Now after 6 years, here is a mini compilation of what I believe are one of the best Tamil Rap songs out there. There are zillions of songs on youtube, Sound Cloud etc that will fit into the “Tamil Rap” genre in general, but most are just pure tune to tune remix or remakes of Tamil, Hindi or English songs with just words changed.I haven’t considered such songs for this list. Songs which I feel are complete originals or bearing very little resemblance of the original song are the ones mentioned here. If there are similar songs which you know, kindly post a comment here (with a youtube or similar link) so that fellow fans can get to know of the song and enjoy it. Cheers!

Top Tamil Rap Songs (that I know of) : Original tune or an EXCELLENT cover/remix. In no particular order

Dinesh & Charles Bosco – Kuruvi

Yogi-B & Natchatra – Madai Thirandhu

Kavithai Gundar – Thaniye

Yogi-B & Natchatra – Indian Girls

TN 07 AL 4777 – Aathichudi

How can I leave this song off. Such a fun song!!!

However, rarely, some bars serve liquor after 6:00 PM on these days. But like I said rarely and that too just a handful of them. Some hotels provide liquor via room service after 6:00 PM on these as well.

Not included in this list are special days like election dates, poll counting days etc which do not occur every year have not been included. I don’t think, at least at the moment, there are any such special days in Tamil Nadu this year (2012).

So stay alert, set yourself a reminder in your phone calendar or something and ensure you stock up the previous evening. Cheers!

Just a couple of brands added and whole lot of crappy ones added and removed every other day. But towards the end of December 2010 Bacardi white rum started to be available. Also along with Bacardi, there was a very important introduction, which I believe has permanently changed the Vodka scene of Tamil Nadu. In came Eristoff vodka.

My first encounter with Eristoff Vodka was in 2009 during my trip to Guwahati. I was so impressed, that I brought back quite a few bottles and also immediately wrote about it at KosuKadi. You can read my Eristoff Vodka review here.

Just like I mentioned, the moment Eristoff Vodka hit Chennai’s shores, the Vodka scene changed. It became my undisputed #1 choice of Vodka (available in TASMAC). The quality, the smoothness just blew the rest of the vodka options away.

My 2010 Top 3 Vodka options were

1) Magic Moments Vodka
2) Romanov Vodka
3) MGM Vodka

My 2011 Top 3 vodka options available in TN are

#1. Eristoff Vodka – The undisputed leader

Pros: Smooth, No odour and definitely the best quality vodka available. You can say that it is better distilled and definitely a good quality stuff, not just by it’s smoothness and quality but also the morning after feeling. No hangover or tizzy the next day after a big session the previous night.

Cons: EXPENSIVE. Rs.500 – full / Rs.250 – Half / Rs.125 – quarter. Romanov vodka is just Rs.305 for a full bottle (40% cheaper)

If the price is not a deterrent, then this is the undisputed choice.

#2. Magic Moments Vodka – Still remains a good alternative

Pros: Smooth. Comes in two options. Unflavored and green apple flavor (Eristoff does not have a flavored option)

Cons: I had written about this earlier. I feel this vodka is mild. Kind of does not get you as high/drunk like other vodkas (same quantity) would do. Again, expensive. Rs.430 for a full bottle. Romanov at Rs.305 is around 30% cheaper.

If you love flavored vodka, then this is the best option for you. I guess this is the best option for the ladies. Also Magic Moments is an Indian brand, which you must support

#3. Romanov Vodka – Solid Value for money alternative

Pros: Flavored options available. Plain, Orange and Apple are the three options. Good solid stuff. Has the best. Economical pricing (Rs. 305 for a full bottle). Sexy looking bottle

Cons: Definitely not as smooth as Eristoff or Magic Moments. Morning after effect is well pronounced after an extended evening.

Romanov has been my staple drink of choice for quite some time. So there is definitely a big loyalty factor involved. If you are looking for Quality + value for money option. Look for elsewhere; Vonamor will be your best friend

Eristoff Vodka Vs other Big two.

