How To Improve The Flavor of Moonshine

If it’s not done right, a batch of freshly distilled moonshine may have a bitter or even pungent flavor. This automatically turns some people away from the hobby. It’s a discouraging sight to find your first batch of moonshine tastes bad. Thankfully, however, there are several different precautions moonshiners can take to improve the flavor of their beverage. In this post, we’re going to reveal just a few of the many different ways to make a batch of moonshine taste more palatable.

Distill It Twice

Although it takes longer, distilling your moonshine twice will likely have a positive effect on its flavor. As long as you aren’t in a hurry to produce a batch of moonshine, run it through your still a second time. Doing so will help to filter out any impurities that may create an unpleasant flavor. It’s not uncommon for metal residue from the pipes to end up in the moonshine. Distilling it a second time will help to filter out impurities such as this.

Drink It Fresh

Of course, you should always drink moonshine while it’s still fresh. Allowing it to sit in your closet or pantry for months or even years is almost certain to affect its flavor. Chemical changes will occur during this time which alter the flavor. This is why it’s important to enjoy your moonshine in a timely manner while it’s still fresh. Properly storing your moonshine in air-tight glass containers will prolong its life, but it will still eventually go bad.

Choose Your Mash Carefully

In a previous post, we talked a little bit about how to make moonshine mash. As some of you may already know, “mash” is the combination of ingredients used to create the alcohol vapor in a still; therefore, it will have a direct impact on your moonshine’s flavor. If you are looking to create a more palatable batch of moonshine, you should consider using apples in your mash. Some of the natural sweet flavors of the apples will transfer into your moonshine, creating a delightful combination of alcohol and fruit sugars.

Add a Cinnamon Stick

Arguably, one of the easiest ways to improve the flavor of moonshine is to drop a cinnamon stick inside it. Once your moonshine is finished distilling, place a single cinnamon stick inside each of the jars and let it soak for a day or so. The cinnamon will spread throughout the moonshine to make it more flavorful and easier to drink.