Hello Moonshiners! Today we have a last #MoonshineMemoirs update for you. Today we gonna show you a bit trivia about some distinctive, peculiar, and odd alcohols, not necessarily found in the game, but to be found in high-proof cultures around the world. As you will see, inspiration lurks everywhere. Because...
Anyone can make moonshine.
Hardly anyone can make good moonshine.
And anything can be a base for moonshine, as long as it then gets distilled - and strong.
But there are strong and distilled drinks that became so traditional, original, culturally important, that they have long shed the name of moonshine, and became something so much more.
Of course, that includes all that we know so well; whiskies, vodkas, gins, tequilas, rums. And brandies, cognacs, rakijas, grappas. Ouzos and absinthes, and tons of other ‘medicinal’ herb-based spirits. And generally all those things based on grains, sugar, potatoes, pomace/grapes, figs, and other fruits that we know in Europe and North America. Generally - all moonshine based on traditional American and European fruits of the earth either got its own name - or remained a moonshine.
But what about some things more exotic, ingredients less known? What else can moonshine be based on and then grow into something so much bigger, so much more important than just a basic backyard pot still rotgut. Well, for example, we have:
Palm wine
Palm wine is a fine base for strong alcohol - especially since it’s already an alcoholic drink… In Ghana, a strong liquor distilled from it is known as akpeteshie, while in Nigeria - ogogoro.
Of course, palms are spread all around the world, so a similar and traditional distilled brew, lambanog, can be found as far as the Philippines!
*Drinking palm wine from a calabash
Jujube
Dates are a base for many different types of alcoholic beverages, including different types of rakijas and brandies. Mahia, a Moroccan brandy, can be distilled from it, as well as from figs, and grapes… and jujubes, described in ‘Wild Jujube (Ziziphus lotus) Control in Morocco’, an article from 1995, as a ‘deciduous, thorny shrub that causes complete wheat and other crop loss by preventing harvest operations’. It seems jujube messes up the crops - so the people avenge that by distilling the bastard.
*Bottle of Mahia Meknesiah, France
Sorghum
Sorghum is a type of plant from the grass family. It’s sometimes grown for food, sometimes for animal fodder - and sometimes for alcohol. Baijiu, a traditional distilled spirit from China, is based on it. And since sorghum, just like palm trees, is spread across quite some distances, in the faraway - from a Chinese perspective - Kenya it’s too a popular source of distilled beverage. When combined with millet and maize, it creates changaa, a very strong spirit (to which, prior to current laws, manufacturers would add jet fuel and battery acid to give it an extra kick… But let’s not consider those a fine basis for alcohol!)
*A glass and bottle of Jiugui, 酒鬼
Raisin
Brandies, rakija, grappa; so many alcohols are based on grapes and pomace! But what about raisins? Well, being old and wrinkly doesn’t mean a grape lost its spirit - quite literally in case of aragh sagi, an Iranian beverage, known also as Persian vodka. In the end, it is technically a moonshine, since it’s illegal to produce it - but it’s a moonshine so traditional, it's got its own name!
*An old picture of Aragh Maykadeh
Ti plant
Last but definitely not least we have okolehao, a distilled beverage from Hawaii, made from the roots of the ti plant. Don't know what a ti plant is? Understandable. Also known as palm lily and cabbage palm, it's more closely related to asparagus than a palm, and it’s been distilled by the fine folks from the exotic islands ever since the distillation technology was brought there by the English. Baked ti root is placed in water, starts fermenting, and gets distilled - and becomes a powerful, powerful drink.
*Hawaiian Ti Plant -- Cordyline fruticosa
It is not like anyone has a chance to be a moonshiner but in Moonshine Inc. you can, for sure, try your hand at this apt craft.
Thank you a lot for all your support, reports, and save files! We're currently working hard on Patch 1.0.3 - should be delivered pretty soon!
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