. You can use your favorite ascorbic acid tablets with glucose since childhood. 1 tablet is enough.
6. Lemon acid– 2-5 g per liter of alcohol, does a good job of softening.

Flavoring homemade alcohol

After cleaning and softening activities, you can begin aromatization. For this use:

• Herbs: St. John's wort, thyme, bison. The list is long.
• Roots: galangal, ginger.
• Citrus fruit zest.
• Fruits and berries such as cranberries, rowan, quince, etc.
• Oak bark and wood chips. And many others.
• Store-bought flavorings - but this is not for everyone.

Important. Do not use aromatization to eliminate unpleasant odor (taste). First, the vodka needs to be cleaned and softened. Only in this case you will receive an ennobled drink.

The simplest and most effective way to purify vodka is filtration, that is, filtering through various types of adsorbents, most often activated carbon is used. The best solution for cleaning is an aqueous solution of alcohol. Even D.I. Mendeleev, as a result of scientific experiments, showed that if you dilute alcohol with water to about 40% and triple purify it, you can get 100% pure alcohol.

Another interesting one method of purifying vodka, which was widely used in ancient Rus' for several centuries. A small amount of milk was added to vodka or egg white was poured, which, reacting with fusel oils, coagulated and settled to the bottom. The vodka purified in this way was distilled again and freshly baked rye bread was dipped into it. Thus, almost 100% pure alcohol was obtained without any impurities.

If frozen a bottle of vodka in the freezer, and then defrost and drink, you will notice that its taste has noticeably improved. Another method of purifying vodka is based on this - freezing. The fact is that in the cold, the water in alcohol turns into ice and accumulates on the walls of the dishes, absorbing fusel oils and harmful impurities. To obtain alcohol purified in this way, it must be carefully drained from the container without defrosting the frozen water.

Alcohol made at home certainly contains a certain amount of impurities. The most toxic of them are fusel oils. Everyone can verify their presence for themselves by trying light the vodka in a spoon. If it doesn’t burn, it means the product contains a lot of impurities, which means the vodka you prepared is of low quality. This product has an unpleasant taste and smell and, most importantly, is harmful to health.

If the contents of the spoon do catch fire, take a closer look at what remains at the bottom after combustion. Most likely you will see an oily liquid there. These are harmful fusel oils. How to get rid of them? To do this, do not forget about preventive measures, that is, carefully follow the production technology throughout the entire process of preparing the product.

Purification of finished vodka

1. More effective and accessible than other methods is filtration, in which vodka passes through filters of the adsorbent substances, activated carbon is most often used in their role. Note that vodka can be purified better than moonshine, which was determined by D.I. Mendeleev himself. After purifying 40% alcohol three times, you will get an almost pure product. You can also strain the vodka through a vessel with charcoal or place the charcoal directly into the vodka at the rate of 50 g of charcoal per 1 liter of vodka. Leave the charcoal for 3 weeks, remembering to shake the container in which you are cleaning every day. After 3 weeks, filter the liquid. Now you can see for yourself (using the already familiar burning of vodka in a spoon, as well as by tasting) that the resulting alcohol has become purer. It is better to use coal left over from the combustion of birch firewood.

2. You can skip the vodka through household filters for purification such as “Springhead”, “Barrier”, etc.

3. An ancient Russian method of purifying vodka: in manufactured vodka you need to pour in a little milk or egg white. These products bind fusel oils and together with them form sediment at the bottom. Carefully pour the vodka into a clean vessel and distill again. After that, put freshly baked rye bread in it. The product obtained as a result of all these operations is almost pure alcohol, devoid of any impurities.

4. Using the same principle, vodka can be purified using potassium permanganate. Pour 2-3 g of potassium permanganate powder into a 3-liter jar and wait for a precipitate to form. Further purified vodka Carefully pour into another container, avoiding sediment getting into it.

5. Cleansing by freezing. Place the bottle in the freezer of the refrigerator, defrost after a while and carefully pour into a clean container, and try to prevent ice from the walls of the bottle from getting into the purified alcohol. The mechanism of the proposed method is not complicated: the water in vodka freezes, creating an ice crust on the inner surface of the bottle and absorbing harmful impurities, including fusel oils. Try defrosted vodka, and you will feel that its taste, and therefore its quality, has improved significantly.