In my podium standing for Vodka (internationally, not just our TASMAC). #1 position has always been for Absolut. #2 position has always been for Smirnoff. Not because there are no better Vodka brands other than Absolut and Smirnoff in the whole world. There are much better and expensive options like the Grey Goose and Belvedere around, but for an aam adhmi like me, Absolut and Smirnoff are easily accessible, reasonably priced and within my reach.

So, I wanted to critically examine and see if Eristoff can match these two and wanted to get a death match started between “Chennai’s #1 Vodka Vs. (my) rest of the world #1 Vs. (my) rest of the world #2″ i.e. “Eristoff Vs. Absolut Vs. Smirnoff”.

And recently, I had the opportunity and delight of acquiring all three together and so I got this death match going. A plain (unflavored) Absolut from the duty free, An indian made Smirnoff and of course Eristoff from TASMAC is what I had. This was done when all of us (me and a couple of other friends) were completely sober and comparison of the factors mentioned below was all done in succession, one against the other.

It’s just too hard to believe, the TASMAC underdog just blew the competition away.

Smell: Compared to Smirnoff and Absolut, Eristoff had MUCH LESS odour. It was almost odourless. I was shocked about this. I always thought that Absolut was the most refined and odourless. But when I compared it with Eristoff head-to-head at the same time, it was a revelation.

Smoothness: Smoothness was tested by having shots and also on the rocks and how smooth the drink felt. I know smoothness is about personal perception, but generally all of us agreed that Eristoff trumped the other two by a small margin.

Price: Definitely, Eristoff is the cheapest among the three. Actually Smirnoff and Eristoff are almost priced the same in most regions of India where they are available. (a’int I right?) Absolut is around $19 USD in the airport duty free (1 litre)

So, Eristoff came out victorious in the death match, slaying in cold blood both Absolut and Smirnoff.

So, guys, who said that you don’t get good stuff in TASMAC. We get the world’s best vodka in TASMAC – Eristoff!! (At least IMHO). Cheers!

7-up, pepsi etc has so much sugar and calories, they are definitely unhealthy and that’s why even US (and even some Indian) schools have banned them in their in-campus cafeterias. So the day I stopped on these drinks for mixing, I switched to Soda. I urge everybody do the same (one health grounds). Okay, why soda and not water? Water is the best! I am sure many would argue in these lines. Even though water is my 2nd best alternative, I kind of like the soda’s fizz.

Soda is not cheap.Very expensive when compared with water, that 1 litre bottled water costs 12-14 bucks which is the same cost of 600 ml of soda which is just water plus CO2. And given that I need at least a litre of soda to down a double quarter (double quarter sounds exciting and does not raise eyebrows when compared to “half”, right?) it becomes expensive, especially when you  need 4-5 bottles of soda for the weekend. This, plus the looks that guy who bills my stuff at the super market counter every time I check out 5 bottles of soda made me look for alternatives. And the alternative was quickly found and acquired. And since then, every time, I pat myself in the back when I make myself a soda with it. IT? I am referring to my best friend, my personal butler , Mr.Butler’s soda maker.

Well the machine costs 1000 odd bucks, I am not too sure of the exact price, because I bought it quite some time ago.The device needs a CO2 cylinder which needs to be changed when the gas runs out. Eery time you buy the cylinder in lieu of the empty cylinder it’s 75 bucks (here in TN). With one cylinder one can make at least, 20 bottles (1 litre each) of soda. The soda maker (kit) came with a bottle, the machine and a cylinder. So 20 bottles of soda for 75 bucks makes the initial investment of 1000 bucks definitely worth it and a huge saving  (10 bottles of lehar/kinley soda is 120 bucks). You will break even with the initial investment when you get the refill for the 7-8th time.  The soda is definitely as good as the lehar or kinley stuff. So you save money (if I don’t buy 5 bottles of soda, I have 60 bucks to get me a quarter , save the environment (of not buying plastic bottles and you get soda any time.

The whole idea of posting this here at kosukadi, is to send the message across. If you are like me, who uses soda for mixing, then you need to get our best friend, Mr.Butler home.

