How to make Calvados at home

You can try to make any of the existing drinks at home, but no one guarantees the originality of taste. Calvados is easy to create at home, only apples and special devices for distillation are needed. Calvados is a regional drink, which means that it can be produced strictly in a certain territory, in this case it is lower Normandy, France.

Mention of this drink is found in documents dating back to 1553. They say that a nobleman came up with how to get a completely new drink from cider by distillation. The name comes from the place where it began to be actively produced, namely from the department of Calvados in Normandy. The largest producer at the moment is AOC Calvados, and this is not a separate company, but the whole territory where this popular drink is prepared. More than 30 varieties of apples are specially grown there, which are divided into sour, sweet and bitter according to their taste. Therefore, if you want to recreate the Calvados recipe at home, stock up on all varieties in a ratio of 2: 1: 7. You can use pears, the main thing is that all the fruits are ripe, without cracks and rottenness.

First of all, you need to squeeze the juice from the apples, but do not throw out the remaining pulp, but pour water, squeeze it again, and only then it will go to waste. Prepare a mixture of these liquids, take about 80% of the juice of the first extraction and only 20% of the second. Make sure that there is enough sugar, otherwise fermentation processes can go on, it should be at least 10%. To make Calvados at home, a leaven is prepared separately. Yeast for her must be wild, that is, obtained from the surface of berries and fruits. Cut unwashed fruits and mix with sugar, wait for the appearance of foam and mix everything with the must prepared in advance. The fermentation process should take place within a month, or even more, without oxygen, at a temperature of 20-22 degrees. After the end of the selection of carbon dioxide from cider, it is distilled and distillate with a strength of 26-30 degrees is obtained. Re-distillation gives crude alcohol, in which the ethyl alcohol content reaches 70%. Calvados at home is almost ready. It remains only to insist on it. Ideally, this is done in oak barrels, but glassware is also suitable, add only slivers there to obtain a characteristic aroma. After a week or two, the distillate will begin to acquire a dark amber color and change its taste. It should be insisted for about a month.

This method is the fastest, although it does not correspond to French traditions. Cooking Calvados at home using bark requires special attention. The product will turn out astringent if the bark is not preliminarily fried in the oven until a pronounced odor appears. The distillate is very saturated with aromas and tastes, but in color it is much darker than the original. To get the best taste, you can combine calvados of various preparations. Drinking such a drink is best with ice and a slice of apple.