How to make golden cherry wine

Golden cherry, also known as mountain pomegranate, is produced in Guangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and other northern and southern regions. Golden cherry can be used to make medicinal wine, which is sweet and rich, has a low alcohol content and is a health-preserving medicinal wine. When making wine with golden cherry, you need to choose pure grain wine, which not only can play a role in diet therapy, but also has a regulating effect on the body. When making wine, you need to choose the container and process, and control the time well.

Golden cherry is also known as mountain pomegranate, pheasant head, etc.

The twigs are stout, with scattered flat curved prickles, glabrous, covered with glandular hairs when young, which gradually fall off and decrease with age. It is widely produced in Shaanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan and other places. The root bark contains tannins that can be used to make tannin, and the fruit can be used to make sugar and wine. The roots, leaves and fruits are all used as medicine. The roots have the effects of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, dispelling wind and dampness, detoxifying and astringing, and killing insects; the leaves are used externally to treat sores, boils, burns and scalds; the fruit can stop diarrhea and has an inhibitory effect on influenza viruses. Pick out impurities from the golden cherry fruits, cut them into two petals, wash and soak them in water, take them out, remove the remaining burrs after soaking them, dig out the hair and core, and dry them. It is mainly used to consolidate semen, astringe the intestines, reduce urination and stop diarrhea. It is used to treat spermatorrhea, enuresis, frequent urination, diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, asthma and cough due to lung deficiency, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, metrorrhagia and leukorrhea.

Using golden cherry berries to make wine is a common method of making medicinal wine among the Chinese people. Golden cherry berries wine is soft and mellow, sweet and delicate, delicious but not intoxicating, and therefore loved by the general public. Here is a brief introduction to the method of using golden cherry to make wine, the precautions during the brewing process, and the recipes of common golden cherry medicinal wine.

Selection and precautions of golden cherry medicinal wine

1. Selection of medicinal wine

(1) It must be genuine pure grain wine. The selection of wine is the most critical step in making medicinal wine. As we all know, according to recent media reports, more than 70% of the liquor on the market is blended with edible alcohol + spices + saccharin + water. Many of them are brewed under the banner of pure grains but are actually blended with edible alcohol. The biggest difference between these two types of wine is that pure grain brewed wine is brewed by natural fermentation and contains a variety of natural substances that are beneficial to the human body. These naturally formed substances will react with medicinal materials to produce magical health and medical effects. The ingredients added to edible alcohol blended wine are not good for the human body and will affect and destroy the efficacy of the medicinal materials. Therefore, it is very important to choose the wine to be soaked. If you accidentally choose alcohol blended wine as the wine to be soaked, even the best medicinal materials will be greatly discounted or even have a counterproductive effect. Therefore, when making medicinal wine, you must use wine brewed from pure grains. Good medicinal materials and good wine can achieve the maximum efficacy of the medicinal wine. This kind of pure grain wine without additives is not easy to find on the market. Here, the author recommends to you a pure grain wine made from Gu Yangkang that I have been using. Only wine brewed from truly pure grains can achieve the maximum efficacy of medicinal wine.

(2) Alcohol content: It is best to use high-quality pure grain liquor with an alcohol content of 50-60% for preparing medicinal liquor. From the analysis of Chinese medicinal materials, whether Chinese herbal medicine or animal medicinal materials, they all contain water and more or less bacteria and germs. Only a slightly higher alcohol content can kill bacteria and germs. In addition, the seepage of water from medicinal materials will dilute the alcohol content, so it is appropriate to choose a liquor with a higher alcohol content. However, low alcohol content is not conducive to the dissolution of effective ingredients in Chinese medicinal materials, thus affecting the treatment and health care effects. Finally, from the perspective of shelf life, low-alcohol liquor, coupled with the dilution of medicinal materials, has too high a water content, which is not conducive to long-term preservation. In addition, as wine is stored over time, its alcohol content will decrease. Therefore, it is better to use 50-60 degree wine for soaking.

(3) It is not easy to choose plastic barrels for wine: There are many plastic barrels for wine on the market, especially for strong liquor, which are actually very bad. You must choose ceramic jars or glass bottles to store wine. Remember not to use PET plastic barrels. Wine is corrosive, especially strong liquor. If it is in contact with plastic barrels for a long time, the liquor will corrode the plastic and easily blend into some components of the plastic barrel. For safety reasons, it is best not to use plastic barrels for wine soaking.

2. Selection and processing of golden cherry

Select golden berries that are highly mature, free of insect pests, rot, and debris. Select the impurities, dirt, stones, dead branches and leaves, etc., wash them clean and set aside.

3. Container selection

The container for soaking medicinal wine must be a ceramic jar or a glass container. If conditions permit, it is best to choose a ceramic jar. Ceramics jars are more suitable for storing wine than glass. We use ceramics to boil Chinese medicine and store wine in ancient times, which can accelerate the aging of the wine. Plastic and metal containers cannot be used. Toxic substances can easily escape from plastics and metals, or produce toxic reactions. However, this will not happen with glass and ceramics. This is another important reason why I recommend Gu Yangkang pure grain wine to everyone. The capacity of the jar is 2300ML, but the actual wine is 1500ML, leaving 800ML of space for medicinal materials. The bottle mouth has a diameter of 4CM and medicinal materials can be added directly. This wine is not only brewed from real pure grains, but also in a pottery jar, which is specially made for soaking medicinal wine.

How to make wine with golden cherry

It is simple and easy to make wine with golden berries. Select 1-2 pounds of washed mature golden berries, 5 pounds of white wine, and an appropriate amount of rock sugar. Place the golden berries in a clean bottle or other container, then add white wine to soak them. The container must be sealed and stored in a cool and dry place. It can usually be consumed after one month.

Common recipes for golden cherry wine

1. Fairy Wine (Classified Collection of Strange Prescriptions)

[Recipe] 60g of Epimedium, 30g each of Psoralea corylifolia, Angelica sinensis and Cuscuta australis, 150g of Rosa rugosa, 15g each of Achyranthes bidentata, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Rhizoma Chuanxiong, Morinda officinalis, Fennel, Cinnamon bark and Eucommia ulmoides, 8g of Agarwood and 4000g of liquor.

[Preparation method] Fry fennel and psoralea corylifolia until slightly yellow, put them into a silk bag with other medicines, tie the mouth tightly, put it into a container together with white wine, seal it, boil it in water for 3 hours, bury it in the ground for 3 days, and wait until the heat is gone.

[Effects] Strengthens yang, consolidates essence, strengthens muscles and bones, and replenishes essence. It is suitable for cold limbs, fear of cold, mental depression, fatigue, impotence, spermatorrhea, and premature ejaculation. Middle-aged and elderly people with insufficient blood and qi should also take it regularly.