After the completion of the haul, the question often arises - how to clean the moonshine from the smell and at the same time not harm your health.

Also, many people like colored alcohol, although not everyone knows how to do it right.

Let's combine these two questions, because all the same, before giving the desired color to the drink, it must be cleaned of an unpleasant aroma.

Where does the strong smell come from?

Moonshine has a specific, quite acceptable smell, which in many respectsdepends on the raw materials used for mash . But if it is too sharp, then you need to figure out why, so as not to repeat mistakes in the future. Most likely causes:

• raw material used for mash;

Important! Sometimes they use "swept" sugar (scattered in a sugar factory or warehouse and then collected with garbage), rotten fruit, spoiled jam, etc. The main rule of the moonshiner: use onlyquality raw materials Otherwise, an unpleasant smell and taste cannot be avoided.

• not washed enoughdishes in which they put a brew or drove moonshine;
• too high temperature during distillation;
• hit foam into the finished product;
• the presence of a large numberfusel oils due to improper distillation, ignoring the selection of heads and tails.

How and how to paint moonshine?

To give moonshine a pleasant color, many means are applicable. Let's talk about the most popular.

Black tea

Perhaps it can be put in first place in terms of frequency of use. Givesnice cognac color practically does not affect the taste. On a three-liter jar add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of tea and insist for 3 - 5 days. Strain as soon as the drink has acquired the desired color, otherwise it may become too dark, almost black.

For lovers of not only painted, but also fragrant moonshine, it is suitabletea with bergamot, barberry . The main thing is not to use tea bags with chemical “aromas”. Or add a clove bud, a sprig of mint, etc. to the jar yourself.

citrus peel

Suitable lemon (gives a greenish-green color) ororange (yellow-orange). In addition to staining, it removes an unpleasant odor, complements the drink with sourness. You need to take only dried peels.

On a three-liter jar - from one orange or two lemons. You can experiment with peels of other citrus fruits.

Nuts and partitions

use pine nuts, or partitions of walnuts . If you are preparing a non-medicinal tincture, then 100 g of nuts or partitions per three-liter jar is enough. Insist from 3 weeks. The color turns out to be whiskey, and if you add sugar syrup to taste and just a little cinnamon, then the taste is unusual and very pleasant.

Prunes

It can be used both independently and together with walnut partitions. Color and flavor notesreminiscent of armenian cognac . Infuse 100 g of prunes in three liters of moonshine for 7 days or more.

St. John's wort

He, as well as bison, will color your drink inlight brown color and add flavor. Do not overdo it - one sprig of dried grass is enough for a three-liter jar.

Coffee

Especially soluble almost instantly and will color, and slightly remove the smell, stabilize the taste. A teaspoon of coffee with a slide will be enough for a three-liter jar.

Carefully. If you need to lower the degree, dilute the moonshine before adding coffee to it, otherwise the drink will become cloudy and you can only get rid of this by re-distillation!

Burnt sugar

It will make the alcoholic distillate softer, and the color will depend on the degree of "burnt" sugar - from yellowish to brown. A spoonful of sugar caramelized over a fire is enough per liter.

Reference. Even French cognacs (according to the recipe) add caramel to stabilize the color and taste.

Food colorings

With their help, you can turn moonshine almost into absinthe (green dye), black sambuca (blue), sangria (red), etc. Dyes have almost no effect on taste and smell. The only important thing is to choosefood !

Many people like not too healthy instant colored drinks (like Yuppi), they can also be added to moonshine. In addition to color, they give a smell and sweeten alcohol.

Oak bark

Traditional ingredient for cognac imitation. A tablespoon of crushed raw materials per liter of moonshine is enough. For a more cognac-like taste, addcloves, St. John's wort, oregano, honey, black pepper and so on.

Although most of the ingredients for coloring moonshine add not only color, but also aroma, they will not be able to completely kill the sharp and unpleasant smell with their help.First you need to get rid of the fusel "ombre" , and only then proceed to staining.

We clean from the smell and impurities at home

Eliminating the smell, you at the same time get rid of the harmful impurities that create the aroma. Let's take a look at the effective tools that have proven their effectiveness.

Potassium permanganate (manganese)

This method has been tested by many thousands of moonshiners and always gives excellent results.

