I was in KY on business and my client had some cherry and grape flavored 'shine. That was how he described it. Anyways this stuff was great, just drank it on the rocks and loved it.
Now I'm trying to figure out now if it was a brandy based or vodka based and flavored later (may well be impossible) so I can try and make my own. I don't think I've ever drank brandy before, period, so it's hard to compare the taste.
This is what it looked like, i took a pic for the novelty of swilling booze out of a mason jar at a holiday inn. May help, may not, can't hurt to try identify it.
Hard to say from the limited amount of information put forth. However, my best guess would be thus:
Because you were in Kentucky, I'd guess that the moonshine was potstilled corn whiskey into which cherries and grapes were macerated (or sugared grape and cherry syrup poured).
Was it sweet? Did it taste like a "harsh" american style whiskey with fruit in it? Was the fruit taste chemically or natural?
llloyd wrote:
I took a pic for the novelty of swilling booze out of a mason jar at a holiday inn.
I would've done the same.
It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. ~Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 1856
sounds like a fruit liqueur then. When I make mine, I make a syrup like taters blueberry liqueur (This can be sped up by heating gently but it will not taste as nice, still very drinkable tho). It would be nicer to use pot stilled brandys of the same fruit as the syrup, but if large amounts of fruit are not available, then vodkas will suffice.
To make it you will either need a pot still or a reflux still. There is a lot of info on the parent site homedistiller.org on making brandy and vodka and taters liqueur post can be found by using the search function
Thanks Lloyd. For years I have wondered what a mason jar is. Now I know.
Why are they called Mason Jars
Simple potstiller. Slow, single run.
(50 litre, propane heated pot still. Coil in bucket condenser - No thermometer, No carbon) The Reading Lounge AND the Rules We Live By should be compulsory reading
Round my part of the woods a lot of folks will take a good clear liquor from a pot still, get the grape juice hot and pour in your shine. Be careful not to get the proof too high in your final product, usually the proof on that stuff is only around 60 or so but it goes down really good. Cherry grape sounds like a mixed fruit drink that they used to make the "shine" you had.
That's the trouble when one gets old. Who are you people anyway? What am I doing here?
Simple potstiller. Slow, single run.
(50 litre, propane heated pot still. Coil in bucket condenser - No thermometer, No carbon) The Reading Lounge AND the Rules We Live By should be compulsory reading
Excuse my ignorance but why dont you just ask your client for the recipe, they were nice / open enuf to share the product with you, they probably wont mind getting a discount from you for the recipe.
I drink there for I am.
I mrink there for I ad.
I .... oh gorfet et.
drunkmore wrote:Excuse my ignorance but why dont you just ask your client for the recipe, they were nice / open enuf to share the product with you, they probably wont mind getting a discount from you for the recipe.
He wasn't the one who had made it or else I would have.
Sounds like you have a clear liquor such as vodka or straight spirit that has been mascerating a fruit for awhile, possibly with a bit of sugar in at the end to smooth it out.
Down here, a popular drink is cherry bounce. Basically straight spirit that has been sat on fresh cherries for awhile, then sweetened to your taste at the end. It's pretty good, I don't prefer too much sugar though because it ends up tasting like strong cough medicine .
~r~
"If it weren't for the alcohol, beer would be a healthfood."
bronzdragon wrote:Sounds like you have a clear liquor such as vodka or straight spirit that has been mascerating a fruit for awhile, possibly with a bit of sugar in at the end to smooth it out.
Down here, a popular drink is cherry bounce. Basically straight spirit that has been sat on fresh cherries for awhile, then sweetened to your taste at the end. It's pretty good, I don't prefer too much sugar though because it ends up tasting like strong cough medicine .
~r~
mmmm sounds nice would you stone and skin the cheries or is that not necesary (spelling) do to wood alcahols, Am i thinking on the wrong track
Sounds like a nice idea with apricots, is this how they make apricot brandy?
Thanks for the idea.
I drink there for I am.
I mrink there for I ad.
I .... oh gorfet et.
I've seen it done all types of ways. A friend of mine just picks the stems off of fresh sour cherries, mashes em a bit and throws em in. I like to take the pit and stem off and just let them soak. I prefer not too much sugar.
You're right though, if you let the liquor contact the pits for too long it will affect the flavor.
I would think apricots would work well too. Although this is not really how to make apricot brandy. That involves making a wine from the fruit and then distilling it.
cheers
~r~
"If it weren't for the alcohol, beer would be a healthfood."
Most of the people I know who say they've had "shine" describe something similar (ie..neutral with somekind of juice or fruit flavoring or etc., )...not "whiskey" type profiles of flavor. But, long time ago, I recall the swill makers used to mix their rot-gut, with cheap, fruity, homemade wine. They called it 'purple cow'. I have no idea what the significance of the name was or whether it was just made up/regional thing.
I would've done the same.
.