Chacha recipe. Chacha from grapes at home - the best and simple Georgian recipes

Chacha is a strong alcoholic drink, which is made by the method of double distillation from grapes in Georgia and Abkhazia. Unlike ordinary moonshine, chacha has the best organoleptic characteristics and is even considered useful if used in small quantities. Traveling to the above countries, tourists can buy a legendary drink, but local residents themselves are convinced that chacha should be made from grapes at home. Knowing the production technology of chacha at home and the recipe, you can try chacha without visiting Georgia, that is, by welding it yourself.

Technology features

Each Georgian and Abkhazian family has its own recipe for making chacha from grapes. Nevertheless, the technology of its preparation remains unchanged.

In the manufacture of chacha is often substandard grapes (too small, damaged, immature), which can not be used to make wine. The marc remaining after cooking wine is used more often. First, they are still no longer useful for anything. Secondly, they remain after a truly high-quality grapes, intended for the production of noble wines, which means that the chacha of them will turn out the best quality.
When used for cooking chacha oil cake, it is desirable that it is not completely wrung out. If less than 25 percent of the juice is left in it, the chacha from it will not taste as good as the juicy grapes.
Traditionally, no sugar or yeast is used to make chacha. However, in Georgia and Abkhazia grapes have a higher sugar content than in other regions of Russia. Therefore, sugar is still added when cooking chacha at home is necessary. But in the case of yeast, the situation is different. If the grapes were not washed and he did not fall under the rain before harvesting, then bacteria live on the surface of the berries that can cause fermentation. You just need to be patient and wait until the time comes to distill the grape mash. If it is possible to proceed with distillation with cultural yeast within two weeks, then relying entirely on the wild, this moment will have to wait at least a month. But without the use of cultural yeast, chacha does not have an unpleasant smell peculiar to moonshine. So if there is a desire to get a truly high-quality drink, it is better to be patient and wait.
In order not to burn the cake in the distillation process, the mash is filtered before it. It is better not to throw the cake itself, but to collect it in gauze and hang it inside the distillation cube. Then chacha is filled with its aroma - it will be pleasant to drink such a drink.
Opinions on how strong chacha should be strong, diverge. Some believe that it should not be stronger than 45 degrees, others insist that the strength of this drink should be 70 degrees. However, in the homeland of this wonderful drink, its fortress usually ranges between 55 and 60 degrees, so it is better to focus on these numbers.
Chacha distilled twice. For the first time, it makes no sense to divide it into fractions, but when re-distilled, the “tails” and “heads” must be “cut off”. In other words, about 8-12 percent of the liquid distilled first is poured. Just pour out the last part, stopping the distillation, when the liquid emerging from the coil becomes no stronger than 40 degrees. Later the fortress of the resulting drink is adjusted to the standard, diluting the chacha with clean, softened water.
Immediately after receiving chacha usually do not drink, and insist within two weeks. This is best done in an oak barrel, but if it is not available on the farm, you can do it with regular bottles.
In conclusion, you can recommend clearing the chacha so that its taste, color and aroma become even better. To do this, you can pour into the bottle with her a little pine nuts and insist for two weeks, then remove the nuts and discard. Another option is to filter through gauze filled with activated carbon.

The rest of the cooking technology depends on the recipe, although it does not significantly depend on it.

Chacha recipe from grapes without yeast

Composition (3-4.5 l):

isabella grapes (may be immature) - 7.5 kg;
pure softened water (5 l - at the first stage, 5-7,5 l - before the second distillation and 1-1,5 l - to bring the drink to the desired strength);
sugar - 4 kg.

Cooking method:

Grapes with combs fold into a large tub or basin. Carefully knead it so that not a single berry is left. In no case should one wash the berries before this, otherwise fermentation will not take place, since it must be provided by live yeasts that inhabit the surface of the grapes.
Pour in sugar, pour in purified and slightly warmed up water, if necessary (its optimum temperature is 26-28 degrees), stir.
Put everything in a large container (a glass bottle with a volume of 20-30 liters is ideal). From above establish a hydrolock. It can be replaced with a conventional latex glove, puncturing a finger in it.
Place the bottle in a warm room, where the temperature is not less than 22-24 degrees (but not above 28 degrees). A day later, open the bottle and mix its contents.
Wait for the fermentation to complete. It will be clearly visible on the water seal or glove: the water seal will stop blowing bubbles, the glove will deflate and fall.
Press the pulp. Braga strain and pour into the still. Surpass, not divided into fractions. The only caveat: after the strength of the outgoing drink drops to 20 degrees, it is better to stop the distillation.
Measure the amount of fluid produced. Most likely its volume will be 5-7 liters. Dissolve it with the same amount of pure water.
Distill again, this time already dividing into fractions and stopping the distillation when the output liquid reaches 30-40 degrees.
Measure the strength of the resulting chacha and dilute it to 55-60 degrees with clean water.