After cleaning, moonshine becomes softer, there is practically no unpleasant odor, and a layer of sediment forms at the bottom of the dishes. These are related fusel oils.

It is enough to throw in a three-liter jar of moonshine2-3 g potassium permanganate and leave for a few days , shaking occasionally.

It is drained from the sediment and filtered when all the sediment is at the bottom, and the liquid has become transparent.

Advice. To speed up the formation of a precipitate, the jar should be closed, shaken vigorously and placed in a water bath at a water temperature of 60-65 ° C for 15 minutes. As it cools, a precipitate precipitates rapidly.

Milk

An ancient method that does not cause misunderstandings, therefore it is especially suitable for supporters of an organic approach to moonshine. You will have to tinker a little, but the output will be a product of crystal clearness, odorless and fusel oils.

Milk is recommendednatural fat free (reverse), can be diluted dry. A three-liter jar will need 50 ml of milk. Immediately after its addition, a violent reaction usually occurs - you can see how white flakes are separated.

Leave for 6-7 days, shaking daily, except for the last day. Carefully drained from the sediment, filtered. The non-drained residue is filtered separately (perhaps 2-3 times).

Attention. If suddenly the precipitate does not fall out, add a spoonful of lemon juice, it will cause the milk protein to coagulate (coagulate) with the addition of harmful impurities contained in alcohol.

Sugar

Attention . Sugar cannot clean the alcohol distillate, it only masks the smell, softening the drink.

Soda

This method has been repeatedly tested and gave good results. In addition, cleaning is faster than usual - after half a day you can filter.

10 g of baking soda are taken per liter of moonshine, stirred once, after an hour - again and left to precipitate. Then the top clean moonshine is drained, filtered. Then the rest of the liquid is filtered.

orris root

A long-standing popular remedy, especially among villagers. Harvest it in the fall, dry in the shade. Take 100 g of crushed raw materials based on a three-liter jar of moonshine. Insist for 12 days, filter. He copes with his task perfectly.

Reference. Fragrant violet is a medicinal plant.

Officially recognized in Britain as a remedy for respiratory diseases and some forms of cancer (especially the throat, uterus, intestines). The roots or the whole plant are used for this purpose. It is actively used in Asian medicine and homeopathy.

Ash

If several types of coal can be taken for cleaning from fusel oil, then forgetting rid of the smell is suitable only birch charcoal .

The activated pharmacy has long proved its uselessness in this case and cannot cope with the task we have set.

It is necessary to kindle a birch fire, and then choose the cooled coals from it. Wrap it in a clean cloth and beat with a hammer. It is through this rag with coal that you need to pass the moonshine, as if through a filter.

lemon peels

Like orange, tangerine, lime, they will only mask the smell and give color. For the cleaningunsuitable .

Freezing

Its essence is to freeze moonshine in a jar. At the same time, water will freeze along the walls along with fusel oils, and alcohol will remain in a liquid state. If the moonshine turned out to be too "fragrant", the procedurerepeat several times .

Carefully. When freezing, the degree rises greatly, so it is necessary to check the strength with an alcohol meter and, if necessary, dilute with water.

Second stage

The best way to get rid of the smell and the fusose issecondary haul divided into fractions: heads - body - tails. The method works especially well if pre-cleaning is done by any of the methods described above.

Before secondary distillation, dilute the moonshine to 15-20 ° (this will help moonshiner calculator ). This technique will not allow fusel oils to get into the finished product.

Which of the methods are you using? Perhaps you have something to share with colleagues "in the shop", do it in the comments. Like so that your friends can read the article.

Of course, appearance always affects what we eat or drink. Moonshine is no exception. The visual perception of the color range of the drink affects in some way the taste perception. Moonshine is usually transparent. But nothing prevents us from coloring it to the color we need, using natural dyes. In order to paint over moonshine for cognac or coffee, it is not necessary to use purchased additives. You can often get by with homemade ingredients.

You can paint moonshine with black tea

This method is one of the simplest and most affordable at home. However, it absolutely does not affect the taste of moonshine. To paint over 3 liters of moonshine in this way, only 1 tbsp is enough. spoons of black tea. We just add it to the jar and let it brew for a couple of days.

