{"id":26,"date":"2012-07-05T00:18:29","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T04:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/?p=26"},"modified":"2012-07-06T15:36:36","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T19:36:36","slug":"vyshnivka-update-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/2012\/07\/05\/vyshnivka-update-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Vyshnivka update"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"vyshnivka\"<\/a>

Glass of young vishnivka<\/p><\/div>\n

Every year when the dark sweet cherries come in I think about vyshnivka<\/em>, a delightfully rich, deceptively easy-to-drink flavored vodka made by soaking cherries in <\/em>strong vodka (usually 140 proof)\u00a0 for a couple of months, after which the alcohol is drained and reserved and sugar is added to the cherries, which sit some more.\u00a0 The resulting syrup and the flavored alcohol are recombined and bottled to mellow for a year.\u00a0 Vyshnivka<\/em> is not as sweet as a liqueur, but more full-bodied than a simple infused vodka (and about as strong), meant to be sipped and for one’s own sake best enjoyed one small glass at a time.<\/p>\n

This year I decided to actually set up some vyshnivka<\/em>, which requires only a couple of pounds of cherries, a growler or other suitable glass container, and a bottle of rectified spirits, three things with I have somehow never managed to wrangle together at one time.\u00a0 The cherries have now been steeping for almost four weeks and still have another 4 weeks or so to go before I move to the next step.\u00a0 As you can see from the photo, the cherry juice has already given the drink a lovely ruby color.\u00a0 I took a small taste and while it doesn’t yet have the mellow flavor of vyshnivka<\/em>, the juice given off by the fresh cherries has already begun melding with the vodka, taking the harsh medicinal edge off of the rectified spirits.<\/p>\n

I got this particular vyshnivka<\/em> recipe from Olha Verbenets’ indispensable book Napyvky<\/em> (Drinks), sadly available only in a small printing in Ukraine.\u00a0 The slim volume contains dozens of historical and contemporary recipes for infused vodkas, liqueurs and other vodka-based alcoholic beverages.\u00a0 My personal favorite is made with green walnuts, something I have only eaten in Ukraine, though I suppose there is nothing preventing anyone with a walnut tree from peeling and eating the fruits when they are almost fully grown but not yet “ripe.”\u00a0 The flavor is recognizable but quite different – green, fresh, crisp, still rich and walnut-y but not oily.\u00a0 Olha shared some of her green walnut infused vodka with me once – deep green in color and quite unlike anything else I have ever tried.\u00a0 Perhaps if the vyshnivka<\/em> works out, I’ll go looking for a source of green walnuts next year…<\/p>\n

Here are two interesting recipes for cherry vodka-based drinks adapted for American preparation from Olha Verbenets’ book Napyvky<\/em>.\u00a0 The first is slightly sweet, while the second is not.\u00a0 Both are quite strong and best served in small shot glasses.<\/p>\n

Vyshnivka <\/em>(Fortified Cherry)<\/strong>
\nTake 2 lbs. fresh cherries, about half of them pitted, and place them into a clean growler or other large glass container with a tight-fitting lid.\u00a0 Pour in 1 liter of strong vodka (100-140 proof) and cover.\u00a0 Store in a warm place for 6-12 weeks, swirling the container every few days to mix it.\u00a0 Pour out and reserve the flavored vodka.\u00a0 Add 1\/2 to 3\/4 cup sugar to the cherries.\u00a0 Swirl to mix, then close.\u00a0 After a few days, strain the cherries, reserving liquid.\u00a0 Add the reserved vodka to the sweet cherry liquid and mix well.\u00a0\u00a0 Strain through cheesecloth, then bottle and let stand for a full year before drinking.<\/p>\n

Old-fashioned Mokruxa<\/em><\/strong>
\nThis can be made in a clean growler or other large glass container with a lid. Place the rind of one orange and 6 whole cloves into the growler.\u00a0 Pour one bottle of 80-100 proof vodka over the orange and cloves, cap and allow to sit for 4 weeks.\u00a0 Add two cups fresh or bottled unsweetened cherry juice.\u00a0 Mix well and allow to sit for 2 more weeks.\u00a0 Strain, bottle and seal tightly.\u00a0 The mokruxa<\/em> will be ready to drink in 6 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every year when the dark sweet cherries come in I think about vyshnivka, a delightfully rich, deceptively easy-to-drink flavored vodka made by soaking cherries in strong vodka (usually 140 proof)\u00a0 for a couple of months, after which the alcohol is drained and reserved and sugar is added to the cherries, which sit some more.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5701,38573,38570],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-spirits","category-ukrainian-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/jadickin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}