Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 111 Making New Products

If the seeds and hard stems of the Japanese raisin tree are used to make wine, the resulting wine will inevitably be bitter and astringent. Therefore, they must be cleaned thoroughly, leaving only the soft and edible pulp to make the wine sweet and delicious.

After dinner, Xu Chunsheng and his family removed the pits from the fresh jujubes they had picked.

"Second brother, quickly pour it in, I'll wash it!"

Xu Yaomei squatted in front of the wooden basin, which was filled with water. She patted the rim of the basin, urging the others to hurry up.

"Here it comes, here it comes. Be gentle when you wash it."

Xu Chunsheng poured the jujubes from the winnowing basket into the basin little by little.

The eldest sister and her younger sister washed the jujubes in the basin and then put them into another clean large bamboo basket.

The washed jujubes were spread out in a large bamboo basket, shining brightly under the light.

After washing everything, Xu Chunsheng carried a basin full of water and quickly rinsed the jujubes in the bamboo basket twice more.

The washing time should not be too long to prevent the fresh fruit from absorbing too much raw water.

After that, he poured the rinsed jujubes into the prepared light salt water and soaked them for about five minutes.

Watching Xu Chunsheng's actions, Xu Yaomei asked curiously, "Second brother, why are we soaking in salt water?"

Xu Chunsheng answered unhurriedly, "It's used to kill bacteria and remove surface dust and a slightly astringent taste."

"Wow, there's so much to it! Second brother knows so much!"

After soaking, Xu Chunsheng and his older sister took out the fruit and quickly rinsed off the surface salt with clean water.

"Okay, once it stops dripping, spread it out in a winnowing basket to air dry, and then it's ready to use."

Xu Chunsheng put down the basin in his hand and told his older and younger sisters to go and rest first: "I'll spread them out later. Little sister has to go to school tomorrow, so you two should go to sleep early."

The next morning, Xu Chunsheng carried the jujubes in the winnowing basket to the eaves to keep them in the shade. After covering them with a layer of gauze to keep out the dust, the family went up the mountain with baskets on their backs to pick more jujubes.

Unlike yesterday, there were noticeably more people picking jujubes in the mountains today.

These are people who came to the mountains early to pick jujubes because they heard that the Xu family was going to harvest them.

"That Xu Erwa is really capable. He can make any business successful. If my child were that capable, I would be laughing in my dreams."

"Yes, thanks to him doing this and that, we were able to earn more money. My sweet potato vines, which used to be buried in the ground every year, actually sold for some money this year."

"Hey, if it weren't for the fact that they raise so many pigs, I would never have thought that pig feed could be sold for money."

"In previous years, the supply and marketing cooperative only accepted dried jujubes. But Xu Chunsheng thought that fresh ones should be used to brew wine, so he accepted fresh ones. The price was also more reasonable. I wonder if they taste good. I'll have to buy some to try in the future."

"I tried making it a few years ago, and it didn't taste good. It was very astringent. I don't know how people manage to sell it."

"That's someone else's skill; they certainly wouldn't tell you that easily."

Xu Chunsheng heard the discussions in the mountains, but he had no obligation to explain to anyone. At that time, most families used dried jujubes to make wine, and very few people used fresh jujubes.

Just as that person said, this is, after all, a craft, and it's not something that can be easily told to others.

Unlike the orange wine he made last time, Xu Chunsheng is preparing to make jujube fermented fruit wine this time, without adding any white wine, relying on its own fermentation to produce alcohol.

Holding a stick, Xu's mother gently crushed the somewhat wilted jujubes and asked, "Erwa, is it not soaked like the last time for tangerine wine? I've never heard of making wine by fermenting it yourself without using baijiu before."

Xu Chunsheng didn't even look up, his hands still moving: "Mom, these two are different. The tangerine wine from last time was—"

The infused liquor has a fruity flavor, but the alcohol content is still a bit high. My method uses pure fruit fermentation, without adding a single drop of commercially produced spirits. The alcohol comes entirely from the sugars in the jujube itself, resulting in a richer fruity aroma, a smoother taste, and a lower alcohol content.

The older woman picking beans nearby looked up, somewhat curious: "These jujubes are so dry, you can't squeeze out any juice at all. Oranges and tangerines can be juiced to make wine, but these don't even have any juice. How can they ferment into wine? I read in the books that they're soaked in white wine."

"Hehe, you haven't seen it yet. You'll know when you see the rest."

Xu Chunsheng gathered the pressed jujubes together. "Jujube wine and tangerine wine are completely different. Tangerines are juicy and acidic, so you can just juice them and ferment them. Jujubes are high in sugar and low in acid, but they are too dry to extract their original juice. You have to soak them in water to extract the sugar before you can make wine."

When Mr. Xu returned from feeding the pigs, he heard their conversation and asked, "Why didn't you crush them and let them dry beforehand?"