From day to day, the shade of moonshine will change towards a darker color. You can bring it to dark brown if you insist on tea for a week. To give moonshine an additional specific taste and aroma, you can use not just black tea, but with the addition of other aromatic herbs, such as lemon balm or cloves.

How to paint moonshine using coffee?

You can change the color of moonshine using instant coffee, which almost everyone has at home. Enough 1-2 teaspoons of coffee for 3 liters of moonshine. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that after staining the moonshine with black coffee, it is impossible to dilute the moonshine with water additionally - it will become cloudy.

How to paint over moonshine for cognac using prunes

Making Armenian cognac from ordinary homemade moonshine is as easy as shelling pears. For this we need some prunes. 100g will be enough for a 3 liter jar. We just throw prunes into a jar of moonshine and let it brew for a week. After the specified time, we will see that the moonshine will change its color and will look like cognac. In addition, the aroma will change, and even the taste will soften slightly. Vary the duration of the infusion at your discretion.

Burnt sugar for coloring moonshine under whiskey

To color moonshine under whiskey at home, burnt sugar (caramel) is used. The coloring recipe is extremely simple. We heat a tablespoon of sugar over a fire until it is the color of caramel, after which we dissolve it in moonshine. To color 3 liters of moonshine for whiskey, just 3 tablespoons of sugar are enough.

Painting moonshine with walnut partitions

This method is more likely to refer to the preparation of tinctures on moonshine, vodka or alcohol, rather than simply staining moonshine, because. after this procedure, the taste will change significantly. But along with the taste, the color will also change. It will be slightly golden at first, and then it can be brought to brown. In order to paint over moonshine using partitions of walnuts, we need about 40-50 nuts per 3 liters of moonshine. Partitions insist for a week. Then we filter the moonshine several times through gauze.

Can be used for coloring moonshine instead of walnuts pine nuts. But this recipe is much more complicated. Before insisting, it is necessary to remove excess resin from the nuts. This is done by evaporating them in hot water, several times, changing the water. The ratio is approximately the following: 400g. nuts per 3 liters of moonshine.

Those who think that the color of moonshine a priori can only be dull white are deeply mistaken. There are many ways to give moonshine the color of gold or bright greens, to make a strong drink fiery scarlet or pale blue. And some craftsmen can even tell you how to dye moonshine purple or brown. All these wisdoms will help to make the drink not only “picky”, but also beautiful.

Remember that the coloring of moonshine is carried out only after sweetening. This is done in order not to spoil the quality of the drink. If you neglect the advice, moonshine may change color or become cloudy.

What is better to add to moonshine for color so that the drink does not lose its original taste?
It is best to color moonshine with natural dyes. Firstly, they are easy to prepare at home, and secondly, they will not harm the body (compared to chemical ones).

How to make moonshine yellow, red and orange

Red color
It is obtained by infusing dried blueberries, as well as with the help of food carmine paint and cream of tartar (alum can be used instead) in a ratio of 6:1 (one part belongs to cream of tartar or alum). The components are ground into powder. The resulting mixture is dissolved in hot water and infused. The solution is filtered through a linen cloth, after which it can be used.

Orange (or golden) color
Saffron is placed in the solution and a small amount of blueberry or blueberry juice is added. Orange color can be obtained by using walnut partitions, orange peel or unripe orange for tincture.
Yellow. To obtain yellow moonshine, a large amount of saffron is taken (compared to obtaining orange). More or less dark colors are obtained depending on the amount of dye. Color can be obtained by using lemon balm (mint), safflower, parsley leaves, horseradish, celery. The resulting dye is stored in a tightly stoppered bottle.

What can be added to moonshine for scarlet and green

And what can be added to moonshine for the color of scarlet blood and green grass?

scarlet color
It is necessary to take 4 g of purified cream of tartar and 4 g of food paint. Everything is ground into powder, dissolved in 1 liter of water and boiled for 3 minutes. After that, the solution should settle.

Strain through cheesecloth and seal tightly in prepared container. Moonshine can be tinted in scarlet color of various shades. It all depends on the amount of dye used.

Green color
100 g of chervil must be crushed as finely as possible and placed over the funnel so that the poured moonshine passes through the mixture.

