How to make good cognac from moonshine at home

Dozens of recipes are floating around the Internet, but there are very few really worthy ones. We are ready to offer you three options for making homemade cognac from moonshine, which seem to us more tasty and simple to make. We will present all the technology in the form of step-by-step instructions , and we will also attach useful videos from the most experienced moonshiners. But keep in mind that real cognac is made from grape raw materials, and this is a completely different recipe.

As a base for the drink, only high-quality moonshine with a strength of 45–50 degrees . Harmful fractions must be separated during the first or second distillation of the distillate. Good alcohol is a good start in the process of making cognac at home. Unlike homemade brandy, where only fruit raw materials are used, you can use any kind of fruit in cognac (expensive French drinks use only grapes).

1st recipe for oak chips (chips)

Ingredients and proportions

To tint and give the drink a good taste, we will use oak chips or chips. We advise you to take small oak blocks , but it is better to immediately avoid sawdust and huge sticks.

Moonshine 50% strength - 1 liter.
Medium roast oak chips - 2 grams.
Sugar - 20 gr.

Almost all websites advise putting from 20 to 60 grams of oak chips per liter of moonshine. This is a fundamentally wrong approach and will turn the taste of your drink into some semblance of dust.

Oak converts the tails of moonshine into savory compounds, which give the drink its pleasant colors. A large concentration of wood will oversaturate the drink, and as a result you will not achieve either taste or properties.

Step-by-step development of cognac production

Having prepared moonshine and all other ingredients, you can move on specifically to the process of transforming ordinary distillate into cognac by infusion.

Pour the moonshine into a glass container (a jar is perfect), which will have a large mouth. Thanks to it, you can later remove your wood chips from the container in a relaxed manner.
Add oak chips at the rate of 2 grams per 1 liter.
Close the container tightly and put it in a dark, cold space for 2-3 months.
Check the color of your tincture from time to time. If it starts to get very dark, then it makes sense to finish the infusion so as not to overexpose the product. In the new batch, you will already know that much less or more wood will need to be added.
After steeping, filter the moonshine through cheesecloth to remove sediment and woody particles from the drink.

I will place special emphasis on the highest strength of the raw materials - about 50% . This is necessary so that the alcohol content of the finished product does not fall below 40 degrees. The wood chips will absorb the alcohol and reduce its concentration.

If this happens, the drink will have to be diluted, and this is not at all a tincture that you can be proud of.

A fascinating video was prepared by distilling guru and creator of the channel Samogon Sanych . Konstantin looks one hundred percent at the entire process of making tinctures, from theory to tasting the finished product. His recipe is different from ours. The choice is yours.

2nd recipe for oak bark

Ingredients and proportions

Oak bark is a beautiful absorbent component; in other words, it draws out the remaining harmful impurities from moonshine and, in turn, gives a beautiful taste and color to the drink. The recipe is simple to the point of outrageousness, so there’s not much to say here:

Moonshine 45% strength - 1 liter.
Oak bark - 1 level tablespoon.
Honey - 50 ml.

The easiest way to purchase bark is in a specialty store or pharmacy. There it is safe, clean and ready to infuse.

You can also prepare it yourself, you will save 100 rubles and spend a lot of time searching for it (you would like to take it cleaner, outside the city) and processing (boil, rinse).

Step-by-step development of cognac production

It's time to saturate our distillate with the healing qualities of oak bark and its beautiful color. To do this, we need to perform the following steps:

Pour oak bark, honey into a glass container and fill the whole thing with moonshine.
Mix vigorously and close the lid tightly for 2 weeks (you can even roll up the jar). The period may vary by a certain number of days in one direction or the other, so determine readiness by eye.
Open the finished drink, filter it through several layers of gauze and serve.

As a result, we came up with an ordinary oak bark tincture, but almost everyone confidently calls it cognac.

In general, oak is present in the production process and it is it that gives the smell, taste and color to the drink. Therefore, you shouldn’t worry about the quality of the product; it will definitely be worthy.

