Pine Nut Vodka Tincture (Kedrovka)

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather your ingredients. Use only good-quality vodka for homemade tinctures. Choose the nuts carefully — if even a few rancid ones get in, the musty smell will ruin the whole drink and won't go away.

2. Step 2:

   

   The nuts need to be prepared first; you simply can't use them otherwise. There's a lot of resin on the surface of the shells. Once in the stomach, the resin harms your health, since the body doesn't eliminate it — the pancreas suffers first of all. So don't skip the proper preparation. To start, soak the nuts in cool water and remove anything that floats — those are empty nuts and debris. Then rinse them well.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cover the rinsed nuts with rapidly boiling water so they're fully submerged. Bring to a boil and boil for 2–3 minutes. Since there aren't many nuts, it doesn't take long.

4. Step 4:

   

   Drain the water and rinse the nuts with cold water. Repeat the boiling and rinsing 3 times. Boiling the nuts this way washes off the resin. Along the way it also rids the future tincture of a harsh smell and bitterness, since the shells contain a lot of tannins.

5. Step 5:

   

   This is what the water looks like after each draining — the darkest is on the left, getting lighter from there. If the nuts aren't treated properly with boiling water, the tincture will turn out dark and cloudy.

6. Step 6:

   

   Tip the boiling-water-treated nuts into a glass container. Add the sugar and a black currant leaf — fresh is better, but slightly wilted works too. Add just a tiny bit of vanillin, a knife's tip. And a slice of dried orange zest (fresh is fine too). Pour in all the vodka and stir thoroughly. To keep the alcohol from evaporating, cover the jar with plastic and seal the lid very tightly. Put it in a dark place at room temperature for 10 days. Shake it every 2–3 days.

7. Step 7:

   

   Once the kedrovka has steeped, it needs to be filtered. I have a funnel with a very fine sieve; if you don't have one, use cheesecloth or cotton wool. Pour the filtered tincture into a bottle and put it in the refrigerator for 3–4 days — its flavor will improve.

8. Step 8:

   

   Finished kedrovka made from well-rinsed nuts should be clear, with a cognac color (but not too dark), roughly like in the photo. It's fine if yours comes out lighter — the smell and taste will be there all the same. Out of inexperience, many people add more nuts, which gives a dark color and a tart taste; the drink turns out viscous and not very pleasant to drink. You can fix that by diluting it 1:1 with vodka.