The color is obtained by infusing moonshine on blackcurrant leaves, onion feathers. Green onions are thoroughly washed and put in hot water. Boil twice. Then they are placed in cold water, then in a small piece of cloth and the juice is squeezed out, which is boiled in a silver spoon (it is possible in a spoon made of metal that is not subject to oxidation) until half of the originally taken liquid remains. This liquid is the dye for moonshine. It is poured into a bottle and sealed tightly. As you can see, green dye can be obtained in various ways. But one of the most common is a mixture of yellow and blue tinctures. The solution is first tinted with a yellow dye, then blue is added in the amount necessary for the shade.

What other color of moonshine can be obtained at home?

Blue
Vasilek insist on moonshine. The resulting blue dye is poured into a bottle and tightly sealed.
Pale blue. Strain moonshine through yarrow or femur.

Purple
Mix red and blue dyes. We can also get this color from a weak solution of litmus in water. Moonshine tinted with carmine is filtered through the leaves of yarrow or femur - also purple. But the easiest way is to insist moonshine on sunflower seeds. The dye is placed in a bottle and tightly sealed.

Brown color
The required amount of granulated sugar is placed in a copper basin, put on a slow fire and kept until the sugar takes on a completely dark color. To dissolve the sugar, you need to pour in a little hot water. You can also use heated moonshine. The resulting dye is placed in pre-prepared glassware and tightly sealed.

light brown color
The galangal root is crushed and mixed with mash. During distillation, a dye is obtained, which is poured into a bottle and tightly sealed.

In contact with

In its original form, moonshine has a pungent odor that appears regardless of what raw materials were used to make it, and on which apparatus it happened. The aroma and appearance of the drink directly affects the perception of taste, which has long been proven by psychologists. How to paint over moonshine so that there is no smell and its taste characteristics and color improve is a question of interest to many.

The presence of fusel oils and various harmful compounds in home-made alcohol spoils its taste and aroma. The drink may have a pungent odor the following reasons:

1. Due to the too high distillation temperature of moonshine.
2. In case of sour mash. Which also leads to low quality alcohol and the smell of acetone.
3. With insufficiently thoroughly cleaned moonshine still.
4. Due to the fact that the mash remained standing for a long time after the completion of the fermentation process.
5. The liquid container does not have a water seal. In this case, bacteria can penetrate into the container, and the interaction of the mash with oxygen has a negative effect on the taste and aroma characteristics.
6. With poor-quality cleaning of the drink itself.

It should be remembered that strict adherence to all the rules for making moonshine, as well as double distillation and high-quality purification, will ultimately help you get a drink with an improved aroma.

The problem of transparency of the drink and the presence of an unpleasant odor can be eliminated with the help of natural dyes. Before you start painting moonshine on your own at home, some important rules to remember:

• it is recommended to adhere to the recipe and painting technology;
• it is necessary to use only a cleaned container;
• you can mix the ingredients in a glass or enamel bowl;
• in the process of tinting, it is recommended to mix the moonshine with a wooden spoon;
• after insisting, it is necessary to strain the drink through gauze to remove particles of the coloring matter, which can later oversaturate it;
• Ready colored moonshine should be stored in a glass container with a tightly closed lid.

Staining with black tea and coffee

To paint over moonshine and remove the smell will quickly help the simplest of all methods, which practically does not affect the taste in any way - this is black tea. To do this, add one tablespoon of raw materials to three liters of drink. Tea must be of good quality, not from a bag. Then you should mix, tightly close the lid and leave to infuse in the dark for 4-5 days.

This method will help to tint the mash well. Every day the tone will change. In this way, you can get different shades: from the color of cognac to deep black. In order to kill the pungent smell of moonshine, you can add leaf tea with the aroma of bergamot, barberry or cloves.

Refuel moonshine so that there is no smell, and instant coffee will help to give it a unique shade. Painting with this product contributes to a change in the taste of alcohol. You can use the following staining method:

1. First you need to prepare sugar syrup in accordance with individual taste preferences.
2. Add one tablespoon of instant coffee to the syrup.
3. Dilute the resulting mixture in alcohol and mix well.

It will be possible to drink the drink an hour after staining.