Also in business sense, one thing which Mr.Butler (the company) amazes me is the kind of niche they have discovered. The niche is so small, that other players are not bothered to enter. Kind of Woodwards gripe water niche, no competition bothers to manufacture gripe water BUT extremely cash cow. Constant recurring income of 75 bucks for a CO2 cylinder which would not cost them any more than 10 bucks to refill for a life time. WOW! Hats off to them. This is the only product which is successful for the company, Mr.Butler, but, this one product is more than enough for the company to be successful

I am writing this over vodka mixed with Mr. Butler’s soda!!! Cheers!!!

Update: Just heard from sales department of Mr.Butler’s that the soda maker (the one pictured and the one I have) is currently priced at Rs.2550. A bit steep, but I still think it’s value for money

I want to warn everybody around. Let me save as many people as possible before they fall for, (just like I did) and buy this stuff. There is a new vodka in town, available in TASMAC right now, called “Resolute pink vodka”. Costs Rs.170 bucks a quarter. Yes you read it right. Rs. 170 bucks a QUARTER even expensive than the best vodka in TASMAC, the “Magic Moments”.This vodka has a very very fancy bottle , looks amazing, and also smells amazing, BUT tastes no better than varnish. NO I haven’t ever had varnish to drink, but I am sure varnish will taste better than this stuff. Let me explain…….

Went on to get Vodka as usual, only to be ushered by the TASMAC guy, “SIR, Get the new Pink Vodka, new stock and samma smell-u sir”. So I went on to buy this vodka only after a sarcastic “SIR, this is 170 not 70″ when I handed the guy a 100 rupee note.

The bottle looks amazing, no doubt, sort of a hip flask shape, work of art by itself.Resolute Pink has a surprise when you open the bottle. It is strawberry flavored and smells like real strawberry. Such a strong pleasant aroma, that people (women) would ditch their deos and splash it on their bodies. The smell is pretty strong that it beats my strawberry flavored car freshner (POPPY) hands down. The guy @ TASMAC was so damm true about the smell. It smells nothing like alcohol, Such a pleasant smell that you would have never expected out of an alcoholic drink. You need to smell it to believe me, you will have the urge to drink it all instantaneously the moment you smell it. Also the vodka has a very mild pink color. If you mix it with water or soda on a clear glass you would notice it.  BUT, let me tell you, the  positives of this vodka ends the moment you open it and smell it, because, the moment you try drinking it, I am sure you would feel like trashing the guy who sold it to you and especially whoever makes it and you would rant about wasting your 170 bucks which would have got you more than 2 quarters of Ramanov. I am not going to try to explain how bad it tastes, but I can assure you it tastes worse than any bad vodka you and I would have ever tasted.

So, who is this “Resoulte PINK vodka” for? If you have a wife / Mother in law / Father in law/ Father / Mother / Elder Brother / Elder Sister / Girl Friend / Boy Friend / Guardian / Dog or whoever who is going to be really upset when they get to know you have been drinking, THEN , this is the best drink for you. Drink This stuff, nobody is going to be even guess you have been drinking, infact when they get close to you and smell the strawberry aroma out of your mouth, they will be ready to plant you a kiss and you will be a very happy person, unless if it’s your dog which is trying to kiss you BUT let me warn you, you rather go home sober instead of trying to drink this stuff and get kisses

Verbiage on the bottle which is total garbage:

Resolute Pink Vodka: It is just as versatile as you are. Savor this refreshng vodka neat, right from the bottle or use a creative blend to make a mind blowing cocktail. Resolute pink vodka has a suble strawberry flavor that only can perceive. Sip it slowly. Take your time.www.sippingspirits.com

7x distilled. 5 Times Filtered :
I am sure none of this distillation and filtration claims are true.Taste absolute vodka to know what 7x distilled is!!!

From the grand old days, since I started drinking, my poison of choice has always been Vodka. Clear, odour less- at least when compared with the other liquor , taste less and readily goes with anything from fruit juice to good old water, Vodka has been my first and mostly my only choice.  This being the case I wanted to list down the Vodka available in our TASMAC shops in order of my preference.