Moonshine Sanych uses a fascinating approach . Konstantin makes a similar cognac in a day and the result is wonderful. I highly recommend watching it.

3rd recipe in oak barrel

A cognac classic that will never go out of fashion and will be highly valued among moonshiners. Why add wood chips or bark to moonshine when you can infuse the distillate in a real oak barrel and get great results?

Nothing, except for moonshine with a strength of about 50 degrees and an oak barrel, will be useful to you. But if you really decide to use this particular recipe, then you will need to know which barrel to choose and how long to infuse the cognac in it.

There is a fundamental aspect that should be taken into account when choosing a similar container: the smaller the oak container, the faster the alcohol matures in it . For home brewing, you can’t find a better 3 or 5 liter barrel. They cost less, are prepared more quickly, and the infusion time of the drink is shorter.

A nice example : how long will it take to infuse decent moonshine in an oak barrel?

5 l barrel - 4 months.
For 15 l. — 6–8 months.
For 20 l. - 8 months.
For 30 l. — 10–12 months.

If you distill distillate only for your own use (we don’t count family members and friends), then 3, 5 or 10 liter barrels are completely enough for you. from Caucasian sessile oak.

Small containers are easier to work with and the drink matures much faster in them.

You can watch a fascinating video on Sanych’s Moonshine . The creator carefully knows about the choice of oak barrels and looks at different types of wood for these containers. We highly recommend taking a look if you are planning to purchase similar packaging.

Cognac from moonshine at home: recipes and rules

Hello everyone, Chin-Chin here. Would you like to make cognac at home from moonshine? For now I’ll tell you how.

To this day, the best recipes for cognac from moonshine at home have survived, which continue to be improved to this day. This drink is a type of brandy. Its roots go to France. In the store, alcohol is expensive, so most moonshiners have learned to independently obtain a high-quality product with a velvety taste and an exceptional smell, which is difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

General Tips

In order to quickly get homemade cognac from moonshine, you need to know certain aspects. The following tips should be followed:

for the base, high-quality moonshine purchased from grapes is used;
The mash should be subjected to double distillation, ensuring complete separation of the tails and heads, in order to clean it of fusel oils;
The strength of moonshine must be at least 45-50 degrees, and after production it is diluted to 40 degrees;
You should only use enamel and glassware to avoid oxidation;
you need to strictly adhere to the recipe and act one by one, observing all the indicated proportions;
you need to strictly adhere to the terms of infusion of alcohol, which can last up to several months;
raw materials should be obtained from specialized stores for distillers. There you can buy wood chips, shavings or oak bark chips. It is better to get an oak barrel with a hermetically sealed plug;
The oak bark should certainly be steamed in boiling water beforehand, kept in this way for about 15 minutes, then rinsed and dried. This step should not be skipped, because otherwise the drink will acquire a “baseboard” taste.

Raw material information

Oak bark is an important component in making cognac at home from moonshine. We should not forget that not every tree species is suitable for business. Typically, wood chips or chips from oak bark are used to create alcohol. They will enrich the future drink with appropriate flavor notes:

the lactones and phenols contained in the bark give the alcohol an unforgettable smell of chocolate and caramel, the drink comes out without a nasty aroma;
tannins contribute to the development of astringency appropriate for cognac;
aromatic acids give an unforgettable taste and exceptional smell.

Alcohol in Latgalian

The recipe, invented in Latgale, will allow you to create moonshine “like cognac”. Today there are different versions of this type of alcohol, but the conventional method is considered more popular. To produce a tasty Latgalian-style alcoholic drink with your own hands, the following series of components will be useful:

moonshine - 3 liters;
oak bark – 20 g;
coriander - a pinch;
clove buds – 2-3 pcs.;
sweet sand – 15 g;
nutmeg - a pinch.

First you need to stir sweet sand in a small amount of moonshine. You can also prepare a sweet syrup, which will not change the taste of the cognac drink.

