The production of homemade tinctures many centuries ago marked the beginning of distillery production, but the modern industrial range of tinctures still did not calm the ardor of homemade tinctures masters. Therefore, the recipes of this alcoholic drink are constantly updated and replenished.
Home tincture is often a random coincidence technology, a constant search and experiment, the results of which are sometimes difficult to predict. That is how genie, bittner, vermouth, balm, Erofeich, liquor appeared. These alcoholic drinks have similar technologies with the preparation of tinctures.
Grapes are a special fruit, and grape wine, as a healing drink, is repeatedly mentioned even in the Bible. But making home-made wine is a long, costly and very time-consuming process, and, unfortunately, for objective reasons, it is not available to everyone. Buying 2-3 kilograms of fresh berries and a bottle of vodka to make a healing elixir is much easier. But some basic knowledge is needed for this.
Tincture of grapes on vodka - basic technological principles
Tincture and cognac, balsam and liquor, gin and bittner, vermouth and brandy are alcoholic drinks that are made by extraction. Each of these alcoholic drinks has its own unique composition. Balsam and bittner are multicomponent herbal infusions. The main highlight of gin is juniper. Vermouth is distinguished by a tart and slightly bitter wormwood bouquet. Grape tincture of vodka belongs to the category of fruit tinctures, if we talk about industrial classification.
Classification of tinctures by composition
All tinctures are classified not only by the composition of the raw materials (fruits, herbs, roots, spices), but also by the content of sugar and alcohol. This method of division is conditional, it is only an attempt to somehow sort out the assortment. In practice, especially in the manufacture of domestic alcoholic beverages, these rules are made up of complete exceptions.
By the amount of sugar, tinctures are bitter, semisweet and sweet. The strength of bitter tinctures, as a rule, has the highest alcohol content of 30-60%, and drinks with an alcohol content of more than 50% are referred to as balsamic type alcohol. In bitter tinctures, the sugar content does not exceed 3%.
Semi-sweet tinctures are divided into two types: strong and faint. Semisweet tinctures contain 30-40% alcohol, 4-10% sugar.
Next category - semi-sweet semi-sweet tinctures, with an alcohol content of 20% to 30%. In these drinks, the sugar content is also 4-10%. For sweet tinctures, the alcohol norm is 16-25%, and the amount of sugar is 8-30%.
Sweet tinctures with a sugar content of 30% are similar in composition to another subspecies of the distillery - liquors, but have a lower percentage of alcohol.
Industrial technologies for the production of tinctures from grapes on vodka differ from home recipes by strict regulations, and the requirements for strict adherence to the recipe. At home, every master can relax and allow himself to mix fruity notes with the smell of wild herbs, oriental spices or the aroma of other fruits.
As the basic principles for the manufacture of tinctures from industrial methods, it is worth taking into service only some technological methods.
Extraction Methods
Extraction - a process that allows you to get an extract from plant materials using extractants (solvents):
- water (for infusions: herbal tea, coffee, compote - water extraction);
- alcoholized liquids of various strengths (vodka, moonshine, alcohol, cognac, brandy);
- vegetable oils.
Relatively quickly, without the use of thermal and mechanical effects, it is possible to obtain an alcohol extract. The saturation of the tincture will be the higher, the stronger the extractant. For water infusions, as you know, it is necessary to heat the raw materials. The heating method is also applicable to alcohol solvents, but here it must be borne in mind that when heating vodka or other liquids containing alcohol, alcohol evaporates. In this regard, for the preparation of tinctures from grapes on vodka, the heating method is used only if the heated container with the extract is tightly closed. In addition, the liquid must not be allowed to reach the boiling point, so heating is carried out in stages, in several stages.
The mechanical extraction method consists in grinding the raw materials: smaller particles of fruits and other components quickly "give" the substance into the liquid. At the same time, another mechanical method is also very effective. In industrial conditions, where there are necessary conditions, raw materials and alcohol are placed in special rotating tanks with heating. Rotation also speeds up the process.
At home, for such receptions, you can apply can heating with tincture in a water bath, in a slow cooker (heat in a closed container). It is more difficult to choose household appliances for the formation of centrifugal force, since it is not recommended to open a container with a future tincture during the infusion. There is the only possible way - manually shaking the closed jar.
Exposure and storage of tincture
Using methods to accelerate the extraction, the fruit tincture will be ready in about a week, if it does not contain harder ingredients. Infusion time can last up to two months. After this, the tincture is filtered, if necessary, several times, achieving transparency.
Note, that insisting under the influence of sunlight gives the tincture a lighter color, and when the temperature in the sun rises, the tincture acquires, in addition to a reddish tint, a smoked taste. Exposure in a dark room gives a natural and rich color to the drink. What conditions to choose for tincture, of course, depends on the individual taste.
Ideally, the most expensive and high-quality tinctures are kept in oak barrels, but at home such an expensive container can be completely replaced with a glass container by wrapping it in thick paper or foil so that it can be opened at the right time to observe the process. Glass does not dissolve with alcohol, and in order to improve the quality of the tincture, in addition to all the necessary ingredients, add oak bark (for cognac, brandy or rum) or juniper berries (for gin) to the jar - this little trick will give homemade grape tincture of vodka special charm.