My # 1 Magic Moments Vodka

This is by and far IMHO the best Vodka available in India. This is from the house of “Radico Khaitan” whose only high demand product, as far as I know is this. This vodka does not come cheap. The regular flavored one is Rs.110 / quarter and there is a apple flavored one which is Rs.130 / quarter. This vodka is exceptionally smooth, does not have an odour and definitely worth the price. One thing I noticed, probably it’s only with me, is that, Magic Moments Vodka may not have as much alcohol content in it as the other Vodkas even though the proof value is all the same. I never feel the buzz early with this stuff. This Vodka claims that it’s a pure grain vodka.This is the best Vodka, if you like me, prefer having Vodka with Soda or water.

Magic Moments Vodka Stack 2

Magic Moments Vodka Close up Front

Magic Moments Vodka Back

Magic Moments Vodka Apple Remix

My #2 Romonav Vodka

This may be #2 in the list, but otherwise as a regular drink this is always #1 choice. From India’s pride, UB group, this has been around for ages. But a few years ago, it just dropped out of the scene in Chennai, mainly due to the politico-distillery wars.During that time, Romanov was not stocked and other brands we’re brought in.

But now for the past 3-4 years, it has come back again and is available everywhere. But I really don’t know what the prefixes mean. Earlier it used to be just “Romanov” and then later it was “Crystal Romanov” and now it’s “Platimum Romanov”.

The full bottles look excellent. Thin, sleek and long and always my preferred size with this Vodka. Especially, since, the labels come off easily and the bottle is long with a short neck,  I re-use these bottles for money plants.

Earlier the quarter bottles were the flat regular quarter bottle type, but now, they are the dwarf version of the full bottle. The full bottle comes for Rs.289 and the quarter for about Rs.72. Decent price for the decent stuff inside. For the past few months, there are “Apple thrill” and “Orange thrill” versions available with a green and orange labels for the same price. These flavored variants taste good too.

Romanov Vodka

My #3 MGM Vodka

Certain things in life, you like it because you really like it. Other things, you are forced into it, get used to it, then ultimately tend to have a liking towards it. MGM Vodka is of the second kind. This vodka cropped up suddenly, during the time when Romanov was stopped or rather, Romanov was stopped because MGM Vodka was launched. This was during the big J’s ruling period and it’s romoured that J had a stake in MGM distilleries or something like that (who cares).

So at that time, Vodka favs like me, had no other option other than MGM vodka and all of us were forced to drink this. MGM Vodka does not have an non-flavored option. There are 3 flavored options, as far as I have seen. There is this “Apple”  which is what is normally available everywhere. There is the “orange”, which is available sometimes and there is this  “purpled labeled” one, which I think is some berry flavor which is rarely available. The first two, i.e the apple and orange are drinkable BUT the “purple labeled” one is a disgrace to vodka and tastes too much like a chemical.Pricing of this stuff is around Rs.72 per quarter.

But one thing, if you are a very “son of the soil”  promoter  types, you can be proud. This is a product form the MGM group of companies (MG. Muthu) , who own the Dizee world, inter city buses, hotels etc, who is Tamil Nadu based. But the distillery is in AP I guess.

If at sometime, by chance, anybody from MGM Vodka company sees this post, here are some feedback

• Change the bottle shape and presentation: Too old, too odd and out dated. Especially the full bottle is very odd and the label quality on the bottle gives it a cheap feel
• IMPORTANTLY : Ensure your bottle caps are open-able. It spins and spins and spins and never opens. Needs to be pried open (I became a specialist this, thanks to practice of opening your bottles) and ensure that the caps close back after being opened. All of us cannot gulp down a quarter in a session. None of the caps ever fit again in the bottle even when they are opened properly.

MGM Vodka Orange & Apple

MGM Vodka Orange

My #4 White Mischief

Sadly no longer available. This is a VERY good Vodka, I would rate it between Magic moments and Romanov, more closer to Romanov. Very interesting bottle and and brand attitude.

Other Vodka that have come and stayed for a week or two and disappeared

These are few vodka brands, which I have seen in TASMAC and bought it and tried or sometimes force to buy it since nothing else was available. These brands, I don’t know, if they do a pilot launch or something, I never seem them, the next time I go back.

