The blackness of night actually works to your advantage because you are somewhat hidden from others, specifically from those whom you do not want to show yourself to. The term moonshine actually hailed from that premise. It often connotes doing something which is unlawful or illegal, and that is the reason why it is basically done at night.

History Repeats Itself

Historically speaking, moonlighting refers to our forefathers who would brew and distillate spirits at night so as to avoid conspicuous eyes as well as avoid high taxes. Now, there are numerous restaurants, bars, and brewery stations named moonlighting. The trademark stuck even after so many years.

The difference between that of the spirits or beers that we see for commercial consumption from that of moonlighting is its intensity. Those for commercial consumption have aged from oak barrels for years, the longer the better as they say. If you try to compare the two varieties of spirits, you will see that the one made from moonlighting is crystal clear as water in contradiction with that of spirits sold in the market, which has a yellow or golden color because of aging, which disintegrates the strength a bit.

The difference therefore lies in its strength. The alcohol content or proof is much higher in moonlighted spirits as compared to its commercial counterpart. The kick is definitely harder than you thought it would be.

Art of Moonlighting

The old cliché goes, women are like wine, tastes better with time. This holds true when it comes to clarity and texture of taste in liquors. But if you want the unadulterated and pure rock solid taste, you must go and check out moonlighting creations. That is where DIY or do-it-yourself spirits are labeled.

Basically, one just needs malt, fruits, corn meal, yeast, sugar, and water to make your own spirit. You can customize by adding other ingredients to create spunk in your drink. First, you ground the corn or your choice of fruits, then you soak it in boiling water, some would add malt, then you can mix the yeast while stirring the concentration thoroughly.

When you see vapors rise, usually they use thump keg which bolts up with pressure, the steam would readily flow into a pipe with cold water which helps convert gas to liquid state, then it leads to one last filter where crystal clear liquid then flows from a spout, ready for bottling and distribution. Definitely not rocket science but many people believe that moonlighting is an art. Every passion has its extremes.

Every piece of art is a revelation. This is one of it.

Making Wine is as Easy as 1-2-3

Do you want to feel the pride of having your own personal stock of wine? Do you want to know how to make your own wine? This article will provide you with the different information essential in making homemade wines. There is a significant point one has to know before making wines. You are only allowed to make a hundred gallons of beer or wine every year. For a non-alcohol drinker, that’s a lot of wine.

Ingredients, Materials, and the Process

Even though homemade wines are not as exquisite as commercially made wines, it is very simple to make with the use of very reliable equipments. What are the equipments that this project will require? The things you are going to use is 2 five gal bottles, a single thin plastic bag for sandwich, twelve to fifteen quarts of unpasteurized grape juice, one fourth tablespoon of yeast ( this is used for the fermentation of the wine), 2.2 lbs. of sugar, one quart of fresh and clear water, and 12 – 15 resealable bottles.

Before pouring the grape juice into the container, make sure that the containers you are going to use is sterilized. The sterilization of the equipments will lessen the chances of harboring bacteria during the fermentation process. If you forgot this step, this might cause the spoilage of your wine. Making sure that the containers are sterile, you can empty the grape juice into a large bottle. Mix your sugar with fresh clean water and make the mixture warm to dissolve the sugar. Let it cool then put in the yeast and mix the solution. Add the mixture of sugar, water, and yeast to the grape juice then cover it with the thin sandwich bag and seal it using a rubber band. In two days, the grape juice will start fermenting.

To determine if the fermentation process is complete, you should check for bubbles and the inflation of the plastic bag after three weeks. If you happen to see bubbles, you might have to wait for two weeks. After the fermentation process, you can use filtration to separate the solid particles that settled at the top of the container. Then you can put the finished wine in a bottle. You can store it for weeks or even years. Remember, aging wines are more delicious than newly-produced wines.

Wine making is really as easy as 1-2-3. Enjoy the sweetness of wine and the fruits of your labor!

It’s even found in the history books because of the part it played in the English slave trade. It was also one of the more popular items with the pirates of the 17th century, who frequented the Caribbean and the Indies regions.

Manufacturing Rum

It’s quite difficult to manufacture rum on your own, especially if you don’t find yourself the owner of a distillery or some other sort of processing facility. Developing your own blend and mix for rum could also take a lot of time because of the number of factors involved in creating the final flavor of the rum. It is made even more difficult by the fact that there is no set recipe or specifications for rum and that the institutions that make rum predictably keep their methods a tightly guarded secret.