So, you can create homemade cognac from moonshine using the following steps:

After preparatory soaking, washing and drying the oak bark, it should be placed in a three-liter jar;
add other ingredients to the glass container;
fill the entire contents with moonshine;
dissolve the sweet syrup in the jar and shake everything thoroughly;
leave to infuse at room temperature in a black space for 2 weeks to a month.

You should not leave it for too long, otherwise the alcohol may taste very strong.

After the tincture has a brown color and the spices and wood give the alcohol a rich aroma, you can prepare it for the next use. To do this, you need to clean the alcoholic drink and pour it into a clean glass container. Next, you should infuse the cognac for another 6 months in a black place.

Experts in making homemade liqueurs say that the taste of moonshine will approach the original only after two years of aging.

Moonshine with prunes

You can get an imitation of cognac from moonshine by seasoning it with prunes. It will add unusual flavor notes inherent to Armenian alcohol and help obtain a wonderful brownish color. For this you will need:

moonshine – 1 liter;
dried prunes – 50 g;
black tea – 5 g;
sweet sand – 20 g;
cloves – 3 buds;
vanilla and cinnamon - a pinch.

Combine all ingredients in a glass container. Shake thoroughly and hide in a black corner. Strain thoroughly before use.

This recipe differs in its method of preparation; in some versions, brandy can be consumed within a day. But do not forget that the longer the drink infuses, the brighter and richer its smell and taste will be.

Country drink

To create cognac at home according to a special recipe, you will need some skill, but the result will meet all expectations. Among distillers, this method is considered one of the best. To season moonshine with cognac, the following ingredients will be useful:

sweet sand – 70 g;
coffee – 2-3 grains;
dark tea – 15 g;
moonshine – 6 l;
rose hips – 30 pcs.;
St. John's wort – 20 g;
aromatic dark pepper – 25−30 pcs.

Oak chips should be prepared in advance: calcined in the oven until golden brown. The manufacturing method consists of several steps:

you should prepare a sweet syrup;
all components must be placed in a glass container;
pour moonshine with a strength of no more than 43 degrees and pour in the syrup;
shake for 5 minutes;
put it in a space where the sun's rays do not reach it, and leave it to brew for a month;
Any 2-3 days, shake again;
carefully filter the liquid after the designated time;
also rinse the wood chips and fill them with filtered alcohol again;
leave for 4 months in a cool, dry place;
strain and bottle.

Cognac Koktebel

According to professionals, the drink prepared according to this recipe is superior to store-bought counterparts. In order to get a beautiful result, it is better to purchase an oak barrel. The following ingredients will be useful:

moonshine with grapes – 6 l.;
aromatic peppercorns – 15 pcs.;
walnut partitions – 40 g;
raisins of the raisins variety – 1 kg;
carnation buds – 12 pcs.;
sweet sand – 20 g;
citric acid – 5 g;
cumin – 10 g;
vanilla – 2 pods.

Place all ingredients in a glass container and pour six liters of moonshine, the strength of which must be no more than 45 degrees. The container should be hermetically sealed and thoroughly shaken. Leave in a cool, black place to infuse for one month, shaking occasionally.

After 30 days, the liquid must be filtered and poured into an oak container. Leave for another 60 days, occasionally turning the barrel around its axis.

Frisky method

There is a recipe by which you can quickly get amazing cognac. To make it you will need:

bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
aromatic peppercorns – 3-4 pcs.;
dark tea - half a teaspoon;
baking soda - on the tip of a knife;
vanillin – a pinch;
sweet sand – 30 g.

All ingredients must be placed in a saucepan and a liter of moonshine with a strength of 50 degrees must be added. The mixture should be heated to 75 degrees, and then removed from the stove and poured into a glass jar. Leave to infuse for three days, after which the cognac is ready for consumption.

Cognac from moonshine at home - 5 step-by-step recipes with photos

Moonshine cognac with oranges, cloves and coffee

Ingredients

Manufacturing process

After 2 months, the cognac must be strained, getting rid of additional ingredients. The drink opens up well with a bite of lemon.