Xu Chunsheng patiently explained, "Crushing it first will attract insects. Letting it air dry will prevent the sugar inside from being lost, and it will only dissipate the green and grassy taste of the peel. It will also prevent dust and bacteria from getting in, and the juice will not leak out."

Mrs. Xu stopped what she was doing, even more puzzled: "Then why crush it? Wouldn't it be cleaner to soak it whole?"

Xu Chunsheng explained, "The sugar needs to be mashed up to extract the flavor. But it can't be mashed too much. If there are too many small pieces mixed in with the sugar water, it won't be able to be filtered properly later, and the color of the wine won't look good. The appearance and taste will both be poor."

"Freshly picked grapes have a grassy smell. After two or three days, the grassy smell dissipates and the sugars solidify, resulting in a sweeter and purer wine."

Mr. Xu teased, "Now you know it's good to study, right? When you were little, I sent you to school, but you didn't want to. You didn't want to continue after finishing elementary school. Luckily, you learned all the characters, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to understand the books."

Xu Chunsheng smiled awkwardly, "Dad, don't make fun of me. Go inside and see if the water has boiled. If it has, pour it into a basin and let it cool down before using it."

"Don't touch that pot on the counter, okay? It's been boiled and cooled down. It can't be exposed to oil or raw food."

Mr. Xu nodded and went into the kitchen to check if the water had boiled.

After the water cooled down, Xu Chunsheng brought out the fermentation vat, which had been washed clean and was free of oil and water, and Xu's father carried the water out of the kitchen for later use.

Using a ratio of one pound of fresh Japanese jujubes to one and a half pounds of cooled boiled water, first put in the crushed Japanese jujubes, then pour in the cooled clean water to soak all the fruit pulp.

As Xu Chunsheng prepared to put the lid on, Xu's father asked, "You don't even need to add sugar this time?"

"The Japanese raisin tree is an exception."

Xu Chunsheng put the lid on: "Because it has a high sugar content and is sweet enough, the sugar water that comes out after two days is very sweet, and there is no need to add any extra sugar. If you add sugar, it will be too concentrated and will suppress the yeast, which will prevent the wine from fermenting."

After the fruit had soaked in water for four or five hours, Xu Chunsheng called his older sister for help: "Sister, come help me. Just do it like this, squeeze the remaining sugar into the water, and don't put the crumbs back in."

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Xu Chunsheng repeatedly rubbed the fruit pulp, squeezing out all the remaining sugar into the water, and then threw the residue into the dustpan next to him.

The two talked as they worked, and after all the fruit pulp was processed, they scooped out the remaining fruit residue from the jar, leaving only a vat of golden and translucent jujube syrup.

After doing all this, Xu Chunsheng took out the special fruit wine yeast that he had asked someone to bring back a couple of days ago, and activated it with warm water and a little white sugar, then let it stand.

The eldest sister and Xu's mother leaned over and asked, "Brewing wine is a craft, and even yeast is specialized. Can't regular yeast be used?"

"That won't work." Xu Chunsheng shook his head: "The leavening yeast is used to leaven ash-flavored dough cakes. It's easy for the fermented dough to have a wheaty taste, which will easily mask the sweet aroma of the jujube."

"Fruit wine yeast is specially used for brewing wine; it locks in the fruit aroma, ensuring the wine tastes authentic!"

Once the yeast was activated, Xu Chunsheng poured the yeast water into the tank according to the specified ratio and stirred it gently until well mixed.

The subsequent process is the same as when brewing orange wine: after covering the mouth of the jar, water is poured into the rim of the jar to seal it.

"Alright." Xu Chunsheng straightened up, clapped his hands, and moved the wine vat into the room. "Now we just need to wait for it to ferment. The temperature hasn't been too high or too low lately, so we don't need to do anything with it."

The older sister looked at the wine jar that had been placed there and nudged Xu Chunsheng's arm: "How long will it take to get good? It seems like orange wine can develop its flavor in about ten days."

"It's different too." Xu Chunsheng explained patiently, "Last time, the orange wine was made by soaking the oranges directly in alcohol. Once the fruit flavor was extracted, it was ready. But the jujube is low in acid and high in sugar, so it ferments slowly. It takes at least half a month for the bubbles in the vat to decrease and for the sugar to be used up. Only then is the fermentation considered complete."

After finishing all that, Xu Chunsheng didn't rest. However, he didn't go to the mountains to pick jujubes anymore. Instead, he contacted Li Da, whom he hadn't heard from in a long time.

Previously, Li Da seized the opportunity presented by the popularity of Ophiopogon japonicus and sold his stockpiled Ophiopogon japonicus for a high price. As a result, he stopped collecting medicinal herbs from the village and instead became a big boss.

He opened a shop in the county town, specializing in serving large-scale drug users and outside buyers. Relying on the connections he had built up before, he was able to gain a foothold in the county town.