Making Rum – An Overview

Initially, rum was made from molasses, one of the substances that get left behind when sugar is made or processed. As rum-making developed, it has also become common to add other byproducts from the processing of cane sugar.

Once the molasses and other ingredients have been procured, the fermentation process is begun, commonly with the use of yeast. While wild yeasts can be used, many manufacturers prefer to use a particular strain to make the results more predictable. The yeast used is one of the major factors in determining the taste in the rum because a longer fermentation time makes for rum with a more full-bodied taste.

The fermented product is then distilled with the use of stills. There are two kinds of stills that can be used in producing rum – pot stills and column stills. The type used is another determining factor in the taste. Pot stills tend to leave behind more impurities in the distilled product, giving it a richer flavor.

The distilled liquid is then put in casks to age. Using different types of casks will result in different flavors, ranging from new casks for lighter flavors to heavily charred casks for richer tastes. The aging process can take anywhere from two to seven years. Many factors can affect the aging process, such as the climate and other additives (like caramel) that were used in the rum.

If you’re interested in and serious about making your own rum, be prepared for a major investment in terms of time and finances. You’ll find that manufacturing rum will be difficult but can also be very rewarding.

But there’s more to martinis than just imitating the pop icon. You can try the bar favorite in any number of flavors, and you’re free to experiment with the wide variety of commercially available liquor and ingredients. It all just begins with knowing how to mix the basic martini.

Go Ingredient Shopping

Your basic martini just needs a couple of ingredients and, contrary to what Mr. Bond might believe, won’t even need any Absolut. Drive over to your nearest liquor store and, unless you’ve already got one at home, get yourself a martini shaker. You can then proceed to ask for some gin and some vermouth. But it’s not that easy.

You see, vermouth comes in two variants – the dry, clear version of the French and the sweet, red kind of the Italians. You’ll want to get the former as it’s the convention for martini. Don’t scrimp on it, too. Get good quality vermouth because it’s the critical component that makes a martini a martini.

While you’re out, you might also want to get a lemon for garnish or some olives for that Hollywood touch.

Mixing Your Drink

Grab your shaker and fill it with ice. Most bartenders would suggest that you use shaved ice for this step. Although many people say that ice tends to sissify the drink, all it actually does is blend the ingredients better and reduce the burn of the alcohol in your throat. Put in one part vermouth then give it a quick stir in the ice.

Then pour in five parts gin and give it another quick stir. Strain the result into a martini glass. Martinis taste better when they’re cold, so you can pop the martini glass into the freezer before using it for some extra chill. You can then add garnishing like lemon peel or olives.

One part vermouth to five parts gin is the usual ratio, although you’re free to change it according to your preferences. ‘Dry’ martini means a lower ratio of vermouth to gin. Some even just add a spray (yes, a spray) of vermouth and then filling up the glass with gin.

Just remember that without vermouth, it’s just plain gin. Feel free to experiment with other factors like different garnishing (some martinis actually differ in just this respect).

Keep practicing your martini-mixing skills, and you could find yourself the star at your next party. You’ve got to admit, this is one field where you won’t mind trying and trying again.

Ingredients and Equipments

It is easy to make a homemade beer. For this, you will need light dried malt extract (three pounds), crushed crystal malt (eight ounces), Northern Brewer pellet hops (one ounce), brewers yeast (one package), and finally sugar for bottling (three eights of a cup). This will give you about 2.5 gallons.

You will also need a brew pot, strainer, funnel, kitchen thermometer, containers, and bottles for your beer.

The Process of How to Make Beer

Place your crystal malt in a freezer bag and crush them, but just enough that they look like broken grains not like flour. Next is called steeping wherein you place your crushed grains into about 2.5 gallons of water and then heat it to about 155 degrees.

After it has reached that temperature, turn off the heat and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, making sure that you have covered the pot, then strain it. Once done, boil the liquid. Once boiling, turn the heat off and pour in your malt extract and stir. Turn the heat on once more and let it boil again. Add in about two thirds of an ounce of your hop pellets while it is still boiling and leave it for about an hour.

After an hour, add in the rest of the hop pellets before covering the pot with an air lock and letting it sit for another 10 minutes. This allows the carbon dioxide to go out while still at the fermentation stage.

After it has cooled, you now have an unfermented beer or wort, which you will strain using a strainer and funnel, making sure that it does not spill over the fermentation bottle, before adding in the yeast. Let it sit in a cool and dim area for about a week to ten days (called fermentation process). During this stage, you will see foam and bubbles form.