Navigator Vodka : Was forced to drink it a couple of times. Got by my friend who lives near the OMR. It was never available in Anna Nagar area. It’s a vannilla flavored vodka. Tasted like as if I was drinking phenyl

Power Vodka: This was around for a while, was a clone of MGM vodka. Same bottle, same flavors and at par with MGM. It disappeared as suddenly as it appreared

Power Vodka apple

Brisnoff Vodka: Not as bad as the navigator. Interesting “knock-off” name which reminds you of Smirnoff. Was available for a while and even now suddenly appears for a week or so.

Spice Vodka: Saw this a few weeks back. Was in a holographic/shiny box cartons (full), the guy in the TASMAC said it’s just “scene” and it was the Monitor of Vodkas, so did not bother to buy it.

Arizona Vodka: Same league as the navigator vodka, but apple flavor.

Blue Vodka: Looking forward to get my hands on it. It’s a whooping Rs.140, romoured to be from the house of Bacardi. I thought Eristoff was Bacardi’s vodka brand, god knows. The next time I went to buy it, it was not there. (as of December 2010) . It is infact the Eristoff Vodka. Full range of Bacardi products available NOW in tasmac.

WordPress says that the “Word count” of this post is 1270. WOW didn’t know that I could write so much about Vodka, that too, only about the ones available in TN. I will stop now. Any comments, additional info, feedback, welcome

Cheers!

This is what Wikipedia has to say
“Eristoff Vodka originates from Georgia and was first created for Prince Eristoff in 1806.
Made from 100% grain spirit, Eristoff is triple distilled and then charcoal filtered, a technique first established in 18th century Russia.
The Eristoff logo – a wolf howling at a crescent moon – represents the Persian name for Georgia, Virshan, meaning “land of the wolf”. Today, Georgia is still home to the grey wolf, which for hundreds of years has been a part of Russian culture and folklore.

Eristoff’s bell-shaped bottle is embossed with the imperial crown and around the base of the bottle the words “Original Recipe of Prince Eristoff of 1806” are written in Russian Cyrillic text.” Read more here.

The brand has a wonderful website. Take a look at http://www.eristoff.com/
Their land of the wolf commercial is very famous. Take a look at it in youtube

On the label of the bottle which I bought it says

“Prince Nocklai Alexandroivch / 1806 / Eristoff / Triple Distilled / Premium Vodka”
In India, to my surprise, not UB, but it is made by Bacardi – Martini India, of course the guys who make Bacardi.
As for the drinking experience. Nothing to shout about. Not to the class and smoothness of the international ones like Absolut or grey goose, but definitely better than our local ones. Had a tinge of citrus bitterness to it. Less of the typical vodka odour. Will definitely not make it my regular drink, given a chance. But for sure can be an occasional one.

Sadly, I don’t think we get this in the southern states at least in Tamilnadu, Kerala. So if you go to any place where you can get it, grab one! Cheers!

LokParitan fancy picture from The Hindu

Just wanted to know what happened to these guys over this time around for the Lok Sabha elections? Their website is here, shows no activity.
Having said that, we really need a youthful, well organized party with strong foundations and people with good education and dedication to be elected, serve and save the country.

Now suddenly you realize that you are getting old and need to settle down. Either you have found a girl to get married to or preparations are at full swing at home to get you married. Either ways “Change Is Coming”. How will life be after marriage? Do I have to stop drinking? Can’t I hang out with friends ever again over a couple of drinks? Will my wife mistake me to be an alcoholic? Should I hide the fact that I drink from her? If you have all this queries and confusions hovering, read on….. This post also is equally suitable for people who are about to get married soon, planning to get married or already married.

Let’s face it, drinking, may it be drinking every night, binge drinking on weekends or just  socializing over a couple of shots on a Saturday night, everything is generalized as “DRINKING” in our Indian society and it is still considered an anti-social activity. But, encouragingly, the current generation women are a bit relaxed about this. Just a BIT and nothing more than that. Below are few pointers to be followed to achieve our objective.