Cognac made from moonshine on oak bark

Cognac infused with oak bark has an inimitable woody aroma, similar to that distinguished by cognac from elite brands of alcohol. Oak bark also softens the taste of strong alcohol. You can use both pharmacy and store-bought bark.

Ingredients:

Strong moonshine – 2 l.
Sugar – 2.5 tbsp. l.
Oak bark – 15 g.
Cloves – 2 buds.
Coriander – 4 peas.
Cinnamon on the tip of a knife.

Manufacturing process:

Place the oak bark in a container, add cool water, stir well, wait a minute, drain the water. Afterwards, wash the bark with damp, cool water a couple more times. It will swell slightly, then it should be discarded in a sieve or colander.
Prepare dishes for aging cognac. You can use an ordinary three-liter jar. Pour moonshine into it.
Rub coriander peas using spoons or a masher and pour into a jar of moonshine.
Then add cinnamon, clove buds and swollen bark to the jar.
Mix everything, add the indicated amount of sugar and stir again. The sugar should be one hundred percent dissolved.
Close the jar with a lid, preferably a plastic one, and place it in a dark space for two weeks. It is important to shake the jar once a day so that the drink takes on the color and taste aspects of the added components.
After two weeks, filter the cognac through a watering can with a layer of cotton wool and gauze, throw it under a lid in a jar for a day, and then bottle it.

Homemade cognac from moonshine in 3 days

This express recipe for making cognac will be very useful before any upcoming holiday, since the drink only needs to be infused for three days. It does not require rare products; all additives are always available in any kitchen. To get a quick effect, the drink is heated on the stove.

Ingredients:

1 liter of moonshine.
2 bay leaves.
3 tbsp. l. Sahara.
½ tsp. dark leaf tea.
A pinch of soda and vanilla.
1/3 tbsp. l. coffee.

Manufacturing process:

Place bay leaves and loose leaf dark tea into an enamel pan. You can crumble the laurel ahead of time or take ground seasoning first. It’s better to take tea without additives; it’s great if it’s strong.
Pour moonshine into the pan, stir it with sugar, bay leaf and tea, put on low heat and heat slightly. It is important not to overheat the drink above 75 degrees, otherwise the strength of the drink will begin to be lost. And a solution that remains cool will not produce the desired effect, so it is best to measure the temperature with a thermometer. She must achieve 70-75 degrees.
Remove the pan from the heat, add soda and vanilla. If desired, at this step you can add a third of a spoonful of coffee, then the drink will acquire the appropriate coffee taste and smell, and it will also turn out darker. In general, you can add other aromatic substances that you like to cognac, for example, a pinch of cinnamon or grated ginger.
For one day, put the cognac in a jar under a lid in a room at room temperature, and then place the cognac in the refrigerator for another 2 days.

Homemade cognac made from moonshine with caramel syrup and spices

According to this recipe, the cognac comes out thick, with a rich spicy taste. Together with additives, it is infused for 14 to 30 days, and after they are removed from the water, the drink must be kept for another three months.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. l. sugar (for syrup).
Strong moonshine – 3 l.
Oak chips for home winemaking – 6-8 pcs.
1 tsp. dark leaf tea.
15 rose hips (fresh or dried).
1 tsp. St. John's wort pharmaceutical.
Raisins, prunes, oregano, thyme as desired.

Manufacturing process:

Boil caramel syrup. To do this, mix 2 tablespoons of sugar with 3 tablespoons of water, dissolve, placing the container with sugar and water on low heat. Boil the syrup until the mass becomes thick and acquires a brown color. Skim the foam from the syrup from time to time.
Place oak chips in a jar for making cognac. Special wood chips for winemaking are already fried. If you use another product, you should heat the wood in a dry frying pan and, once it has cooled, put it in a jar.
Add loose leaf dark tea, rose hips and ground St. John's wort to the wood chips. If desired, add washed prunes or raisins, a few grams of oregano and thyme.
Pour moonshine into the jar, followed by cooled caramel syrup. Mix everything and close with a nylon lid.
After a week, remove prunes from the jar if they were added.
Infuse cognac in a cool, black place for 2-4 weeks, constantly shaking the jar with its contents.
After the designated time, filter the cognac, pour it into bottles and incubate for 3 months before the first tasting. If sediment forms, pass the liquid through the filter again.

