Prune Vodka
This recipe is to be tasted in about… a year. I found it while leafing through “Home made wines, nalewki and meads” by Elzbieta and Krzysztof Adamski, a small Polish book packed with over 200 recipes. The ones which interest me particularly are the easiest ones, namely nalewki. As I have already mentioned while writing about Mandarin Vodka, making liquors at home has been a long Polish tradition, so finding books with hundreds of recipes is not surprising. Contrary to most worldwide made liquors, the Polish nalewki are not necessarily sweet and aging is usually obligatory (apart from certain exceptions, such as Mandarin Vodka).
The making process of the Prune Vodka, as most such preparations, is ridiculously easy. It requires only 90% alcohol, water, prunes and… a lot of patience. The authors promise that after a year the result will resemble – in colour and taste – nothing less but… cognac. How can one miss such an occasion? I will keep serious and try not laughing for at least a year, because one never knows…
Preparation: 5 minutes+1 year and 1 month waiting time
Ingredients:
150g stoned prunes
1 litre 90% alcohol
1 litre water
Put the stoned prunes in a big jar. Pour water and alcohol over them. Close the jar. (Following the advice I found on a Polish alcohol makers’ forum I mixed water with alcohol and left it for two days before pouring over the prunes. Don’t ask me why, I simply listen to the specialists…)
After a month strain the prunes and discard them.
Filter the liquid through a coffee filter or a piece of gauze folded in 4.
Close it tightly and wait one year before tasting.
Update (one month later): the colour of the strained liquid is beautiful and it does remind me of cognac, however the smell is overwhelmed by the alcohol. No trace of any other aroma. Since I am not supposed to taste it before a year, I haven’t even tried to (the smell wasn’t encouraging anyway!). Next update in a year’s time!
In the states they’ve taken to calling prunes dried plums. I just think that’s funny.
Maybe some people thought prune was a different fruit 😉
I remember the prune name change- it made the news. The prune council, or some such official prune governing body, decided to make the change. I guess they thought it would give prunes a facelift. must have been a slow news day.
So how was this Prune Vodka one year later? Also, you used 90% alcohol and 1L water. Was this grain alcohol? Could you just use 45% (or 40%) vodka?
Hi, Nick. Thank you for reminding me I haven’t updated this post. Unfortunately, even though the colour does remind one of cognac, the taste is not very interesting… A big disappointment, but the risk is also a part of fun here.
The infused vodka I would strongly advise is black currant. It was so good, I will be making lots of bottles this year (and every single person I know loves it). Here is the link: http://www.withaglass.com/?p=5811
Of course in every infused vodka you can lower the alcohol degree as much as you like (adding more water or fruit or sugar too). I often also use simple grain vodka.