Citrus peels have a strong aroma that can kill even the most pungent smell. The content of pigments in them will help to give the mash a delicate golden hue. It should be borne in mind that as a result of coloring, some sourness will appear in the taste of the drink.

Recipe to remove the smell of moonshine at home and color it , as follows:

• You will need the zest of three citrus fruits.
• It should be added to moonshine.
• Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and close the lid tightly.
• Then leave the drink to infuse in a dark room at room temperature for 15 days.
• Strain alcohol and pour into containers.

The white pulp on the peel can add bitterness to the drink, so it's best to remove it.

Prunes will help to paint over moonshine at home and add unusual flavor notes inherent in Armenian cognac. To rid the drink of an unpleasant odor and get a beautiful cognac shade, you should do the following:

1. Rinse 200-300 grams of prunes per 3 liters of drink.
2. Add to moonshine.
3. Infuse for about a week or 10 days.

In the process of infusion, the mash will begin to change color, a pleasant aroma and taste will appear. In order for moonshine to acquire woody notes, prunes must be added with seeds. They contain a large amount of tannins, and such fruits have a more pronounced aroma.

If you add one glass of sugar syrup prepared in a ratio of water and sugar as 1:1 to the recipe, then infuse it for a month, you can get a delicious thick drink with a rich dark brown color.

Burnt sugar

To soften the taste of alcohol, eliminate the pungent smell of moonshine and color it brown, burnt sugar or caramel is often used. Preparing sugar is quite easy:

• In a small saucepan or cezve, melt the sugar in a small amount of water. For 1 liter of moonshine, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of water are taken.
• Bring the mixture to a dark brown color.
• Add boiling caramel to moonshine. Do not add a cooled mixture to the drink, as there will be problems with dissolution.

If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little boiling water to it and mix well. This makes it easier to dissolve the caramel in the moonshine.

Another way to get a beautiful brown tint and get rid of the pungent smell of moonshine is to insist on walnut partitions. For this you need:

• Insist 7 days.

• Take a partition of 15-16 nuts per 1 liter of drink.
• Place them in a glass container and pour moonshine.
• Insist 7 days.

If you add one clove and two small cinnamon sticks to this recipe, the drink will acquire a spicy flavor, which will make it much more interesting.

Pine nuts can also be used to change the color of the mash. It is necessary to add 20 fruits of the cedar tree to 1 liter of alcohol and leave to infuse for a month. The nuts should first be roasted in order to remove excess resin from them. The result is a brown color with a reddish tinge.

Oak bark

To give moonshine color, taste and smell, you can use oak bark. The tannins contained in wood, in contact with ethyl alcohol, become environmentally friendly, due to which there is an improvement in taste and color characteristics.

It will acquire notes of cognac, and the rest of the ingredients will make the drink softer and relieve it of a pungent odor:

• moonshine - 3 liters;
• oak bark - 30 g;
• honey - 10 g;
• oregano - 10 g;
• carnation - 5 pcs.;
• vanillin and coriander - a pinch;
• St. John's wort - 10 g;
• allspice - 10 peas.

Place all ingredients in a glass container and pour moonshine. Mix thoroughly and close the lid tightly. Put the container in a dark place and leave to infuse for 2 weeks. Shake the bottle every 3 days. After the specified period, it is necessary to filter the mixture through gauze. You can also insist alcohol on oak bark without adding extraneous ingredients, but in this case the taste will be harsh and you won’t be able to get rid of the smell.

It has long turned from a forced occupation in order to reduce the cost of alcohol or cover its shortage into an art that requires a creative approach.

Drinks of various colors and tastes are placed on the table, using strong purified moonshine as the basis for the further implementation of the master's idea.

From what to paint over moonshine, both its visual perception and taste qualities depend. After all, you see, just taking food coloring and adding it to the alcohol base is not interesting and will not reward you with the title of craftsman. It is much more pleasant to follow the reaction of people who try a masterpiece born by the flight of your imagination.

And in order not to “messy” with various ingredients and not spoil the product on which time and money are spent, follow the well-known rules.