Be truthful: The most important thing for any relationship, may it be friendship, business or marriage is being truthful .So don’t hide the truth, but in the same time, don’t overdo it  If the girl already does not know, at lighter moments mention that you drink socially, with your friends etc, make her comfortable with it and don’t just throw all the facts on her face to shock and upset her. The key here is to make her understand that drinking is not evil and it’s okay to drink once in a while. It may take some time, for her to understand this fact, might be easy for some, and might be difficult for some. Give her time to understand, just don’t keep repeating or keep talking about it.

Take her out, gain confidence: The best way to make your wife to be okay and accustom to the fact is to take her out for parties. Weekend dinner party at a friend’s place or an office cocktail dinner are a few examples. Make sure she has company there so that she just doesn’t need to spend time just by staring at you drinking. Make sure that you don’t overdo it and just have enough to be in perfect control and ensure you behave the way you behave when not drunk. The key here is, slowly, with time, gain her confidence and make her understand and realize, that even when you drink you are in perfect control, you don’t get drunk and act funny and drinking is just a social event and not evil. Ensure, in these parties that none of your friends don’t get drunk, puke, get knocked off etc. This might have a negative impact and might spoil the whole plan.

Stay in control: As mentioned earlier, when you are out with your wife and you drink, or when you stay at home and drink, always stay in control, very very rare exceptions (later, not in the beginning) are okay. A woman always wants to feel protected. So if you drink and pass out, she feels that you are not able to protect her and it creates a negative impact.

Never Hide: If sometime you reach home after a couple of drinks, never hide! NO, vodka is not odourless, it stinks too. NO, beeda, halls, chewing gum does not hide it!! It is important that you always never hide and be truthful on where and with whom did you drink. Also if you are going to be home late and out with your friends, keep her informed. Plan it ahead so that you can inform her a couple of days earlier or atleast call her before you go out. Wives get anxious and tensed, quicker than you think.

Spend time with her and don’t overdo / balance the act: Even if your wife is okay with you drinking, don’t overdo it. Don’t drink every time you go out for dinners or out for a movie or a party. Don’t make every Saturday a party night. It is very important you strike a balance. Take her out for movies, the beach, to the relatives etc in a sober state and spend time with her. Face it, she might be bored when you take her out (when you are drinking), you have fun then. You need to balance that and let her have fun too and for a woman, more than anything and anywhere else, the greatest fun, joy and happiness is spending time with her husband 

Never Skip: Don’t skip house chores, family functions and other social activities citing you are too tired from previous day’s drinking, a hangover or that you need to go out to have fun. Remember, ultimately, your family life is more important.

Don’ts:

1. Never, ever expose too much, the crazy things that you did while drunk as a bachelor. It will scare her and make her unconfident about you drinking
2. Never, ask or offer your wife to drink, unless she wants to try. IMHO, if both husband and wife drink, it’s not going to work out
3. When you have kids and as you get older, your priorities must slowly change. Realize that it’s time to slow down and shift your time and energy towards your offspring and family
4. Never get into an argument, over ANYTHING with your wife when you are drunk. Never. Just push it for the next day morning.

Just a few pointers! Do it your own way. Have fun, Cheers!

I wanted to prepare wine using just materials available in any standard Indian kitchen and not spending too much money.  This search for the indianized wine making technique did not yield any results and I kept trying asking friends and relatives.

At last, I got the opportunity to talk to one pattima (old lady), mother of a good friend, who’s been making wine for years, got the recipe of ingredients, and proportions from her and she ran me through telephone the methodology, tips and tricks of the process. Within 2 hours of talking to her, I was all set to go!

This guide is for all you people out there, who like me, at least once, brew what you drink.

This guide will yield a minimum of 4 litres of wine. Caution: You need a lot of patience, You need to wait up to 42 days to get the wine ready and you will have to dedicate at least 2 minutes everyday till then to this process of making wine.

