Today I thought I would throw you a curve ball and take a look at some old-school moonshine. Moonshine is still illegal to distill at home in the United States, The Man wants to make sure alcohol is taxed, He gets very upset when people try to go behind His back. The name 'moonshine' comes from the fact that moonshine, being illegal, had to be distilled and transported during the night, under the light of the moon. Moonshine can be made from a variety of different recipes mainly rooted in either corn or sugar (or both). This particular batch was made using sugar, tomato paste, yeast, water, multivitamins, and a few other ingredients.
Fun fact: The X's on a jar of moonshine indicate how many times it was distilled. 3 X's would actually be more pure than 1 X. It is a common misconception that more X's means a higher proof, but more X's actually would give you a smoother 'shine.
How does moonshine make you go blind? There is an alcohol called methanol that is produced in the distillation process. It evaporates at the lowest temperature, so it is the first thing to come out of the still. A good moonshiner will watch the temperature and know when he is getting the methanol and when it has burned off. It should be discarded, but can also be used to remove basically anything off of any surface. This is what, if consumed, can cause serious physical side effects (from blindness to death).
Today it is easier to distill safely; copper manufactures are more easily located, digital thermometers are available, and there is more public knowledge available via the internet. Still, remember, this is illegal and The Man does care.
The jar you are looking at above is 174-proof pure moonshine. This is not a "by the glass" type liquor. It should be used as a mixer, or as a base to be mixed with distilled water and aged in casks, glass, or infused with flavors. You are lucky though, because in the name of science I poured a glass, sacrificed my body, and went on a moonshine adventure.
In a glass this is as clear as pure distilled water; there are no impurities at all. The nose isn't as bad as you'd suspect, unless you get too close to the moonshine. Then, your nose might feel ablaze. It has a sweet aroma from the sugar with a hint of the tomato paste. The tasting process was a bit more intense. This burns every step of the way, but seemed to intensify in my stomach and throat. The burn in my stomach lasted several minutes each sip. In the mouth it feels about as strong as a cask strength whisky. It quickly numbed my tongue and the roof of my mouth. This is the first liquor I have ever tried which got harder to drink as it went on. A small glass took me over 75 minutes to get through. By the time I finished my throat burned and my voice was raspy. On the positive side, being so pure, the effect on my body and mind was very clean, but one glass was enough to do the trick.
I am not going to rate it, this was more of a scientific experiment that I wanted to share. I do not regret trying this one bit, but I doubt I will be doing that again. If you're wondering where I got this or if I still have it, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Cheers!
Charles
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