Chapter 597: 597. Wine is served! _1 Chapter 597: 597. Wine is served! _1 The alcohol content in the measuring cup inched higher and higher, and the proof gradually smoothed out, moving down from the initial seventy-something degrees with impurities to a cleaner sixty-something degrees.
As the distillation neared its end, the proof crept back up, rich with fusel oils, to over seventy degrees again.
Seventh Uncle, an old hand at this, knew to discard the heads and tails and keep only the heart of the run.
However, with three hundred jin of sorghum, there was far too much for the family-sized distiller, which was matched to the size of the pot and not yet that big, so they had to steam it in batches, slowly.
Nobody sat idly by during this time, and with so many people in the kitchen, Seventh Uncle simply decided to peel and steam the pumpkins left from the morning’s work (at Qiaoqiao’s adamant request, he even left a few steamed pumpkins for the kids) and then, they made dough to make pumpkin pancakes and steamed pumpkin buns!
He kept everyone busy, and time flew by.
In the air, the aroma of liquor mixed with the sweetness of pumpkin, making everyone a bit woozy… At least Song Tan felt her cheeks getting hot.
Then there was Qiaoqiao, his eyes glistening, with a ruddy glow beneath his fair skin that made him seem just a touch slower than usual, as if everything he said needed a moment to load…
On the other hand, her mom and grandma seemed unaffected, even able to discern the top notes and the smoothness of the aroma after smelling it for so long…
As Seventh Uncle sniffed deeply from the measuring cup, the live chat had gradually quietened down.
It wasn’t for lack of excitement; they had been excited for so long that they were genuinely tired.
Damn it! This cold-hearted host wouldn’t even glance at them no matter what!
Until a few sparse comments drifted through the chatroom:
[Thank goodness, at least the host didn’t end the stream as soon as time was up]
[I’m crying, really! Not only did the host make up for the two hours, but he also went over by 35 minutes]
[Is there a possibility, I mean… he forgot about us again…]
[Impossible! There’s no way that’s possible!]
[Impossible! He has me in his heart!]
[Impossible… Oh? The host’s family is looking this way!]
[The dark-skinned sister is looking over here! Did she see my comment? Guys, speak up!!]
Inside the kitchen, Yan Ran glanced at her phone’s screen and said, “Qiaoqiao, your phone’s battery is low.”
After a short while–a very brief one, but a pause nonetheless–Qiaoqiao finally said “Oh”, then put down the sorghum he was holding and came over.
His cheeks were adorably flushed, and his eyes, in coordination with his brain, expertly avoided all the comments. He focused only on the battery indicator at the top, then started giggling:
“My phone’s about to die!”
The chat went silent:…
[Ah, charge your phone, why are you smiling at me!]
[Such a cute smile but hurry up and charge your phone!]
[Who streams these days without a power bank, host! Be professional!]
[Charge it, charge it, hurry–]
But Qiaoqiao just stood there, glancing at the time and said, “Two hours have passed, huh… Whoa! It’s at 1% now!”
And so, this was the last thing the audience heard in the live stream.
Without the live stream, nothing much seemed to change, the phone stand was even left in its place, but it was no longer of any interest.
Because Seventh Uncle sighed again, “This year we only have sorghum, so let’s start with a sauce-aroma type. Next year, when we have more grains, we’ll make a stronger-aroma type.”
After a while, he couldn’t help but add, “This time we could only ferment for a month since we have just this much sorghum. Next year, when we have more grains, we can ferment it for longer.”
“The wine will be lesser in quantity when it’s time to come out, but the taste will be even better.”
Oh my gosh, it’s already so fragrant now, how could it possibly get any better?
Everyone looked at him with admiration and anticipation.
But Song Tan muttered–
Next year! Next year! Everything’s gotta wait till next year! In plain terms, it’s because we have less land and fewer people!
Once Secretary Xiaozu gets back from the meeting, I have to make sure the contract for the river beach is signed–can’t afford any more delays after the process took days in the village.
After all, the river beach connects to the hillside, and there’s a gentle slope too! That’s gotta be cleaned up all at once.
By noon, after everyone had their meal, the pigs got their pumpkin skins mixed with wheat bran, the kids munched on steamed pumpkin, and the chickens and ducks pecked at the cut pumpkin pieces, with Big White, the duck leader, even getting a piece all to himself…
The enthusiasm for the liquor finally began to wane a little bit.
–Just a little bit, enough to keep them on their current tasks without staring at the distillation process any longer.
By the afternoon, the distillation was finally complete!
And those three hundred jin of sorghum mixed with rice husks turned out to be exceptionally fruitful; after a month of cellar storage, it produced a total of one hundred and forty-three jin of alcohol!
“Can we drink it?” Song Sancheng couldn’t help asking.
Seventh Uncle looked at the alcohol content: “63 degrees, that’s way too strong, we need to distill it once more.”
When the re-distillation ended, it was almost five o’clock.
The excitement sparked by the alcohol had been stretched over half a day, gradually turning into fatigue, and by this time, only Seventh Uncle and Qiaoqiao were still hanging around in the kitchen.
One hundred and twenty jin of alcohol were filled to the brim in the jars, and Seventh Uncle shouted, “Professor Song, are you going to bottle the wine right now?”
Everyone, entirely unfamiliar with brewing their own wine, hurried over to ask in confusion, “Does it need any more processing?”
Seventh Uncle explained, “The strength of the freshly distilled alcohol is still a bit too much. To get the best taste, it should at least be cellared for half a year to a year.”
Professor Song was clearly hesitant; he wanted to taste the wine but was also drawn to the promise of an even better taste. At that moment, he hesitated, “Then let me first take out two…”
Before he could finish, Qi Lin interrupted quietly, “Teacher, this wine smells so good, the taste can’t be bad–if you drink those two jin, will you be able to resist not drinking the rest?”
You should know, once cellar-stored, digging up such a big jar of it wouldn’t be easy.
“It’s not like we have to bury it in the ground. How about I buy a small jar for you online? Whatever you can’t finish, just put it in the jar and store it at home or in your room?”
Given the situation, they’ll likely be staying here until the New Year anyway.
Professor Song thought: Brilliant!
So he quickly changed his mind: “I’ll have mine taken out first, please!”
“Alright then!” Seventh Uncle said efficiently, grabbing a prepared empty mineral water bottle and started pouring it in.
“This ten-liter bucket, should be enough for about ten jin, anyway, that’s it, don’t complain!”
Complain? Not at all!
As the liquor swished and was ladled out, its aroma became even more pronounced, and if Professor Song weren’t conscious of maintaining face, he would be salivating by now.
Completely focused on his bucket of wine, he turned his head and urged Xiaoqi, “Xiaoqi, hurry up and buy me that jar.”
Xiaoqi glanced at the row of 500-milliliter mineral water bottles sitting nearby and couldn’t help but laugh, “Okay, teacher.”