Ingredients:

Black Grapes: 1.5 Kgs

The grapes can be seedless, but definitely need to be black. There is a variety of grapes in which the inside is also black/dark brown, if you get that its good, if not the black grapes variety with dark green inside is also good

Sugar: 1.5 Kgs

Needs to be clean white sugar, try to get a good brand like parrys sugar which does not have any dirt or discoloration

Yeast: 15 grams

This you get in any spencer’s daily or any supermarket for that matter. Usually you would find it in the section where they stock essences, food colouring etc. It’s called “Activated dry yeast” , any brand and a small 25 gm packed would do (you need just 15 grams)

Whole wheat: 50 grams

Had a tough time getting this, all the supermarkets stock only 5 kg packets. Went to a normal palasarakku kadai (general provisions) and got it packed off.

Egg (just the white): 1

Veggies don’t get dejected. This is not really necessary. I was told this is just to create a good flavour. This can be skipped.

Water: 2.6 ltrs

purified water.

Materials / Tools Required:

Ceramic jar:

Big enough to hold 1.5 kgs of grapes + 2.6 lts of water + 1.5 kgs of sugar. Should have 20% free space after adding all this. Preferably must have a lid. Best bet is to use the oorga jaadi (ceramic pickle jar) or if you don’t have any ceramic jars, plastic or metal also would do. Should have a narrow opening because during fermentation, the vessel has to be airtight. So smaller the mouth, easier to seal

Wooden pestle / masher:

This is nothing but the lowly wooden tool your mom makes to smash potatoes or paalak / keerai. We will use to smash grapes

Long wooden spoon:

should be long enough to reach the bottom of your wine jar.

Love and Support: Any quantity

Along with all this interest and support from other family members to make the wine making experience a memorable one

All the ingredients and tools required

The basic ground rule in wine making is keeping things clean and sterile. This to ensure that the brew does not get contaminated with bacteria which may spoil the brew instead of allowing it to ferment. If the brew gets spoiled only thing you can do is to flush it down the drain.

Ready, Get Set:

1. Boil the water: Boil the water for at least 3-4 mins to make it as pure as possible and kill any bacteria or germs in it. After boiling let it cool. The water has to be back to room temperature before you can use it
2. Sterilize the ceramic Jar: Simply pour boiling water in the jar till the brim and leave it for 5 mins to sterilize the inner of the jar. Remember, the jar I used was ceramic, so it could stand the heat. Don’t try this if you are using plastic jar
3. Clean the grapes: Remove the stem of the grapes. Wash at least 3-4 times in water to ensure all the dirt/dust/chemical sediments from fertilizers and insecticides are removed. Drain the water; if possible spread the grapes on a wide tray to allow it to dry off the excess water.
4. Clean the wheat: Clean the 50 gms of wheat with water, rinse 3-4 times and ensure they are dry again.

Cleaned and dried grapes

Rock and Roll – Part 1

1. Put the grapes in the jar
2. Use the wooden smasher to smash the grapes. The motive is to rupture the grapes NOT to juice them. So need not crush them so hard to juice them out, but ensure each grape is ruptured
3. Pour in the cooled water
4. Prepare the yeast: Preparing the yeast is simple. Just follow the instructions in the carton to activate the yeast. Take some lukewarm water (40-50 C), say 100 ml water, add 2 tsp of sugar (you can take some off sugar you have set aside already), and add the 15 gms of yeast into it (usually around 3 tea spoons) and mix them well.
5. Pour the prepared yeast into the jar
6. Add the wheat into the jar
7. Beat the egg white and add it into the jar
8. Add HALF the sugar into the jar.
9. Use the wooden spoon to mix the contents. You need not try to dissolve the sugar. Just a couple of stirs so that the contents are evenly mixed.
10. Close the jar with its lid and then wrap plastic covers on top of the jar to make the jar 100% air tight.

Pestle used to rupture the grapes

Wheat added

Closeup shot of the ruptured grapes

Covered and sealed jar

Stored in a cool dry place

Once you have done this, keep the jar in a cool, dark & dry place. But ensure the jar is accessible. Why accessible? Read on…

Daily Duties:

1. From Day 1 to Day 21, even if you forget to brush your teeth, you shouldn’t forget to do the things below
2. Daily, at a set time, you need to carefully open up the jar
3. Use the wooden spoon to stir the contents, just enough that the contents are evenly mixed. Ensure the spoon is 100% clean and dry every time
4. Close the jar back, make it airtight and put it back in the cool, dark, dry place where it belongs

   This process has to be repeated for the next 21 days, Everyday.