If everything is done correctly, then from 3 to 4.5 liters of chacha should be obtained from the initial amount of ingredients indicated in the recipe. The exact amount depends on various parameters, including the sugar content of the grapes themselves.

Yeast Chacha Recipe

Composition (2.5-3.5 l):

grape cake (not processed) - 5 l;
water - 15 liters;
sugar - 2.5 kg;
yeast - 50 g dry (better than alcohol) or 0.25 kg pressed.

Cooking method:

Place grape cake obtained from grapes in a container where it will be fermented. If the cake is used recycled, that is, remaining after cooking wine, it must be taken 1.5-2 times more than indicated in the recipe. In any case, you will need a bottle with a capacity of at least 30 liters.
Put sugar and yeast into the fermentation tank.
Heat the water a little so that its temperature is 26-28 degrees. Pour grape pomace with it.
Mix the contents of the bottle well and install a water seal on it or attach a rubber glove to the neck so that it fits tightly. In the finger glove with a needle, make a small hole.
Put the bottle in a warm room. Mix the contents once a day.
After 10-15 days, fermentation should stop. The contents of the bottle will be bitter.
Drain the liquid from the bottle, squeeze the pulp through folded gauze.
Strain the resulting liquid and transfer it to a boil. Put on the fire and distill as usual moonshine. When the strength of the liquid being distilled drops to 30 degrees, stop the distillation. Dilute the resulting liquid with clean water so that its strength will remain at 20 degrees.
Repeat the distillation, cutting off the “tails” and “head”. The first portion of at least 10 percent should be poured out, as it may contain acetone and other harmful substances. The last 10 percent are also poured, as they contain a lot of fusel oils, spoiling the taste of the finished drink.
Dissolve the vat after the second distillation with water until the desired strength is obtained. Bottle and leave for another 2 weeks to allow the chacha to settle. Before that, it can be filtered through potassium permanganate or activated carbon, then chacha will be cleaner and more pleasant to the taste.

The output of chacha will depend on the sugar content of the grapes and other parameters, so the amount of the beverage produced can be determined only approximately. Usually, at least 2.5 liters of chacha usually go out of the amount of ingredients indicated in the recipe.

Chacha - Georgian strong alcoholic drink. By class, he belongs to the brandy. It is traditional to assume that chacha is prepared in Georgia. The recipe for this drink has been passed down from generation to generation for many years. You can check how well the chacha is cooked by wetting your finger in it and bringing it to the lit match.

How is chacha made?

In order to get a full-fledged product, no different from a professionally made Georgian drink, it takes 30 liters of water. The basis of our future drink is grape marc, which can be obtained in unlimited quantities after cooking wine. You need this cake about 10 liters.

Do not do when cooking chacha, and without yeast. In order to get at the output exactly as much product as you need, you should take in the store 100 grams of yeast. In order to make chacha sweet, take 5 kilograms of sugar.

The first thing that should be done to make chacha is to fill a large glass vessel with cake. All sugar and yeast are poured into it, all solid ingredients are poured with water. The water used is not hot, but boiled.

Capacity with tincture is closed with a lid and placed for a week or more in a dark room. Every day, the tincture is worth stir.

The next step is the use of moonshine. Its bottom is covered with straw. Top poured everything that we insisted in a dark room. The straw serves as a filter and protective layer that protects the cake from burning. After all the ingredients are poured into the moonshine, distillation begins. The specific smell that appears almost immediately can be removed by separating the liquid from the grape marc.

The last stage is the most interesting - chacha is brought to its final state, in which it can be consumed. To give it a piquant and pleasant taste, add walnut to the resulting tincture. The drink is infused for 30-60 days after the addition of the walnut. At the end, another distillation process takes place, and the strength of the final product is about 46 degrees.

How and where to drink chacha

Chacha is best used for large parties and feasts. It is drunk very easily, but these days it is such drinks that are very popular. After all, the European style determines the ease of drinking alcohol. Also, chacha is absolutely incompatible with a hangover. Properly prepared drink, which contains a full range of necessary substances can favorably affect the digestive system.

It is also commonly accepted that the use of chacha cures cancer and malignant tumors. To prepare the drink is used not only grapes. A clear drink may also be necessary. Since moonshine has an unpleasant alcohol odor, it can be removed. This requires filter wadding and potassium permanganate. How to clean the chacha from the smell of alcohol?