Improved taste and smell

Everyone knows the unpleasant taste and fusel smell add vodka all the same toxic impurities and oils. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of the product, it is necessary first of all to purify it using filtration or another of the above methods.

In addition, to eliminate the specific odor and improve the taste of vodka, aromatization is used by adding a variety of fruits, berries, herbs, and various spices. They can also be added to ready-made purified vodka, which is infused for a certain time until the desired effect is obtained.

Initially for vodka flavoring and moonshine, hops were used. Even in small quantities it can almost completely destroy fusel smell and taste. Bee honey, which is also an effective aromatic additive, has similar qualities.
Many medicinal herbs can be used for aromatization. This vodka, in addition to its pleasant smell, also acquires medicinal properties.

If the plant infused in the same vodka is replaced from time to time with a fresh one, you will get a concentrated infusion, which can then be used to improve the taste and the smell of vodka.

It is most practical to infuse the flavoring with vodka in a glass container. If you need urgent aromatization (for example, before guests arrive), it is best to place the bottles in a pan of water on wooden blocks and boil for an hour. Then cool in cold water.

Flavoring can also be added to the starter. Herbs, lemon and orange peels are very appropriate here. However, the aroma is barely noticeable. To enhance it, it is better to first infuse the water used to make the mash with the flavoring you have chosen (or prepare a decoction), and then dilute the starter in this water.

Here are a few vodka recipes and moonshine with improved taste and smell.

Absinthe

Ingredients: vodka, leaves and flowers of wormwood.
Preparation: Dry the top leaves and flowers of wormwood in the shade, then immerse in vodka so that they occupy a quarter of the container. Vodka can be consumed in 1-2 weeks.

"Cognac"

Ingredients: strong moonshine - 3 l, sugar and high quality tea - 1 tbsp each, bay leaf - 3 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., clove buds - 3-5 pcs., several orange or lemon peels.
Preparation: mix all ingredients thoroughly and let the vodka steep for 10 days.

Cherry vodka

Ingredients: vodka, cherry fruits.
Preparation: fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe cherries (half of them should be pitted), pour vodka and put it in the cellar for 1.5 months. After the above time has passed, drain the vodka and squeeze the cherries through the canvas. Let them sit. After a day, juice mix with vodka, bottle, seal. It is recommended to try again after a year.

Typically, women prefer drinks that are weaker and sweeter than classic moonshine. Especially for them, we will present several recipes for drinks with a pleasant, mild taste.

Robin

Ingredients: raspberries, vodka, sugar syrup to taste.
Preparation: Fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe raspberries. Fill with vodka and keep it in the shade for two days. Drain, throw away the raspberries, put them in 1/2 a fresh bottle and fill them again with the same vodka for two days. Drain and strain. Dissolve sugar syrup and add to taste.

Strawberry vodka

Ingredients: strawberries or wild strawberries - 3 kg, sugar - 1.5 kg, vodka - 1 bottle.
Preparation: grind strawberries or strawberries with sugar, add vodka.

Grape vodka

Ingredients: grape juice - 1 l, sugar - 1 kg, tea - 1 tbsp. l., bay leaf - 5 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., vanillin - 0.5 tsp., vodka - 1 l.
Preparation: add to vodka listed ingredients. Leave for 5-6 days, stirring regularly. Strain. These flavorings perfectly eliminate the moonshine smell.

Varenukha

Ingredients: dried fruits (pears, apples, cherries, plums, figs), vodka, horns, honey, pepper to taste.
Preparation: rinse dried fruits and horns, pour vodka, add honey and pepper to taste. Cover the dish with a piece of bread and coat with unleavened dough. Place in a very warm place for 12 hours (in the village - on a hot stove). Drink hot. You can also eat fruits.

Colored vodka

Vodka can be given a very beautiful color without using any artificial colors. For her to buy:
- blue color - infuse it with cornflowers;
- green - mint;
- red - on blueberries;
- purple - on sunflower seeds;
- yellow - on saffron.