Rock & Roll – Part 2

Here comes the important and little bit difficult part, where again, keeping it clean is the key. This needs to be done around the 22nd day.

Materials / Tools needed

1. Large, fine holed filter. The ones usually found in juice shops
2. Disposable Surgical gloves
3. Somebody to help

Steps Involved

1. Open up the jar
2. Slowly pour out the contents of the jar into the filter.
3. The filtered liquid has to be caught with another clean, sterilized vessel
4. Glove one hand and squeeze out the soggy half-ruptured grapes, the grape skins and seeds through the filter
5. Finally after emptying the jar, the clear filtered liquid will be caught in the vessel below
6. Used the gloved hand to scoop put any sediments left out in the ceramic jar
7. Then pour the contents of the vessel back into the ceramic jar
8. Then add the second half (remaining) sugar into the jar and stir lightly
9. Close the jar, make it air tight as before and put it back into the cool, dry, dark place

Filtering the brew

Squashing the grapes with a gloved sterile hand

Filtered Brew

Patience!! – Wait for another 21 days. The good news is that now no more or opening of jar is required. 21 days is the bare minimum. The older the wine gets, the better. Better means, its tastes better and more importantly it gets stronger!!

Taste it ……. Finally!!

1. After a total of 42 days, you can open up the jar and gently take out the clear wine on top and fill it up in a sterilized glass bottle.
2. Usually, the sediments are in the bottom and the clear wine on top. So its important you don’t shake the container too much and just use a small glass to scoop out the clear wine on top. Alternatively you can use a pipette or a siphon mechanism to do so
3. You needn’t empty the jar. Just take out the clear wine from the top and close the jar airtight and put it right back.
4. Keep repeating the process, till the wine lasts! Just ensure the jar is airtight everytime you put it back
5. That’s it, you have officially made wine at home!!!!!

Absolut Wine just used the solid glass bottle of absolut vodka to hold the wine. The wine disappeared (gobbled up) within 20 mins of taking this shot!

Try Variations

In theory any acidic fruit can be used to make wine. Everything from gooseberries, pineapples, strawberries can be used to make wine. The basic fermentation process is as mentioned. So it’s up to you to try variations. You might be lucky to get a good wine sometimes, and other times it might get spoilt. But what the heck, trying is the fun. So please try variations and share the results so that others can try too. I am planning to try the same with white grapes next

Send me a bottle

Share the booze! They say joy spreads when you share it. Send me a bottle once its done. Will raise a toast for you when I drink it !!

Why you should make wine at home

1. At less than Rs.200 for the ingredients, you get around 4 litres of wine. That’s the cheapest alcohol. Clean, pure, unadulterated liquor. And this wine IS STRONG and 600 ml or 2 ½ glasses guarantees a nice high.
2. Home made wine, is certainly MUCH MUCH MUCH better than the Golconda wine which you get at TASMAC, which actually is not wine at all.
3. Making Wine at home is really a wonderful experience and should be taken up at least once with the family.
4. Wine is always a part of a celebration, plan ahead and make wine just in time for Christmas, birthday or anniversary
5. Wine making is one of the oldest skills recorded in history and i suppose wine is the oldest alcoholic drink known to man. So be proud that you know how to make it
6. Wine making is one of 75 things a man must do at least once in his life time (see slide 55).

Let me know your testimony of success and failures trying this. Also let me know if there are any ways to improve or tweak this recipe. Will be very happy to hear if there are any other recipes you may know. Cheers!

Update 06, April 2012: Feel free to change the proportion of sugar added to suit your taste. I have got constant feedback that the wine was a little too sweet for some peoples’ tastes. So if you want a less sweeter wine, reduce the sugar to around 1 Kg. Based on my experience a bare minimum of around 750 – 1 Kg of sugar is required for proper fermentation and so anything beyond that is going to make the wine sweeter.  So feel free to play around with the amount of sugar.