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Mountain Steep Permaculture - Permacultura em Declive de Montanha

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Commenced:	01/07/2012
Submitted:	09/08/2012
Last updated:	15/01/2018
Location:	Chão Sobral, Aldeia das Dez - OHP - Coimbra, PT
Climate zone:	Warm Temperate

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Back to Mountain Steep Permaculture - Permacultura em Declive de Montanha

Strawberry-tree - from flower to firewater

Project: Mountain Steep Permaculture - Permacultura em Declive de Montanha

Posted by João Gonçalves almost 12 years ago

Another king of the mountain - Arbutus unedo - a great multi-functional tree in our rocky steep slopes: from its berries is distilled the medicinal alcohol, berries are great autumn meal for wildbirds, its wood keeps us warm throught the winter, and it's

Strawberry-tree flowers, attract bees ...

It is common to see, in the same tree, the flower side by side with ripe fruits, that have a long maturing proccess.

Da flor do medronheiro ...

à apanha

below, berries ready to be stored, for a few months, in the fermentation barrels, a stick is used to smash and mix the berries with somewater if the fruit is not so juicy ...

depois de alguns meses guardada

in the blue container already fermented, berried turned to a mash ready to be distilled

leva-se para o Alambique

mash of simple fermented berries (eventually more water is added) are thrown into the copper pan

acende-se a fornalha

stirring the fermented berries and added water

after the fire is for a while and it goes to boiling, the vapeur released will have more and more alcoholic content until it ignites from a fire source, that's when the copper head (pic. above) is attached to the copper pan opening to start the condensation.

assim que o vapor ganha teor alcoólico, coloca-se a cabeça do Alambique que é selada nas ligações com um pouco de farinha amassada com água

corn flour mixed with water is used to seal the copper fitting

the leaking "firewater" stick,

assim que o vapor começa a condensar

vapeur inside the copper head and pipe is condensed as this pipe is under a small flow of cold water, inside a granite rock tank

atravessa o tubo de arrefecimento e condensação

ready, lets try it!

é boa p'rá tosse

once alcohol content drops, the fire is put out and the the pan is emptied.

desfaz-se a fogueira

para retirar a massa e colocar outra

after distilled the berries mash are thrown to the chickens yard. once cold the chicken will eat the seeds and add their manure - after composting usually for 1 year, at least, this is ready to used in the garden.

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Arbutus+unedo

Comments (4)

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Heiko Vermeulen : That's fascinating! What are the medicinal properties? We have a lot of strawberry fruits around here.

Posted almost 12 years ago

João Gonçalves : In each small hamlet in the mountains around, there are several recipes for home made medicines for flu states (many adding honey and a burning char), toothaches, skin problems, using this type of alcohol. It was the only and much needed multifunctional alcohol people would have access and a product they could export, sell or barter.

Posted almost 12 years ago

Ute Bohnsack : Fascinating indeed! I didn't know the fruits of Arbutus could be used that way. The strawberry tree can grow here in Ireland but I've never tried its fruit. The Irish equivalent of that type of booze is poteen, usually made from potatoes or malted barley and of course highly illegal! It is not only used for intoxication but, as in your place, as a cold and flu remedy, as medicine for all sorts of ills than can befall livestock, or to warm up on a cold winter night, with added boiling water, sugar, lemon and cloves.

Posted over 11 years ago

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