At first chacha gets divorced to 45 degrees. Three grams of potassium permanganate is enough for three liters of ready diluted alcohol mixture. The solution obtained by adding potassium permanganate is stirred and hid for three days in a dark place. The result of cleaning will be immediately noticeable - dark flakes will appear in the solution, which after some time will simply settle. To remove them, the chacha is drained from the previous vessel into a new one, clean and roomy through a filter that can be installed inside the watering can. As a filter material is able to act ordinary wool. At the end of all activities related to the preparation of the drink, you can enjoy the unique fruit notes and the aroma of fruit vodka.

Sugar in the cup - add or not

It differs from usual well-known braga or moonshine fermentation not on alcoholic yeast, but on its own. Real connoisseurs believe that sugar is an extra element of the drink. Because of sugar, the unique and unique aroma and flavor bouquet of fruit liqueur is lost.

Although this opinion is supported by most amateurs and tasters, the recipe states a little differently, and sugar should be added. But, of course, you can give preference to personal taste ideas, and decide whether to add and not add sugar by yourself. In addition to taste, the addition of sugar allows you to increase the yield of the product by 16-17 liters. The original taste and aroma will remain with the proper use of sugar in the creation of alcoholic beverage.

In order to choose the most suitable grape variety, it is not necessary to strain or search through reference books. It is worth making sure that any grape variety is suitable for making a drink, the main thing is that there should be enough of it and that it should not be spoiled by pests or toxins.

Chacha is a Caucasian strong alcoholic drink, essentially related to brandy from grapes or cognac class. Chacha can be called a Caucasian wine made from grapes or grape vodka. Once upon a time chacha was used as an aperitif before the meal. Caucasian centenarians recommend drinking a small glass of this drink every morning. According to the mountaineers, this way you can live to a great old age. How to make chacha from grapes at home is known to all Georgians. Every small village even has its own recipe for chacha. Traditionally, such a drink in the Caucasus is present at all, without exception, feasts. Since chacha is an alcoholic beverage, it is recommended to have a snack. For example, in Western Georgia, this alcoholic beverage is taken to eat fruit or chocolate, and in Eastern Georgia it is something salty. Interestingly, chacha can be consumed not only in its pure form, but used to prepare delicious cocktails. As a rule, chacha is made from isabella grapes.

The easiest recipe

To prepare a recipe for chacha from grapes at home, we need ripe grapes and sugar. First prepare the wort. Take Isabella grapes, but do not wash it, because this way you will wash away all the wine yeast on the surface of the berries. Tear off all ripe berries in some enamelled container and thoroughly crush them, so that grape juice flows. Add sugar to grapes at a rate of 50 g per liter of wort. Cover the container with something and leave it in a warm place to wander for 5 days. Do not forget to mix the wort thoroughly in the morning. When the grapes float upwards, it will be in about five days, you will need to strain the juice into a glass bottle. Chacha grapes at home get a very good taste, if you observe all the proportions. To our strained juice add 0.2 kg of sugar per liter of juice. In that case, if you want to get a stronger wine, then add a little more sugar to the recipe for chacha from the grapes, which you first need to mix with the juice, and then pour it into the bottle. Fill the bottle with grape juice with sugar to the shoulders. A little free space in the tank does not hurt for subsequent fermentation. If you follow all the subtleties and nuances, your chacha from grapes, the recipe of which you learned, will turn out truly Georgian. An important rule that must be considered when preparing a fine drink is to prevent air from entering the bottle with the wort. For this purpose, install either a water seal or cover the container with something. Pour a little water in this lid and leave the wine for 3 weeks. While chacha is fermented, the recipe at home is simple enough, it only remains to be patient and wait. After 3 weeks, pour the wine into containers, cork tightly and store. Our amazing chacha, the recipe of which is very simple, is ready. Take out your wine at any time and enjoy the magical taste that chacha will give you. Recipe at home is easy enough, is not it?

Yeast Recipe

Maybe a little differently chacha. The recipe at home allows you to add yeast to the wort. Take:

10 liters of grape marc,
5 kg of sugar
0.1 kg of yeast,
30 liters of warm boiled water.

Pour all ingredients into a glass bottle and leave in a warm place for 2 weeks, after covering the container with gauze. Chacha, a recipe for cooking with yeast, should be mixed every two days with a wooden spoon. After completion of the fermentation process, you need to strain the liquid and drive it twice through the moonshine. Many grape wine recipes allow you to cook a cup with the help of a moonshine still.