Orange vodka

Ingredients: refined sugar, water - 1 l, vodka - 2 l, peels of 4-5 oranges.
Preparation: Boil syrup from refined sugar and water. Mix with vodka. Pour into the bottle and throw in the orange peels. Place in a place protected from light for 3-4 days. Then filter and bottle.

Caraway vodka

Ingredients: cumin - 350-400 g, water - 1 l, sugar to taste.
Preparation: Distill the water with cumin through a distillation apparatus. The resulting cumin water can be stored in the refrigerator or cellar for several months. Whenever you need caraway vodka, sweeten the water just a little, pour it into vodka to taste - and the drink is ready.

Vodka flavoring
To improve the taste of home-made vodka, flavoring has long been used. The very first product used for these purposes was hops. Even a small amount completely eliminated the taste of fusel oils present in alcohol. It was soon noticed that bee honey also has a similar property. Currently, all kinds of herbs, berries, fruits, and, of course, spices are used to flavor alcohol.

There are quite a lot of traditions associated with any popular alcohol. And vodka is no exception: everyone has heard that it should be drunk neat and in one gulp, supporting numerous toasts during feasts and friendly gatherings. This is a very common misconception that we simply refuse to support.

We will be happy to tell you how you can dilute vodka, because it is included in a number of cocktails of varying degrees of complexity. Armed with such useful knowledge and having prepared a couple of long drinks, you can discover new facets of the taste of a familiar drink.

Wait, why is this even necessary? We were talking about cocktails... Well, if you take soda, ice and a little , you can also figure out something, although that’s usually not the point. In most cases, vodka is diluted with water to simply reduce the strength of the drink to 30 or even 20 degrees.

This is often done before a large feast, when there is a lot to drink, but you don’t want to get drunk (a life hack for smart housewives). Or when the alcohol is very powerful (as at 56°) and there are serious fears that in its pure form it will burn the esophagus.

The reasons for dilution are different, but the main thing is how to dilute vodka correctly, and this can be done in one of several ways:

• according to the Fertman table (or its analogue) - of course, it is primarily compiled for alcohol, but in your case it will also work;
• using a special online calculator;
• according to the formula derived for this purpose.

Now let's look at breeding methods in more detail. Using Fertman’s table is easy: find the current strength of the drink in one column (or column, depending on the format), and the strength you need in the second, and look in the intersection cell to see how much liquid you will need.

For example, to get 30-proof vodka from 40-proof vodka, you need to dilute 1 liter of alcohol with 335 milliliters of water.

Using an online calculator is even easier: enter the current and required strength values ​​in the appropriate fields, press the button - and that’s it, the calculation is complete. Well, when there is no access to the Internet, A formula that is also not particularly difficult to understand will help out:

(A x B/C) – B = volume of water (in milliliters), where

A – initial alcohol strength,
B is the volume of the drink,
C is the required number of degrees.

Let's take the same example as before to compare the results. Let's say you want to dilute a liter of vodka (B) from 40 degrees (A) to 30 (C). After substituting the values ​​into the formula we will see:

(40 x 1000/30) – 1000 = 333

The result is the same as according to Fertman’s table (an error of 2 milliliters is insignificant), which means that the formula is working and can be used.

What water to take for dilution

There are quite strict requirements for dilution - it must be:

• clean - not from the tap, not boiled, not distilled, ideally from a spring;
• minimum hardness and with the least possible salt content;
• as inert as possible - without foreign smell, color, taste;
• chilled - preferably to at least 20 degrees, or even more.

Did you know? If you want to dilute correctly, pour vodka into water, and not vice versa. Otherwise, the resulting mixture will begin to heat up. As a result of such a reaction, all the toxins contained in the liquid molecules will be released, which means the drink will not only become cloudy or smell bad, but also harmful.

If you take a dilution that does not meet these requirements, you risk spoiling the drink: when combined with unsuitable water, the “little white” will become tart and bitter, and will acquire an unpleasant odor. We are already silent about clouding - this is the most common consequence (although not the most critical).

