Home Distiller

Hi, long time lurker first time poster here. I have this Albanian friend who brings back this wonderful home distilled liquor from Albania called Raki. Apparently pretty much everyone makes it there in pot stills. From what I can tell its double distilled but has a very nice distinct flavor. Fruity, sweet and clear but very very strong, I'm guessing in the 80% range. I do not think it is flavored. It tastes very much like some plums we boiled off last year.

Does anyone else here have any experience with this? I would really love to get some background on traditional techniques and this fascinating hooch.

Thank you tater. I assure you I have spent many, many hours reading everything on these forums and other sites as well. However details are slight and mostly not relevant to my query.

I recon Raki is Albanian for,,,,,,,,,,,,Brandy (or the the like).

Perhaps,,,,,,,,,,plum brandy through a thumper ( with a good heat source),,,,,,,,,,,perhaps.Perhaps not.

Twice distilled (with a good heat source)?




Local rain fall, ambient temperature, soil conditions, local yeasts...........you name it..... it's a regional thang that will be tough to replicate.

Good luck on your quest.

Lunix wrote:Thank you tater. I assure you I have spent many, many hours reading everything on these forums and other sites as well. However details are slight and mostly not relevant to my query.

yep knew that was all that was on forum under that subject.I also think its a local thing if your looking for exact same taste. Ive made pear brandy so I guess Ive tasted what it sorta taste like. Good luck in your adventure and keep us posted.

Yes from what I can gather its very regional as in it differs from apartment to apartment. As I have now broken the seal, so to speak, I'm sure I will share any lessons I have learned. Like you mentioned environmental factors play a very big part. Many years ago I was making choice product from the local creek. Since then I moved to a more urban area and simply the change in water drastically changed the results. Anyone with direct experience feel free to chime in, I would love to hear.

Raki

"In the Balkans, however, Raki refers to a non-anise-flavored drink made from distilled pomace, similar to Italian grappa, Greek tsipouro, Cretan tsikoudia, Cypriot zivania and Spanish orujo."

Hi to everyone
Raki is the turkish name of it, tsipouro and tsikoudia is the greek one.
Here is the way to make tsipouro
Take an amount of grapes and press it with your hands, your foot or mechanical way. Then put all of it in a plastic barrel and let it ferment for 20-30 days, depent on the temperature.
You do not need any additional yeast, because there is wild yeast on the surface of the grapes. You must be carefull not to collect grapes after rain because the yeast is washed.
After that period you put the fermented grapes and juice in the pot still and start disstilation.
Throw away the first 5% and collect all the other till it comes out 10 degrees of alcohol
The total now is 20 degrees and is called <<shuma>>
Put again shuma in the pot , and redisstil it
First 10% is heads, next 30% is hearts and the last 20% is tails
Hearts is about 70 degrees
then dilute with bottled water to 40 degrees and it is ready
Taste and smell depends on the quality and kind of grapes
So easy.

you aint strainin the seeds out?
hulls float them seeds sink. yall usein a defuseer.

ole boys make a barel or so of wine for wine a year. all juice no store bought yeast some suger dependin. them seeds will scorch in some outfits if you aint payin atention.
they save til it quit burnin then charge it again.
then it up to you to decide what to keep an kick over cause all years is a wee diferent with wild grapes

so im tole

I'm trying this soon with Todi juice, they cut the flowering coconut stems and tie a bottle around the cut and let it drip into the bottle while bees swarm around the fermented juice and fall down drunk, I've tasted the beer version which is alright but I don't think its going to be economical running through a still. There isn't enough sugar for it to be practical IMO, we'll see soon.

deliciousrum, i tried the same thing a couple of months ago.
The whole story is in :

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 66&start=0

Toddy or Tuba has more than enough alcohol if you leave it for 2 days, after that it turns into vinegar.
The local people also add some extra baker's yeast to give it a smoother taste.
The distilled product is called Lambanog in the Philippines or Arrack in Indonesia.

Caveguy wrote:The local people also add some extra baker's yeast to give it a smoother taste.

Could you articulate (smoother?)the idea of this meaning a bit further?

By using cultivated instead of the natural yeast, the toddy gets stronger more rapidly, so you can drink it before it starts to get a sour taste.
At least that's what people tell me. I personally don't drink much of the stuff.
It's still fermenting in your stomach, which can lead to some nasty side-effects.

hi everyone,

i am making turkish raki, i think i am good at it...

(with anice and change in color when diluted)

One of the easiest and cheapest distillates to make is Raki (Turkish) or Tsipouro (Greek). If my history is correct, the production of this liquor spread with the Ottoman Empire, which is why it is widely known and produced throughout this region (I live in Greece), as all of the countries that traditionally produce the spirit were at one time under Ottoman control.

In particular, the beverage is usually made from the stems, peels and pits of grapes after the must for wine has been extracted. Then it is infused with anise seeds (licorice) to taste. Some people use a lot more anise, and some use a lot less.

The recipes do vary by region, and each region prides itself on its particular recipe.

bukowski wrote:hi everyone,

i am making turkish raki, i think i am good at it...

(with anice and change in color when diluted)

The color change is said to be a way of proofing, much like the old moonshiners talk about "beads" that form when the spirit is shaken. Ouzo and some other regional spirits also make this change, so it could be due to the anise additions. Otherwise, the change is supposedly credited to the proof of the liquor.

Happy Distilling! I love Raki, by the way...great after a nice meal as a 'nightcap'. Or, with pickled fish and snacks on the weekend afternoons.

You must try blending with honey (natural honey, not supermarket processed stuff)and bring the proof down to about 40. Creates a really nice amber/whiskey color and is really easy to drink. If you can't find a good honey locally, order one from the southern states, something like a Tupelo honey...you won't regret it!

Cheers,
AlfA01

Caveguy wrote:By using cultivated instead of the natural yeast, the toddy gets stronger more rapidly, so you can drink it before it starts to get a sour taste.
At least that's what people tell me. I personally don't drink much of the stuff.
It's still fermenting in your stomach, which can lead to some nasty side-effects.

Not exactly! Many beers that you buy, specifically ales, are bottle conditioned. This means the yeast is still active at the time of bottling and carbonation of the beer is developed by the yeast's activity (bottle conditioning). As the yeast consume the sugars, they go dormant and drop to the bottom of the container. Or, you can go with pasteurization, which causes the same effect as distillation..raising the temp high enough to kill the remaining active yeasts.

Cheers,
Alfa