Recipe 1. Vodka on grapes - tincture, cognac bitter
Composition:
Oak bark 50 g
Vanilla 15 g
Cloves 10 g
Muscat 20 g
Sugar 100 g
Grapes, white 1 kg
Ground coffee 70 g
Vodka (40%) 3 L
Cooking:
Ground spices and grapes (preferably with a seed) put in a jar of suitable volume. Grapes are better to pre-mash or chop a blender. Pour vodka and cover the dishes with a lid. Shake the contents well, and repeat this procedure daily. You can periodically warm the tincture in a water bath without opening the lid, to 40 ° C, or simply wrap it in an opaque material and keep it warm for at least two months. After passing through a dense filter, pour into bottles, cork tightly and store at room temperature.
Tincture can be stored for several years until you drink it. For the collection, leave the bottle and draw a “star” on it every year.
Recipe 2. Semi-sweet tincture of grapes on vodka, low-degree wormwood
Composition:
Vodka (40%) 2.0 L
White, muscat grapes 2.5 kg
Syrup, sugar 800 g
Herbal Composition:
Yarrow - 8%,
Cinnamon - 7%
Wormwood extract (lemon wormwood) 5%
Clove 2%
Tansy 8%
Elderberry, black (flowers) 6%,
Nutmeg, ground 5%,
Elecampane high 2%
Juniper berry 1%
Melilot, yellow 8%
Immortelle (flowers) 5%
Oregano 10%
Angelica, pharmacy 4%
St. John's wort 5%
Vanilla Extract 10%
Ginger 3%
Air (root) 6%
Coriander 7%
Melissa, Lemon 15%
Iris root 10%
Peppermint 5%
Cardamom 8%
Chamomile, pharmacy 10%
Cooking:
The herbal composition is designed in such a way as to emphasize the necessary shades of taste and aroma, give them firmness, and fix them. The percentage is indicated to the total mass of liquid.
First you need to grind the grapes, combine it with sugar and vodka. Hold the container with future tincture for 7 weeks at normal room temperature, then filter. The grape mass can be squeezed, but not filtered. Further, the composition of herbs, flowers, roots and spices is placed in the drink. Low-degree tincture must be tightly corked and maintained at a temperature of 22-25 ° C for 3-4 months. After the finished drink is carefully filtered; if necessary, filtering and settling are alternated several times to achieve purity and transparency. After bottling, corked bottles are stored at 18-20 ° C.
Recipe 3. Vodka on grapes and mountain ash
Composition:
Mountain ash 0.5 kg
Grapes, nutmeg 500 g
Vodka, purified (50%) 2.0 L
Sugar Syrup 200 g
Cooking:
Sort all the berries, wash and dry in the oven at 40 ° C to remove juice (wither). Then the raw materials need to be crushed and put in a glass bottle. Pour syrup and vodka. Stir and cover. Put the container in a dark and warm place for 15-20 days. You can periodically shake the bottle without opening it. Drain the liquid into a clean bowl. Squeeze the thickener through a gauze filter into a separate bowl. Let stand, and then combine with the total mass.
Recipe 4. Bitter tincture of grapes on vodka, with juniper and citruses
Composition:
Grape Juice 750 ml
Vodka, wheat (50%) 3.0 L
Citrus zest (lemon, orange) 150 g
Cardamom 50 g
Juniper (berries or young shoots) 30 g
Cinnamon 5 g
Anise 2 g
Cooking:
All spices insist separately. To do this, divide the wheat vodka in proportion and pour into jars. Put cooked ingredients in each jar and leave them for at least two weeks. Grapes can be crushed into gruel and also insist on vodka separately, and then filtered and combined with the juice with the resulting tinctures. The advantage of this separate method of preparing tinctures is that you can create the necessary bouquet of ready-made tinctures by adjusting their amount when added to the total mass.
After combining the tinctures, you need to give them time to form a common bouquet. Soak the tincture for at least a week.
Recipe 5. Vodka on grapes with almond flavor - sweet tincture
Composition:
Raisins, red 500 g
Dried apricots 700 g
Bitter Almonds (Unpeeled) 100 g
Sugar Syrup 600 g
Vanilla (extract) 10 ml
Vodka 2.5 L
Cooking:
Grind all ingredients and put in a bottle. Pour in syrup and vodka, mix. Close the lid tightly and remove the container in the kitchen cabinet for 2-3 months. Then filter through cheesecloth, folded into several layers, wring out the thick. Let stand for several days to make sure the drink is transparent. If necessary, filter again.
Recipe 6. Ginger-anise tincture of grapes on vodka, semisweet
Composition:
Grape Juice (clarified) 1.0 L
Honey 200 g
Ginger (fresh root) 100 g
Vodka 3.0 L
Anise 20 g
Cooking:
In the vodka, put the peeled and chopped ginger root, 3-4 "stars" of anise (star anise). Insist 10-15 days, strain. Pour the prepared grape juice with honey into the finished tincture. To do this, pre-bring the juice with honey to a boil and remove the foam. Cool and let stand so that it becomes transparent.
After combining the tincture with juice, the drink should brew for another 2-3 days.
Vodka on grapes - useful tips and tricks
Do not forget about the beneficial properties of grape seed. The tincture prepared from them is an elixir of youth and longevity.
The quality of any tincture depends on the alcoholized liquid. If you use homemade moonshine instead of vodka to make tinctures, first make sure that it is well cleaned. Even the slightest odor of impurities will not give the desired result, and fusel oils can turn the healing properties of tinctures into poison. To prevent this, clear vodka or moonshine before proceeding with the preparation of tinctures. To do this, put activated carbon tablets in a vodka container and insist them for at least a day. After filtering vodka or moonshine, and you can begin to prepare tinctures.