There is a common myth: if vodka is diluted with water, its taste will be lost. At the same time, we want to dispel this misconception. The fact is that this alcohol should not have any pronounced organoleptic properties at all. On the contrary, the weaker the bouquet, the better the drink is considered.

The ideal “white” drink is easy to drink, does not smell of anything, nuances can only be felt in the aftertaste - pungency, softness, bitterness, and so on. The tasting characteristics of a good drink are skillfully revealed with the help of pickles, herring, pickled mushrooms and other suitable treats. But when you take a sip, you definitely shouldn’t feel the alcohol taste, and water just helps remove it from a drink that is not of the highest quality. And you don’t risk getting drunk - breeding also has its advantages.

What else can you dilute vodka with?

• Other alcoholic drinks- with, -rum-, -tequila-, -wine-, -champagne- or even - in a variety of proportions. This is done to create all kinds of cocktails of varying degrees of complexity and “impact power”.
• Juices– orange, cherry, grapefruit, apple, lemon, cranberry, pomegranate – there are plenty of options. A classic, quick to prepare, tasty and quite intoxicating mixes.
• Soft drinks– regular and tonic, carbonated and not. The list of the most used cola, Fanta, Sprite, coffee and even (and its analogues).
• Vinegar- but this is for medical purposes, not for internal use, but for rubbing. As they say, a completely different story and a folk alternative to antipyretic drugs.

There are a lot of options, but not all of them are equally tasty and healthy, especially when combined with other types of alcohol. And if you can make great cocktails with gin, rum, martinis and a number of strong drinks, observing reasonable dosages and correct proportions, there are also not the most successful combinations.

Thus, (vodka with beer) or (with champagne) do not have any subtle aroma or particularly pleasant taste, but they quickly intoxicate (due to the stunning effect of gases) and in the morning cause a headache or even a severe hangover. Pairing with wine or cognac can give an even harsher effect - it’s all due to the sulfites that form when mixed.

You also need to be careful with energy drinks. Yes, coffee in combination with cola and ice is a great tonic, yes, it will acquire new shades of taste together with Red Bull and will invigorate you wonderfully. But remember that any such stimulating cocktail puts a strain on the heart and nervous system, so it is recommended to drink it no more than one or two servings per evening.

Juices are a completely different matter: they provide a pleasant taste and even some beneficial effect. So, for example, when mixed with cherry in a ratio of 1 to 3, alcohol is absorbed into the blood more slowly, and by combining alcohol with grapefruit or lemon, you will get a very refreshing drink.

The variety of interesting mixes is so great that it will not be possible to cover all the worthy options even with a great desire. Therefore, we will focus on the most famous, iconic, original ones - those that are worth preparing first.

Screwdriver

• Mix 1 part “white” with 2.5 parts orange juice;
• Add ice and then garnish the glass with a slice of lemon.

The cocktail is ready - simple, fast, cheap, tasty. Today they make it with almost any vodka (for example, the same one will work just fine) and not only with orange juice, but also with something similar to it, for example, grapefruit.

Another classic that is savored by everyone, from young people on Halloween to pensioners in the country on a fine evening.

1. pour tomato juice (25 ml) into a glass, then “white” juice (50 ml), then fresh lemon juice (5 ml);
2. Sprinkle the drink with pepper and salt (to taste).

Perestroika

1. pour 30 ml of light rum and vodka into a glass (any kind, but Stolichnaya will be a particularly authentic choice);
2. add cranberry juice (90 ml), which can be diluted with lemon juice (5 ml) for piquancy;
3. season with sugar syrup (15 ml).

However, you can mix the ingredients in any order - rearrange the cocktail as you wish, its taste will not change.

A great example of how interesting a mix can be made from several types of alcohol at once.

1. take 20 ml each of rum, gin, vodka, tequila and orange liqueur;
2. pour in cola (60 ml) and lemon juice (30 ml);
3. To cool and dilute the cocktail, you can add a few ice cubes.

