Moonshine

[Bullfrog]

I went by my daughter's house last week and she has a small table set up in the kitchen. There were six or seven milk jugs filled with a purple liquid with balloons rubberbanned around the tops.

The balloons were in various stages of inflation, one was totally limp. i asked her if she was making wine and she told me that she was. She used Welches Grape Juice concentrate and yeast.

She explained that as the yeast fermented the sugar into alcohol, the balloon inflated. They had to poke pin holes into the balloons to keep them from popping.

When the balloon finally laid over and went limp, the wine was ready. She said that is was really cheap, delicious and a lot stronger than store bought wine.

I want to make rum. Does anyone else have any experience at this or any recipies?

[Jonna]

Do you have access to sugar cane? 

They make rum a little south of here, mostly in Belize but also in southern Quintana Roo.  I know they grind the cane for the syrup, which is more or less molasses.  They ferment that and age it in barrels that I think whiskey was aged in.  I'll do some more research.  I remember reading once that they buy the old barrels from either whiskey or brandy and use them for the aged, dark rum.  For white rum, they distill it like other white booze.  We can get some great rums down here, even the Cuban ones     

My favorite is from Nicaragua, called Flor de Cana.  I've seen it in the US.  It comes aged for 5 years, 7 years, or 12 years.  The 12yo is really nice   Expensive though, even here. It's very smooth and like a good, aged brandy.   What is said is that after the Cuban revolution, the rich rum and cigar making families moved their operations out of Cuba.  The best cigars are now said to be made in the Dominican Republic by Cubans and the best rum is made in Nicaragua, also by a Cuban family.

My other favorite is called One Barril and is from Belize.  It's not considered fine rum by the ones who know because it is not aged as long and it is made from darker molasses, maybe a second squeezing or something.  It's a lot rougher taste.  Anyway, what I like about it is that it has a strong molasses flavor and it reminds me of graham crackers 

[Desertponder]

LOL! That brings back a rather funny memory. My mother used to make wine that way when I was a kid. Most of the time she used grape juice but a few times she used choke cherries.

She used big glass jugs with the balloons on top. One time one of the balloons and jugs burst during the fermentation process and just completely sprayed the laundry room with grape juice. It was a huge mess and my mother was so mad that she didn't make wine anymore after that.

I haven't heard of making your own rum.

[Bullfrog]

I'm reading up on it. Wine just needs to ferment and then be strained. The balloon on top keeps outside spores and junk in. My daughter said she poked holes in the ballons to keep them from popping.

Rum on the other hand needs to actually be distilled. Boiled into a vapor and then cooled and condensed back into a liquid. Anyone who watched MASH remembers the still in the tent.

It can't be that complicated because a lot of hillbillies ran copper tubing and did this long ago with no education.

[happyoutsidegirl]

I make my own Kaluha! Yum Yum

[alwayssomethin]

I make my own Kaluha! Yum Yum

OHHHHHH  yum yum!!!!
I love Kaluha.  Haven't had any in years though.

[Bullfrog]

I like a little Kaluah in my coffee when I fish. What do you use to make it?

[Brian]

Yeah, I want to know how to make Kahlua too!!!

[happyoutsidegirl]

Wow I had no clue! I have 2 recipies but I'll give you my favorite one. When I lived in Alaska I made it with everclear that's 191 proof But now I have to use 151 rum :'(
1 Cup instant coffie
12 Cups bolling water (I just use real hot)
6 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. soda
Boil about 20 min and keep stiring. (I don't ever make it that long)
Let cool and add 1/5 of booze (everclear or 151 rum)
5 Tlb. vanilla
the longer you let it set the better it gets, but around me I can never wait!
Oh and don't turn your back on it while it's bolling or you'll be sorry Bring it up on a lower temp as it burns real fast E Nj O y

[tinkster]

rofl bullfrog!!! coming straight from the hills of KY where I can still bye "moonshine" there is a great talent to it heheheh.


tinkster

[Bullfrog]

Tinkster, my wife spent a lot of time at her grandparents farm in Kentucky. She loves to remember swinging from monkey vines when she did play, but mainly the farm was work.

It's funny that now, this work is a treasure of her memories. They got up early and she milked the cows. Her grandpaw grew tobacco but she also slopped pigs, fed chickens and helped her grandmother fix chicken for supper.

This mean't chopping off it's head, plucking it and watching it turn from a warm clucking fowl to a tasty brown meal. The television was just for the evening news and then it was turned off. The main entertainment of the evening was two rocking chairs in front of the fireplace.

This memory is burned into her soul and I know it because she speaks of it often. Just this week she said wherever we retire all she wants is a fireplace and two rocking chairs. this is the glue that really bonds people together for a lifetime and beyond, it spans the generations.

I'm not slighting hillbillies at all. They made my wife into the wonderful woman that she is today. She isn't asking for a penthouse view, she wants a fireplace and two rocking chairs. The smell of woodsmoke and the popping of the fire.

Watching the flames dance and the coals glowing deep orange. It is mesmerizing, peaceful, familiar.

I want a still out back bubbling away making my rum. Maybe a greenhouse with a few herbs growing after I retire. We can sit in front of the fire and rock.

[tinkster]

I know what she means!!!  I have so many memories of life as a child in the country. We made soap, our butter, canned our food ( wow which is not so unhip now with all the health peoples) but I mostly remember  being the "horse" harnessed to pull the plow and stripping tobacco.. yuko!  .. that was a job me and my cousins hated!! but looking back its probably where we laughed and had the most fun.   Kids now mostly dont know and have those experiences.. their experiences and memories consist of ???? beating the highest score on the latest hot video game.  We use to play from daylight till dark outside, making our own fun in creeks etc.  But I guess modern kids form their own memories also that will be special to them.