Rakia

If it has sugar in it, you can ferment it. If you can ferment it, you can make Rakia. Every Bulgarian is born with the singular aim of making Rakia. They are so fiercely proud that their Rakia is the best.
By coincidence, the local still is on the otherside of the lane at the end of the garden.
Practically everyone we've met distils their liquor at this place. There are 3 stills, it costs 35 lev a day for one still. The owner is raki(a)ng it in.
We were invited to a Rakia making "party" to witness this culturally significant event.
Food, wine, rakia, more food and more rakia. Hopefully I'll find something to ferment and have a go next year.

Still here

One of the three stills. Pretty rudimentary, but does the job. Safety devices (pressure relief valves) and pressure gauges conspicuously absent.

Science

I didn't get a straight answer about removing the methanol, but they do use a hydrometer to tell them when to stop the distillation. The resultant liquor is around 80 proof... needs a little water added at some later point and a few years maturation, if they can wait that long.

(Dimo Canada swears by adding Mulberry Wood to both flavour and colour the Rakia, to be fair, his Rakia is quite good!)

Lorem ipsum dolor

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec leo mi, fringilla ac ornare a, fringilla ac eros. Maecenas nisi.