Did you know? Another reference example can be considered the legendary Vesper from the books and films about James Bond. According to the original recipe, for 3 parts gin there is 1 - vodka, 1/2 - Kina Lillet or white vermouth, for cooling - ice cubes, for decoration and snack - olive. Agent 007 loves only the best, do the same - take an Italian martini, Smirnoff, -Gordon's Gin- to prepare and enjoy. Despite the fact that the cocktail contains several types of strong alcohol, it is not as intoxicating as it might seem.

Since you now know what you can mix with and how to dilute vodka, move on to experimenting and preparing various mixes. Just remember about your health and consume in moderation without getting carried away.

To eliminate the specific odor and improve the taste of vodka, additional home cleaning and flavoring is used, adding a variety of fruits, berries, herbs, and various spices. They are also added to the finished purified vodka, which is infused for a certain time to obtain the desired effect.

For holidays and family celebrations (weddings) , anniversaries) a decent amount of alcoholic drinks is purchased, at least half of which is vodka.

To save money, you can avoid buying expensive vodka and purify cheap ones.

After cleaning, we pour the precious moisture intooriginal vessels and decanters and delight our guests with quality and quantity

So, how do we cleanse?

Vodka purification

1 way:

To purify vodka, add 5 lightly to a half-liter bottle. broken into small pieces with the handle of a knife (but not crushed into powder) tablets purchased at the pharmacy Carbolene (activated carbon).

Then the bottle is closed and vigorously shaken for 2-3 minutes, while the vodka turns black. After 10 minutes, the shaking is repeated. After half an hour, you can shake the bottle again.

After this, the bottle is left completely alone in the dark for 2-3 days.

At the end of the settling, a dense black layer of activated carbon is deposited at the bottom of the bottle, and above it is the purest vodka, which is very carefully siphoned off from the sediment.

Do not try to filter the vodka to speed up the process - the filter will instantly become clogged with carbon and filtration will stop.
You must wait patiently until the coal itself completely precipitates.

The loss of vodka is about 5%, which remains at the bottom in black coal sediment. The more Karbolene you add, the greater the loss of vodka.

Vodka purified in this way is superior in purity and taste to any most expensive one.

Method 2:

More effective and more accessible than other methods is filtration, in which vodka passes through filters made of adsorbent substances; activated carbon is most often used in their role.
You can also strain the vodka through a vessel with charcoal or place the coal directly into the vodka at the rate of 50 g of coal per 1 liter of vodka. Leave the charcoal for 3 weeks, remembering to shake the container in which you are cleaning every day. After 3 weeks, filter the liquid. Now you can see for yourself by tasting that the vodka has become purer. It is better to use coal left over from the combustion of birch firewood.

3 way:

You can pass vodka through household filters for purification such as “Springhead”, “Barrier”, etc.

4 way:

An ancient Russian method for purifying homemade vodka: you need to pour a little into the prepared vodka milk or egg white. These products bind fusel oils and together with them form sediment at the bottom. Carefully pour the vodka into a clean vessel and distill again. After that, put freshly baked rye bread in it. The product obtained as a result of all these operations is almost pure alcohol, devoid of any impurities.

5 way:

Using the same principle, vodka can be purified using potassium permanganate. Pour 2-3 g of potassium permanganate powder into a 3-liter jar and wait for a precipitate to form. Next, carefully pour the purified vodka into another container, avoiding sediment from getting into it.

6 way:

Cleansing freezing method. Place the bottle in the freezer of the refrigerator, defrost after a while and carefully pour into a clean container, and try to prevent ice from the walls of the bottle from getting into the purified drink. The mechanism of the proposed method is not complicated: the water in vodka freezes, creating an ice crust on the inner surface of the bottle and absorbing harmful impurities, including fusel oils. Try defrosted vodka, and you will feel that its taste, and therefore its quality, has improved significantly.

Vodka flavoring

To eliminate specific odor and improve taste Vodka is flavored by adding a variety of fruits, berries, herbs, and various spices. They are also added to the finished purified vodka, which is infused for a certain time to obtain the desired effect.

Initially, hops were used to flavor vodka and moonshine. Even in small quantities it can almost completely destroy fusel smell and taste.
Bee honey, which is also an effective aromatic additive, has similar qualities.