Xu Chunsheng held up the phone, and a crackling sound came from the receiver, followed by Li Da's loud voice: "Hello, who is it?"

The two had contacted each other a few times along the way. Li Da contacted Xu Chunsheng to ask him to grow medicinal herbs so that he could harvest them later, but Xu Chunsheng did not agree.

Firstly, the time cost is too long, and secondly, you definitely can't make money growing your own medicinal herbs. And things like Ophiopogon japonicus can't be done every year.

However, their relationship did not become distant because of this; on the contrary, they became much closer. Because Li Da was initially unsure whether to open a shop, he even consulted Xu Chunsheng. He didn't know why he asked this young man; perhaps it was because of the feeling Xu Chunsheng had given him back then.

Li Da also took advantage of the newly relaxed business policies to secure his position in advance, waiting for the full liberalization of shop operations, and laid the foundation for a large-scale medicinal herb business, completely bidding farewell to the days of going to the countryside to collect scattered medicinal herbs.

"it's me."

"Oh, Brother Chunsheng."

Li Da's voice sounded somewhat surprised: "Oh, you're such a busy person, you even bothered to call me! How are your pig farm and distillery doing?"

"Everything is fine. I recently learned how to make a batch of fruit wine and I'm thinking of getting some uniquely shaped transparent glass bottles. I can't find any in town. You deal with a lot of wholesalers, so could you ask around for me?"

"If possible, I'd like to order a batch of wine bottles with our own brand logo printed on them."

After thinking for a moment, Li Da replied on the other end of the phone, "I know about burning lettering onto glass bottles. There are glass factories in Longchang that can do that, but it's not like buying a ready-made bottle."

"If you want to print the lettering separately, you need to make a mold first. They won't even bother with small batches. They'll only do it if you need at least five or six thousand pieces. They'll also charge you for the mold separately. All of that adds up to a considerable price for just the bottles."

Xu Chunsheng nodded, signaling Li Da to continue, but after a moment he realized that Li Da couldn't see him at all: "I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to place a big order right now. I just need to find out the rules, the price, and the minimum order quantity before I use them."

"Right now, I'm just testing the waters with ordinary glass bottles that I bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. Once the sales channels for the jujube wine and orange wine have expanded and I have a stable and regular customer base, I'll place orders for custom-made bottles with my own brand name."

What Xu Chunsheng didn't tell Li Da was that he planned to sell these wines abroad in the future, but that was a matter for later. If he were to sell them abroad, the raw materials would be a big problem, and his family alone couldn't produce a large batch.

After listening, Li Da agreed: "Okay, I'll ask around for you. I'll find out the wholesale price of the specialty bottles, and I'll also ask separately about the minimum order quantity and plate-making costs for the baked flower printing signs. I'll explain it to you later."

Xu Chunsheng thanked him, "Then I'll trouble you. Once you've found out, call me or go to the school to tell my brother."

Li Da took a couple of puffs of his cigarette on the other end of the phone, then leaned back in his chair: "Talking about this? If you hadn't reminded me to secure a shop location in the county town, I wouldn't be where I am today. This little favor is nothing."

Although they no longer had to time their calls like before, neither of them were fond of small talk, so they hung up after they finished speaking.

After contacting Li Da, Xu Chunsheng went to the rural liquor monopoly management station in the town's supply and marketing cooperative compound.

"Comrade, my family's winery is planning to add a type of infused orange wine and a type of fermented jujube wine. What procedures are required?"

Xu Chunsheng knocked on the door and asked the staff inside.

The cadre who was flipping through the ledgers at his desk stopped what he was doing and gestured for Xu Chunsheng to come in and sit down: "Come in and sit down and let's talk. You had all the necessary liquor production and sales licenses, health permits, and business licenses, right?"

If all the documents are complete, we only need to make a product addition change, saving a lot of trouble; if the documents are incomplete, we need to complete the missing ones first.

After Xu Chunsheng sat down, he nodded: "It's all set. It was just processed in the first half of this year and is still within the scope of the annual inspection."

This cadre remembered Xu Chunsheng. After all, there were only three wineries in the town, and Xu's winery had an accident last time. He was in charge of this kind of thing, so it was impossible for him not to know.

The official got up and searched for the application form in the documents, then chatted with Xu Chunsheng: "You've only been open for two or three months, and you're already adding new product categories?"

He pulled out a blank application form and placed it on the table. Recalling the mess that Wang Dongcai had stirred up at the Xu family's winery, his tone became more admonishing: "The trouble your winery caused with counterfeit wine has just passed. You have to strictly follow the rules for new wine brewing and license changes. Soaking fruit wine is risky because the raw materials might spoil, and fermenting fruit wine is the easiest to mess up if not controlled properly. Don't rush to sell before the permits are approved. Getting these two permits done properly is more important than any new product."

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