According to the residents of Georgia, chacha grape is a drink that has no equal in our land. There are legends that her recipe was bestowed upon the Georgians by the Lord God himself, and everything divine is believed to belong to the heavenly nectars. The history of the drink goes back in time. The methods of its preparation were handed down from generation to generation, thanks to which we have reached our time and allowed every connoisseur of alcohol to cook authentic Georgian chacha from grapes at home.

What grapes to choose for chacha

Choosing grapes for chacha, it is recommended to give preference to varieties with high acidity. Wine berries of Caucasian or Crimean origin are best suited. The best option is considered early white varieties, which will give Chache a pronounced acidity and a fresh, invigorating aroma. If you take a dark grape, the drink will be soft, with a rich and deep bouquet.

Before cooking chacha, it is undesirable to wash the grapes, because its skin has a natural white patina containing wild yeast. However, if you are not sure that the crop was not treated with chemicals, it is better to clean it with water, removing rotted berries and leaves.

What is needed to make chacha

Before you start creating chacha, you should prepare the dishes and tools that you will definitely need during your work:

distillation apparatus;
containers where the wort will ferment;
wide pan or basin, required for cooking cake;
gauze for filtering the wort;
activated or charcoal, cotton wool and funnel for cleaning distillate.

Georgian chacha recipe on video

The traditional Georgian recipe for making chacha from grapes requires the use of the following ingredients:

10 kg of grape cake;
4–5 kg of granulated sugar;
30 liters of boiled water;
120 g alcohol yeast.

Oilcake is obtained from fresh grapes, crushing it with hands, while it is allowed to crush both individual berries and whole clusters. Sometimes, as a basis for chacha, use the squeeze left after wine making, but in this case, it will take 2 times more product, because the grapes have already given the wine some of the natural substances required to create chacha.

The process of making a drink includes several successive steps:

Fermentation

There is an opinion that real chacha is made from grapes without the use of sugar, however, many professional moonsmiths still put sugar in order to speed up the fermentation and get a larger amount of the drink. For fermentation of grapes in the cake, add sugar, warm water and yeast, and then leave the mixture for about 1 month in a cool place at an air temperature of 14 to 20 degrees Celsius. The temperature may be higher (up to +28 ° C), but in this case there is a risk of losing the amazing grape flavor that chacha is famous for.

Braga is considered finished when air bubbles cease to form in it, the liquid becomes light, and the mash sinks to the bottom of the tank. To verify its readiness, you can use a special instrument for measuring the density of a liquid - a hydrometer. If its performance is less than 1.002, then the mash can be sent to the distillation apparatus.

Distillation

The fermented mixture is distilled after thoroughly filtering through cheesecloth, since, while in the apparatus, the pulp can burn out and give the drink an unpleasant burnt taste and smell. If the distillation is made by steam, then the cake can be not filtered.

Distillation is carried out in two stages. At the first stage, raw alcohol is obtained, which is distilled without division into fractions until a fortress of 30–40 degrees is reached. Next, the resulting product is cleaned, for which cotton is placed in the funnel, wood or activated carbon is placed on top and a distillate is poured in a thin stream.

At the second stage, fractional distillation is carried out - initially the head fraction (“head”) is separated in a volume of 10–12%, and then the remaining product is distilled. "Head" is poured, because in its pure form, it is a health hazard, or diluted with water and used for domestic purposes.

Maturation

Chacha is allowed to drink immediately after the haul, but for refining and imparting an intense taste it is diluted with water to the desired strength and poured into glass bottles, leaving for storage on average 1 month. During this period, the drink becomes softer and more balanced. To get chacha, reminiscent of cognac, you can insist it in oak barrels or on oak chips.

A simple recipe without yeast from the juice

If there is a desire to get rid of the characteristic yeast flavor, you can use a simpler recipe that does not require the use of yeast. The main rule in this way is not to wash the berries, so as not to remove the natural yeast from their skin. To make chacha, you will need:

15 kg of grapes;
15 liters of water;
5 kg of sugar.

Initially, the grapes are crushed, then the resulting mass is poured with warm water, sugar is poured, covered with a lid and left to ferment. Daily should open the container and mix the mash well. When fermentation is completed, the mixture is filtered and sent to the moonshine. The wort is distilled, cutting off the "head" and "tail", cleaned and put on re-distillation. At the second stage, the head and final fractions are removed again and diluted with water to the desired strength.

Regardless of the method of preparation, drink chacha in moderation - no more than 120 ml at a time. The reason for this lies in the high content of methyl alcohol, which can have a negative impact on the work of the optic nerves and liver. In addition, the use of small quantities allows you to not get drunk, but at the same time evaluate the unforgettable taste georgian alcohol and truly understand why Georgians consider their chacha to be the best drink.

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