Many medicinal herbs can be used for aromatization. This vodka, in addition to its pleasant smell, also acquires medicinal properties.

If you change the plant infused in the same vodka from time to time for a fresh one, you will get concentrated infusion, which can then be used to improve the taste and smell of vodka by simply adding it in small quantities.

It is most practical to infuse the flavoring with vodka in a glass container. If needed urgent aromatization(for example, when guests arrive), it is best to place the bottles in a pan of water on wooden blocks and boil for an hour. Then cool in cold water.

When making homemade vodka flavoring can also be added to the starter. Herbs, lemon and orange peels are very appropriate here. However, the aroma is barely noticeable. To enhance it, it is better to first infuse the water used to make the mash with the flavoring you have chosen (or prepare a decoction), and then dilute the starter in this water.

Here are several recipes for vodka and moonshine with improved taste and smell.

Orange vodka

Ingredients: refined sugar, water - 1 l, vodka - 2 l, peels of 4-5 oranges.
Preparation: Boil syrup from refined sugar and water. Mix with vodka. Pour into the bottle and throw in the orange peels. Place in a place protected from light for 3-4 days. Then filter and bottle.

Varenukha

Ingredients: dried fruits (pears, apples, cherries, plums, figs), vodka, horns, honey, pepper to taste.
Preparation: rinse dried fruits and horns, pour vodka, add honey and pepper to taste. Cover the dish with a piece of bread and coat with unleavened dough. Place in a very warm place for 12 hours (in the village - on a hot stove). Drink hot. You can also eat fruits.

Grape vodka

Ingredients: grape juice - 1 l, sugar - 1 kg, tea - 1 tbsp. l., bay leaf - 5 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., vanillin - 0.5 tsp., vodka - 1 l.
Preparation: Add the listed ingredients to the vodka. Leave for 5-6 days, stirring regularly. Strain. These flavorings perfectly eliminate the moonshine smell.

Cherry vodka

Ingredients: vodka, cherry fruits.
Preparation: fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe cherries (half of them should be pitted), fill with vodka and place in the cellar for 1.5 months. After the above time has passed, drain the vodka and squeeze the cherries through the canvas. Let them sit. After a day, mix the juice with vodka, pour into bottles, and seal. It is recommended to try again after a year.

Typically, women prefer drinks that are weaker and sweeter than classic moonshine. Especially for them, we will present several recipes for drinks with a pleasant, mild taste.

Strawberry vodka

Ingredients: strawberries or wild strawberries - 3 kg, sugar - 1.5 kg, vodka - 1 bottle.
Preparation: Grind strawberries or strawberries with sugar, add vodka.

"Cognac"

Ingredients: strong moonshine - 3 l, sugar and high quality tea - 1 tbsp each, bay leaf - 3 pcs., black peppercorns - 5 pcs., clove buds - 3-5 pcs., several orange or lemon peels.
Preparation: mix all ingredients thoroughly and let the vodka steep for 10 days.

Robin

Ingredients: raspberries, vodka, sugar syrup to taste.
Preparation: Fill the bottle 3/4 full with ripe raspberries. Fill with vodka and keep in the shade for two days. Drain, throw away the raspberries, put them in 1/2 a fresh bottle and fill them again with the same vodka for two days. Drain and strain. Dissolve sugar syrup and add to taste.

Absinthe

Ingredients: vodka, leaves and flowers of field wormwood.

Preparation: Dry the top leaves and flowers of field wormwood in the shade, then immerse them in vodka so that they occupy a quarter of the container. Vodka can be consumed after 1-2 weeks.

Caraway vodka

Ingredients: cumin - 350-400 g, water - 1 l, sugar to taste.
Preparation: Distill the water with cumin through a distillation apparatus. The resulting cumin water can be stored in the refrigerator or cellar for several months. When you need caraway vodka, sweeten the water just a little, pour it into the vodka to taste - and the drink is ready.

Colored vodka

Vodka can be given a very beautiful color without using any artificial colors.
For her to buy:

- blue color - infuse it with cornflowers;
- green - mint;
- red - on blueberries;
— purple — on sunflower seeds;
- yellow - on saffron.

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