1. Use only food raw materials for your own safety. When using wood chips, bark, find out if the wood has been chemically treated.
2. Experiment first with a little moonshine. Sometimes, when interacting with alcohol, the dye can create a "wild" color. Therefore, it is better to accurately determine the dosage of raw materials in a small amount. For example, per litre.
3. Mix the Ingredients in glass or enamel(stainless) utensils.

Carefully. When working with glass, use only wooden spoons/spatulas for mixing. With a stainless steel spoon, you can easily break through the wall of the jar and lose the fruits of all your efforts.

1. stick formulations.
2. After insisting strain moonshine, so that the remaining particles of the coloring matter do not oversaturate it over time.
3. Tinted moonshine store in glass under a tight lid in a place inaccessible to light, otherwise it may “shed” over time.

Why is coloring needed?

Psychologists have long been studying the question of how a person perceives the taste and smell of what he takes inside. And they unanimously affirm: in food and drink not only taste is important, but also color.

Suppose you have an excellent grape moonshine. It has already settled in the glass for a month or two, remaining transparent.

But if you paint a part in a “cognac” color and invite people who do not know the trick to taste the same drink, but of a different color, then the notes of real cognac alcohol will be caught in colored alcohol!

How to paint over to correct the aroma?

Moonshine has a pungent smell. The situation is slightly corrected by high-quality purification. Be sure to go through both of these procedures so as not to be disappointed in the end result.

Even tinted, but hard and smelly moonshine will not get better. Therefore, take a high-quality alcohol base. And then - create what you want to see on your table, how to surprise your family and guests.

Burnt sugar - softening and color

Sugar to soften the taste of hard strong alcohol is added when creating vodka. He also helps moonshine. But to combine two functions, softening and coloring, can burnt sugar or, as it is also beautifully called, caramel color.

To create it, take sugar, pour it into a dry frying pan, slightly moisten and bring to the desired color. In this way, for sure, in childhood, many made sweets.

Add burnt sugar to moonshine. Caramel perfectly colors "cognac" and eliminates the sharp smell and taste.

Reference. For a liter of homemade alcoholic distillate, you need 1 tablespoon of sugar, which has turned into caramel.

tea for three

Of course, we are not talking about pouring boiling water over a tea leaf, but about mixing tea with moonshine. For this method, only good quality tea without additives is suitable. Like the one on the pack of which elephants were painted a long time ago. Although many today, on the contrary, use tea with specific flavors such as barberry, mint, etc.

Carefully. It is not known how the "identical to natural" flavoring in alcohol will show itself. Therefore, try on a small dose, do not do a lot at once.

Add a spoonful of dry tea to a three-liter jar of distillate. And the color of the drink will depend on the exposure. Usually 3-7 days is enough. As soon as the color has reached the desired, strain the infusion through cheesecloth.

coffee moonshine

Moonshine infused with coffee beans, ground or instant coffee has a pleasant color and organoleptic properties. But gourmets say that the most delicious is on grains.

• For a grain tincture, use 30-40 roasted grains per liter of distillate. Insist from two weeks to two months.
• To use ground coffee, grind 30-50 g of coffee and pour in a liter of moonshine. Leave overnight, strain through coffee filters in the morning.
• The easiest way is to use instant coffee, but the taste of the tincture will differ, just as a natural drink differs from instant coffee. This method is more often used on unsuccessful moonshine. Take 1.5 tablespoons of powder for a three-liter jar of moonshine. Dissolve and you're done. After such tinting, the taste also improves.

Infusion on citrus peels

Our grandmothers also used this method of coloring and improving the taste of homemade strong alcohol. First, orange or lemon peels need to be dried. Then throw the peels from two fruits into a three-liter jar of moonshine and soak for a couple of weeks.

Attention. Orange peel will turn alcohol yellow, lemon peel greenish.

Coloring with nuts and partitions

Use partitions 15 walnuts per 1 liter of alcohol 45-50 ° strength. Infuse for a week, then strain.

A wonderful infusion is obtained on pine nuts. First, roast 150 g of nuts to remove the resin, then add to a liter of moonshine. Exposure time - 1 month.

Try making a coffee bean infusion by adding a handful of walnut kernels.

"Cognac" on prunes for three days

The drink imitates cognac well, it drinks well, and if you pour it into beautiful bottles, it pleases the eye.

