In almost every home, especially in the countryside, there are old ones, proven recipes for making tinctures. These laws are often associated with various unfair practices. The most common ones are tying a gander with muslin or linen, instead of closing with a stopper. This is supposed to contribute to the creation of a special flavor. This method should be strongly discouraged, because the spirit and the aromatic compounds contained in the fruit evaporate easily, and the evaporation of the spirit lowers the strength of the tincture. These recipes also recommend cooking tinctures with sugar, which supposedly improves the taste of the tincture. The result is the same as when tying the cylinder with muslin: alcohol and fragrances evaporate, and the strength of the tincture decreases. The only way to speed up the process of making tinctures is to bake fruit covered in sugar and covered with vodka and spirit., or just spirit, in pots covered with bread dough and placed in a bread oven; nor fragrances, neither the spirit escapes then. This is how you get delicious Ukrainian casseroles.
In order to obtain a strong tincture, it is best to pour vodka or spirit over the fruit with a thick layer of sugar., expose it to sunlight or place the bottle in a warm place and shake it, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Filter the obtained syrup and mix it with the previously poured tincture.
In order to obtain a tincture with a lower strength, the syrup of sugar and water is boiled separately and the tincture, drained from the fruit, is poured into the still hot syrup - never the other way around., because pouring the syrup into the tincture makes it impossible to obtain a clear tincture. If, however, the tincture was not completely clear, it can be filtered (depending on the degree of its turbidity) through a flannel bag, a thick layer of cotton wool or tissue paper. In the latter two cases, before putting cotton wool or blotting paper into the funnel, place pieces of clean straw around it.; otherwise, the cotton wool or blotting paper will stick tightly to the sides of the funnel, and the oozing will stop altogether or be very slow. In many cases, adding a pinch of citric acid is enough to clarify the tincture.
Prepared strictly according to the recipe, the tinctures can be used after a few months. However, they are the best then, when fruit drenched with spirit is left in the gander for a period 1 a year or longer, or the poured and bottled ready-made tincture will be stored in a dark and cool place for a period of 2-3 years.