Homemade cognac with almonds

Cognac with an almond smell, a soft, slightly bitter aftertaste is produced according to this recipe. It is important to take almonds for use in cooking, under no circumstances run wild. You can also replace it with almond essence.

Ingredients:

Moonshine with a strength of about 50 degrees - 1 liter.
Almonds – 10 g.
Raisins – 10 g.
Sugar – 2 tbsp. l.
Oak bark or wood chips – 5 g.
Currant and cherry leaves.

Manufacturing process:

Pour a small amount of boiling water over oak chips and leave for 24 hours. Oak bark can simply be washed a couple of times in water.
Wash the raisins well, dry them, and pour them into a bottle for the future cognac.
Send the almonds after the raisins. It should not be crushed and under no circumstances should it be heated, although this advice is given in some sources. If almond essence is used, it must be added directly to the moonshine at the latest step in making the drink.
Wash currant and cherry leaves (3-5 leaves each) and pour hot water over them for a minute, then drain the water and put the leaves in a jar.
Pour the moonshine into the jar, add sugar, mix everything together very well so that the sweet crystals dissolve.
Close the lid of the jar with the drink and leave it to infuse for 3-4 weeks in a black, cool place.
After the above-mentioned time has passed, strain the alcoholic drink and pour it into bottles. The cognac should sit in them for about another month, and only then will it fully reveal its own taste and smell.

Cognac at home from moonshine, recipe for making

Strong alcohol is of good quality for everyone, and a bottle of cognac will perfectly decorate any feast. Not everyone knows that home-made cognac from moonshine, the recipe for which we will present to the attention of readers, can compete with the most expensive varieties of this industrially produced drink. Homemade alcohol guarantees the use of high-quality raw materials, which means no bad health after the feast, no unpleasant symptoms the next day and, of course, an unsurpassedly pleasant and mild taste.

Subtleties of preparation and manufacturing

The base of real cognac is always moonshine made from grape mash. When preparing a drink at home, you can use any raw material, but it is better if it is fruity. In this case, it will be possible to give the alcohol a suitable flavor color. The main condition for obtaining high-quality homemade cognac is the introduction of good moonshine, therefore the preparation step of this ingredient must be given a lot of attention.

Alcohol content 45–60%.
The highest degree of purification from excess impurities.
Moonshine must be consumed transparent, so if you need to dilute the base, you need to pour alcohol into the water, and not the other way around.
For fermentation and the next distillation, you need to use raw materials of good quality, without rottenness, signs of spoilage and mold.
Using spring water. If this is not possible, then the water supply must be left for a certain number of days.

The distillation process must also be carried out in two steps. After the first distillation step, a huge amount of fusel oil remains in the moonshine, which will spoil the taste of alcohol. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out double distillation to get rid of excess impurities.

Dishes used in the manufacturing process do not have to oxidize from the action of alcohol-containing liquids. Therefore, you need to infuse cognac at home from moonshine, the recipe for which will be described below, in enamel or glass containers. Under no circumstances is it permissible to use duralumin tools and utensils during the process. This point should not be ignored, otherwise the taste of the product will be spoiled.

Cognac at home from moonshine, recipe

We will look at several recipes for making your own alcohol. Among them are quick options, which will require no more than 3-5 days to realize the dream (excluding the preparation of moonshine).

Traditional frisky recipe

This recipe allows you to get a pleasant-tasting product with a light chocolate-vanilla note. The composition is designed to produce 3 liters. final drink.