After this is the priming stage wherein you will add your sugar to about a cup of water and let it boil for five minutes. Let it cool first before you place it in a new container that will hold the fermented beer. In transferring the fermented beer to the new container, you should transfer it carefully, making sure that you take no sediment that has accumulated in the bottom with it.

You now have a finished product, but before you go and share them with friends and families, you should let it age first for about another week in the cool and dim area. This also allows for carbonation of the beer.

If you want a unique twist, why not learn how to make vodka? With a beautiful bottle, you can give them as gifts to your friends and family. Who knows? From a simple gift, it will turn out to be a multimillion business. So start learning how to make vodka now.

The Basic Tools and Ingredients

As we all know, vodka typically comes from foods that contain starch, like grains. Remember though that to make quality vodka you should have quality starch-containing foods and a lot of patience.

You should also have your own still. You can purchase one and assemble it at home, or you can look in the Internet how to make vodka still. Looking for the parts is easy as you can easily purchase them at any cooking and hardware store. It consists mainly of four parts. You have your heat source, which can be your gas stove; boiling chamber; water-cooling pipes; and the bottle for collecting the finished product. To assemble, you can consult the internet or the instruction that came with your home-still set.

Five-Step Process of How to Make Vodka

Thoroughly clean your vodka home still is the first process.

Step two is where you will make your mash. Boil your grains for about an hour, taking care that you have used purified water. After about an hour, put in your yeast. For about a week or two, let the mixture sit.

Step three is done after about two weeks and is called the distillation process. Light your gas stove and place your mash in the boiling chamber. You will notice the alcohol separating from the mixture and traveling through the water cooling pipes before being collected in the collection bottle.

Repeat the process for about three to five times, taking care that you clean your boiling chamber thoroughly before going through the process again. It is also important to note that you remove the first 50 ml and the last 50 ml of the collected liquid because it is high in methanol content, a harmful substance.

Filtration is step four wherein you will filter the collected fluid through a funnel stuffed with a cotton ball and some activated carbon.

The last step or the dilution is where you will mix the final and filtered vodka with purified water. You can also use purified water. The ratio should be 3:1 to make it smoother and milder as pure distilled vodka gives a strong kick.

Foods and drinks are essential elements when you’re planning to hold party in bars or more preferably at home. Parties, among young adults, have the tradition of serving alcoholic beverages to their guests, and the most typical of alcoholic beverage is the Jello shots.

What are Jello Shots?

Jello shot is a kind of alcoholic beverage that has the same component like a regular gelatin recipe. The only difference is we also add alcohol as an essential ingredient of the drink.

Steps in Making Jello Shots

Making Jello shots is very easy and fun to do. What are the things you are going to use in making Jello shots? When making Jello shots, you will be needing 16 ounces of boiling water, 6 ounces of cold water, 10 ounces of 80-proof alcohol (preferably cold), 20 small plastic sups or shot glasses, non-stick cooking spray, mixing bowl, and 6 ounces of Jello or gelatin mix.

You can choose from a variety of flavors of gelatin mixes. On the other hand, you can choose from vodka (the most common alcohol used in Jello shots) or any other hard alcohol drinks you want to use.

After preparing all the necessary materials you will use. Here are the very easy steps in making your homemade Jello shots.

• Pour the contents of your gelatin mix to the large mixing bowl.
• Add the boiling water while stirring the mix gently. Be careful in pouring the boiling water. You may use a pot holder to protect
  yourself from getting burned. Let the mix stay for a minute, so the gelatin mix will be completely dissolved.
• Add the alcohol and cold water.
• Arrange your small cups or shot glasses on the serving tray.
• Use a spray container with cooking oil and spray cooking oil on each glass to prevent the gelatin mix to stick at the bottom of the glass.
• Pour the Jello mix into the shot glasses.
• Place the Jello shots inside the refrigerator and let them cool for at least 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, remove the tray from the refrigerator, then serve them to your guest and enjoy.

These are easy steps you can use to keep your planned party alive. Always remember to be creative while making your Jello shots, so that you and your guests will really have the time of your life!

Fancy Arctic Frozen Ice Shots

If you want to have fancy jello shots glasses then you must have these ones.
Arctic Frozen Ice Shots will chill the guests at your next cocktail gathering. Just fill the plastic
Arctic Frozen Ice Shots molds with water, stick them in the freezer, and you’ve got shot glasses made of ice – literally!

How to make Jello Shot Video