Cognac refers to elite alcohol. It is made from grape wine by double distillation and for a long time infused in oak barrels. Because of this, it acquires a unique color, taste and bouquet, in which the most different notes are intricately intertwined: chocolate, dried fruits, spices and other products that are not actually included in the composition. Such a noble drink can not be cheap, but not everyone allows himself to spend huge sums on alcohol, even if it is very good. Home-made cognac cannot compete with real French or Armenian cognacs, but it is quite capable of surpassing the budget options of brandy drinks from the nearest supermarket in taste and aroma. If you are not indifferent to cognac, but you cannot afford elite alcohol, you should study the technology of making cognac based on alcohol at home.
Cooking Features
Classical manufacturing technology of brandy is complicated and durable. Not every gourmet has patience to insist on a drink in an oak barrel for at least two years. And not every house has similar containers. Making cognac from alcohol in the home kitchen is a simplified process. In order to make a drink resembling noble brandy out of ordinary alcohol and in a short time, it is necessary to know a few subtleties.
- Instead of prolonged infusion of the drink in oak barrels, it can be infused on oak bark, crushed to a state of chips. They give their aroma to alcohol faster and slightly change its color.
- To give the drink a characteristic cognac color, sugar is most often used. It is poured into a spoon and held above the fire until the sugar in it melts to a liquid state. Caramel sugar gives the drink not only a pleasant shade, but also a special flavor, typical of natural cognac.
- Tea, coffee, spices, nut membranes and some other ingredients allow to tint the drink and make its bouquet richer.
- Alcohol is used to make home-made brandy, not pure, but diluted with filtered water up to 40 degrees.
- The longer you insist on an alcohol base on aromatic raw materials, the richer will be the bouquet of the finished drink and the more it will resemble cognac.
- Before serving, homemade cognac must be filtered through gauze folded in several layers or cotton pad. It is unacceptable that he looked dull.
It is necessary to drink home-made brandy almost as much as real one, but you shouldn’t warm it up strongly in your hands, because this may make the smell of alcohol too much, which will distort the bouquet.
A simple recipe for cognac from alcohol
Composition:
- diluted alcohol (40%) - 1 l;
- sugar - 5 g;
- black tea (tea leaves) - 5 g;
- black pepper peas - 2 pcs .;
- bay leaf - 1 pc .;
- vanillin - a pinch;
- orange or lemon peel - from 1/4 of fruit.
Method of preparation:
- Add a brew to the bottom of the bottle.
- Add spices and grated zest to it.
- Put sugar in a spoon and hold it over the fire until it melts.
- Add vanillin to sugar.
- Pour melted sugar into a container of alcohol, shake.
- Pour the alcohol into the tea and spices container.
- Close the bottle tightly and store in a cool place (not necessarily in the refrigerator).
- Shake the bottle once or twice a day.
- After 10 days, filter the alcohol, pour it into a beautiful bottle and put it in a bar.
This recipe for making brandy from alcohol is considered a classic one. It is so simple that many hostesses prefer to cook brandy for him. But this is not the only popular homemade brandy recipe that can claim to be the traditional.
Cognac from alcohol on oak bark with spices
Composition:
- alcohol, diluted with boiled water to 40 degrees, - 1 l;
- oak bark - 20 g;
- cloves - 1 pc .;
- cinnamon - 1 cm;
- nutmeg - at the tip of a knife;
- vanillin - a pinch;
- sugar - 10 g.
Method of preparation:
- Dilute alcohol with water to the desired concentration. You can take equally clean 96 percent alcohol and boiled water. Then cognac will turn out to be slightly stronger than 40 degrees, but this is permissible.
- Melt the sugar by holding the spoon with it over the fire.
- Add to diluted alcohol, mix.
- Place a clove and shredded oak bark at the bottom of a suitable size container. It can be prepared independently or purchased at a pharmacy. As a container, you can use a wooden keg of wine or a glass jar.
- Break off a small piece of cinnamon sticks, put to other ingredients.
- Add vanilla and nutmeg.
- Fill the oak bark and spices with alcohol in which you mixed sugar.
- Cover the container with a lid, put it in a dark place.
- Insist alcohol on oak bark and spices for at least 4 weeks.
- Filter the drink through gauze folded in several layers.
- Pour into a bottle from this cognac, cork.
You will enjoy the noble taste and aroma of cognac drink prepared according to this recipe.
Cognac from alcohol with coffee
Composition:
- wine alcohol or medical (ethyl) - 0.5 l;
- boiled water - 0, 5 l;
- lemon - 1/4 pcs .;
- oak bark - 10 g;
- sugar - 5 g;
- black coffee (instant powder) - 5 g.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the lemon well, cut a piece of the desired size, cut it into small pieces, put it in a jar, pour 96-degree alcohol. Close the jar. Leave in a cool, but protected from the light place for three days. Shake daily.
- Strain alcohol, dilute with water.
- Melt the sugar, mix with the prepared liquid.
- Pour oak bark and coffee into a can or keg, pour in diluted alcohol.
- Insist in a dark cool place for 10 days.
- Run the drink twice through a cotton pad.
Experts say that cognac prepared by this recipe is especially popular with women.
Cognac from alcohol on nut membranes
Composition:
- alcohol, diluted to 40 degrees - 1, 5 l;
- nut membranes (from walnuts) - 10-15 g;
- Cumin - 5 g;
- carnation - 2 pcs .;
- vanilla sugar - 10 g;
- black tea - 5 g;
- oak bark - 5 g;
- citric acid - at the tip of the knife.
Method of preparation:
- Pour sugar into a tablespoon, heat it over the fire so that it dissolves to a liquid state.
- Mix sugar with pre-diluted to 40 degrees alcohol.
- Add citric acid, mix again.
- Add spices and spices to the bottom of the wooden barrel or jar.
- Fill with alcohol.
- Cork a jar and place it in a cool dark place for a month or two.
- Filter the alcohol, pour into beautiful containers, clog.
Cognac, made from alcohol according to the above recipe, is not ashamed to offer even gourmets who are well versed in alcohol.
Herb Alcohol Cognac
Composition:
- alcohol (95-96%) - 1, 5 l;
- boiled water - 1, 5 l;
- tarragon - 5 g;
- mint - 5 g;
- St. John's wort - 5 g;
- dried and chopped orange peel - 20 g;
- crushed oak bark - 30 g;
- internal partitions of walnuts - 5 g;
- sugar (optional) - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Mix alcohol with water.
- In a jar or other container in which you will insist brandy, add oak bark, zest, walnut partitions, and herbs. For color and taste, you can add a spoonful of melted sugar.
- Fill the aromatic base with diluted alcohol, leave to infuse for a month.
- Strain the drink.
Cognac made according to this recipe has unbanal taste and aroma. Healing herbs give it the power of balm. This drink is nice to add to tea.
Homemade brandy can not be with the elite brands of this type of alcohol, which are aged in oak barrels for more than 10 years, but it turns out quite tasty and fragrant to treat their friends. Compared to cheap brandy drinks, homemade brandy made from alcohol on natural flavors will seem like nectar to you.
