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Slivovitz

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squeezyjohn

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It's been a brilliant year for the wild plums around me in 2014 - they were nice and sweet ... so I collected a huge amount in the old fermenting vessel.

IMG_0023.jpg

It's bubbling away to itself at the moment. I could keep it as it comes ... but if only there was some way of ... say ... purifying it?

I might get 1, maybe 2 litres of the good stuff.

;)
 

squeezyjohn

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Of course - I will have to content myself with plum wine because "purifying" one's alcohol is frowned upon over here.

:D
 

DIY Pete

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They tend to frown on it over here as well. Funny how you get in less trouble for smoking a joint than for making your own booze.

Pete
 

squeezyjohn

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We'll see how it goes ... it looks like a massive brain haemorrhage at the moment ... need to do something to clean it up for drinking!
 

SmokesAhoy

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If you guys get cold there? Just let it go till it gets down in temps and cold crash it so you can siphon it. I'd think you'd be better off distilling it though. Plums blech.
 

squeezyjohn

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I've heard of that as a way of making cider stronger ... Is it called applejack? But I've never tasted it. No - I'll come up with something I'm sure!
 

SmokesAhoy

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No that's ice distilling, not very efficient. Cold crashing will get most of the yeast and floaties to fall to the bottom, but before you do that strain most of the big stuff out. You can see how it works with a little bit by placing it in the frig. After a while everything falls and the top is clear.
 

gargynko

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Slivovica is a flag ship of our country :).

A visitor came to our village and asked local guy:

"Where is the place you are distilling Slivovica?" , he asked

"Do you see that building? " guy pointed toward the local church.

"Yeah I see", answered visitor.

"Then everywhere except that one".
 

squeezyjohn

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The only good slivovice/slivovitz/slivovica I've ever thought was brilliant was home made in the Czech Republic ... I've never bought any that I've liked!

There's a strong tradition in central Europe of fruit brandies of all sorts. Less of a living tradition for them in the UK - but somebody must have planted all those trees with small plums on them here at some time in history! And now nobody's picking them up off the ground ... I hate to see waste ;)
 

squeezyjohn

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I did the deed today ... absolutely delicious ... 1.5 litres when diluted down to drinking strength. Need to pick more plums next year ... that's the trick to this game ... more plums!
 

squeezyjohn

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I think all the fruit brandies are a common thing all through central Europe. Maybe it started in Yugoslavia originally, but I've had fantastic Grappa in Italy, Slivovice in Czech republic, Eau de vie (pear, plum and cherry) in France, Kirschewasser in Germany and Quetsch in Luxembourg ... I figured it wasn't fair for us to be left out here!

Where I live in the south of England we have millions of wild plum trees - they're different from the kind you normally eat and they are both yellow and red with small fruits ... you can't eat them as they're far too sour and we call them cherry-plum. Apparently they're not native to our island and were introduced by either the Romans or Saxons between 1 and 2 thousand years ago ... if they didn't eat them then I'm sure they made a drink out of them! You could call them poor man's grapes.
 

squeezyjohn

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It's a fantastic process ... Eau de Vie means water of life (like whisky) ... but I like to think of Eau de Vie as being the soul of the fruit. It's nothing like moonshine ... you're actually aiming to get as small an amount as possible to concentrate the flavours and aromas of the fruits - adding sugar would dilute that so you make it only using the natural sugars in the fruits (which only ferment out to a liquid of around 4-5% abv) - that way you try to concentrate 23 litres of crushed fruit down to 1.5 litres and it smells heavenly!

The fruit itself is wild and free - but the collecting and processing is very time consuming - it's a special drink for special occasions!
 

Markw

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It sounds good stuff squeezy. I have never tried to make it before but will be having a go next year. I must say I am a Sloe Gin man !!!. just bottled up 10 bottles for Christmas, mind you they won't last long .
 

rainmax

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I thought slivovitz originated from former Jugoslavia................

That is true. It is one of the goods from our country and specially German people are crazy about it. Sliva means plum in our language. Is it in Czechoslovakia the same?
 

DGBAMA

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I did the deed today ... absolutely delicious ... 1.5 litres when diluted down to drinking strength. Need to pick more plums next year ... that's the trick to this game ... more plums!

Have kids/grandkids? Young-uns will be happy to fill all your buckets with fruit for a SMALL allowance. I was happy to get a small amount of change for each bucket of berries I brought home for winemaking. Good life lesson for them too, teaching value of work at a young age.
 

Smokin Harley

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One of my old bosses (retired now) was mostly Croatian , his family made "Slivo" ...I've had a taste of it...like sweet fruit flavored paint thinner.
 

CowboyTed

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That is true. It is one of the goods from our country and specially German people are crazy about it. Sliva means plum in our language. Is it in Czechoslovakia the same?

The first Slivovitz I ever drank came from very near Ljubljana. My relatives make it nearby in Skofia Loka. Delicious stuff . . . most of it at least. They follow the tradition of growing pears inside bottles, and then bottling their Slivovitz with a full-grown pear inside the bottle.

I've considered planting plums here in Colorado just for making Slivovitz. Since starting with the Slovenian nectar, I've tried the stuff from all over central europe, and it amazes me what a range of flavors it exhibits.
 
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