Prepare three liters of moonshine in a jar. Add:

• 6 pieces of prunes with stones;
• a bag of black tea without flavorings;
• 10 carnations;
• a small glass of sugar;
• half a sachet of vanilla.

Cover tightly and leave for three days in a dark place. Shake daily. It's not scary if turbidity appears - it will be filtered through cotton pads.

Food colorings

This is the easiest thing to do - pour a little into a jar of alcohol, stir with a wooden spoon. If the color seems faded, add more. Unusual colors can also be made in this way, for example, by mixing red dye with blue, you get purple. Weird but fun, although not all guests will have the courage to try it.

Important. Food colorings practically do not change the taste of the product, so take moonshine for this method, purified and soft, without a strong odor.

Homemade food colorings

Most often, various vegetable raw materials are used to give moonshine color. It is important that it is not poisonous and does not give moonshine an unpleasant aftertaste. Most often, fruits and berries are used, ready-made jam with a rich color, which will add not only color, but also taste.

Over time, alcohol dyed with vegetable raw materials can “burn out”, the color will become lighter, and then disappear altogether.

This is typical, for example, of cranberries, peony, roses. But this does not happen immediately, but after about half a year, and when stored in the basement, it can last for a year or two.

Keep in mind that each product will add its own touch of taste, your moonshine will also acquire a new flavor with a color change. A little "weakening the degree" and adding honey, sugar, you can get excellent drinks that will delight women.

What color moonshine can be made?

Without exaggeration, moonshine can be any color you wish. Fortunately, food coloring comes in any color, including black. Be sure to find out before buying if this dye is suitable for alcohol.

Get blue moonshine

The blue color is considered natural for blue absinthe, Bombay gin. To get it at home, insist moonshine on unpeeled sunflower seeds, then add concentrated blueberry decoction to it. At the end, literally for 20 minutes, dip a handful of fresh yarrow leaves into the finished infusion. And strain.

Gentle blue color will give fresh flowers of cornflower or chicory.

Color alcohol yellow, red and orange

It is most common to see homemade alcohol either transparent or with a brown tint of varying intensity. However, to make it truly colorful, even without resorting to chemical dyes, is quite within the power of every distiller.

• Melissa, turmeric, celery leaves give yellow color.
• Golden - St. John's wort, walnut membranes, orange peels, bison.
• Get the red color by adding blueberries, burgundy peony petals, cumberlain (black raspberries) or blackberries. Ceiling them first. Blackcurrant jam will also give a red color.
• For bright yellow, almost orange alcohol, saffron will do. Since we have very little natural saffron and it is too expensive, Imeretian saffron (made from a special type of marigolds) will perfectly replace it. If you choose the zest of brightly colored oranges for this purpose, you will also get an orange color.

What to add to moonshine to get scarlet and green

The scarlet color will turn out if you adjust the amount of colorants for the red color. But if you need a bright color, use cream of tartar and carmine food coloring.

4 g of both substances should be taken per liter of hot water. First crush the cream of tartar, mix it with paint, fill it with water and let it boil. Cool, strain, and add enough solution to the moonshine to make it turn scarlet.

Green is obtained using blackcurrant or parsley leaves. Scroll the selected fresh raw materials through a meat grinder and fill with moonshine. After a day or two, look and try. If the result that you wanted could not be obtained, you can use a dye.

What other color of moonshine can be obtained at home?

Simple recipes that produce browns of varying intensity to almost black include the use of walnut partitions, black tea, burnt sugar, oak bark, instant coffee.

You can find information that blueberries can give black. It is unlikely that no matter how much you add, you can only achieve a very rich burgundy. Apparently, you will get black sambuca at home only using black food coloring.

Dark red, almost burgundy alcohol is obtained by insisting hibiscus on homemade distillate.

Although the surest way to get colored moonshine is to use a dye, it is much more interesting to “get” paint from vegetable raw materials. Playing with color and taste, you will learn how to create excellent imitations of absinthe, cognac, whiskey, Campari red liqueur, Bombay blue gin, black sambuca and much more.

And you will not drink a product of unknown origin (there is no count of counterfeit products in stores), but natural high-quality alcohol prepared with your own hands.