Moonshine prepared for future use – 3l.
Walnuts (partitions, dried) – 0.5 cups.
Black tea, large leaf, high quality – 1 tbsp. l.
Carnation – 6 inflorescences.
Vanilla sugar – 1 tsp.
Cumin – 1 tbsp. l.
Citric acid – 1 g (at the tip of a knife).

The manufacturing process begins with nut partitions, cumin, cloves and tea being poured into a glass jar or bottle. Then pour the prepared moonshine over it all and stir. Pour out a little alcohol and dissolve the sugar in it until the crystals completely disappear, and pour into a jar. Add citric acid. Stir the contents of the jar again and close with a tight nylon lid.

The jar of future cognac must be placed in a dark, dry space. It is better if it is away from heating devices. The temperature surrounding the tincture (about +20 degrees) should not be subject to sharp fluctuations, otherwise it will damage the process and spoil the drink. There also shouldn't be any drafts.

It is necessary to infuse the moonshine for at least 5 days; you can extend the process up to 7 if you have enough patience. After the designated period, the cognac must be filtered and completely bottled. To speed up the process and reduce the wait for the drink to fill with the desired taste, you can heat the liquid. To do this, it is first combined with the ingredients in an enamel pan and put on fire. It is important not to allow it to boil. As a standard, the drink must be heated to 80 degrees and removed from heat. In this case, you can filter and bottle the cognac after three days.

Cognac with pine nuts

We present to your attention homemade cognac made from moonshine, recipe “Siberian”. This manufacturing method is typical for the most northern regions, which is why it got its name. The taste of alcohol differs significantly from the version presented first. Indeed, a huge number of spices can be used as part of flavoring and aromatic additives, and therefore it is possible to give the drink different colors.

moonshine – 3 l;
oak bark - 3 tbsp. l.;
cedar nut (shell) – 200 g;
sugar, vanilla – 5 g;
nutmeg – 1 pc.

The first thing you need to do is brew the oak bark; to do this, pour the required amount of the component into a glass of boiling water. Infused at room temperature. Once the infusion has cooled, it must be filtered from solid particles and added to the moonshine.

Then grate the nutmeg and add to the liquid. Dissolve vanilla sugar one hundred percent in a small amount of moonshine and pour into the bulk of the future cognac. Lastly, nut shells are poured into the alcohol and the container is tightly locked.

The tincture must be stored in a dark space for a month. Once every two days you need to shake the mixture to mix the composition. After the designated time has expired, the cognac must be filtered and bottled.

Oak bark recipe

Everyone knows that real cognac is infused in oak barrels. At home, it makes much more sense to use oak bark specifically. Firstly, bark of good quality can be purchased without any problems at the nearest pharmacy. Secondly, it will not only saturate the alcohol with suitable substances and give a suitable color, but will also act as a sorbent, absorbing excess fusel oils.

prepared moonshine – 3l;
sugar – 3 tbsp. l.;
oak bark - 3 tbsp. l.;
large-leaf tea, the highest quality - 3 tbsp. l.;
St. John's wort herb - 3 tbsp. l.;
dried rose hips - 2 tbsp. l.;
sugar, vanilla – 15 g;
cinnamon – 3 tsp.

You need to combine all the dry ingredients in a glass jar and fill them with moonshine. We close the drink with a lid and place it in a dark space with a measured temperature of about 20 degrees. The infusion continues for a week, do not disturb the liquid during this period, then you need to open the jar and carefully mix the composition. Let it sit for another 2 weeks.

At the end of the period, you need to carefully drain the cognac from the sediment so as not to disturb it; the last 500 grams of water should remain in the jar along with the sediment. It is best to use a rubber or plastic hose for draining. Then you need to filter the drink and bottle it. After this, the alcohol must rest; for this, it is sent to a dark, cold room for 1–1.5 months. Only later can you start tasting.

It should be noted that cognac made at home from moonshine, the recipe for which is presented in the extreme, is closest in taste to the original. In fact, there are a lot of options for making this drink and listing them could take a very long time. Anyone can experiment with flavoring and aromatic additives and get their own unique taste and smell of homemade cognac.