A few years back, my family and I pulled a do-over: We returned to the ancient Croatian mountain village of my ancestors to reconnect with each other and the old ways.

In Mrkopalj, Jim and I tracked down some old relatives and absorbed the tough history. But mostly, we ate and drank with the locals — most of whom I could claim as cousins. We grilled sheep on a spit, cooked vats of wild boar stew on a tripod, and ate blood sausage so fresh that we petted the pig the morning we ate it.

Yet there was one thing they would not share with us: the village recipe for moonshine.

I can't tell you how much I liked shooting rakija, the spirit's local name, in the morning. It burns the nose hairs and sears the throat — then settles into an all-day high that produces an unusual state of mellowness. (Only one shot, though. Two will make you inexplicably angry.)

In general, making home rakija is a federal offense in this country. So even if we did get a recipe from a very reliable Eastern European connection, I couldn't make rakija here at home.

I can, however, tell you what I have learned from my expat sources, for entertainment purposes only. Something you might copy down and take with you, if you're ever in a lawless country. Such as New Zealand.

And until I can make the nectar of my people, I'll be buying this stuff, which is an acceptable substitute.

Step One

For a batch that'll produce about 5 quart-sized Mason jars of rakija, combine:

• 6.5 lbs fruit (grapes, plums, or, as in Mrkopalj, apples)

• 6.5 lbs sugar

• 2 gallons plus 1 cup warm water

• 1 packet wine yeast

In a 6.5-gallon fermentation bucket with an airlock (available at beer-making shops), crush or break down fruit manually (for the weak of hand, use an immersion blender) with the sugar, water, and yeast and stir. Place the mash bucket in a clean, dry place at a controlled cool temperature, such as a basement, for 4 weeks.

Step Two

Supplies:

• Large thermal water cooler

• Large stockpot

• 6 small C-clamps

• Cheap meat thermometer

• 10-foot coil of copper tubing (3/8-inch inside diameter)

• Drill

• Tube of silicone sealant

• 3/8-inch rubber grommets

While the mash is fermenting, assemble the cooker. Run a bead of silicone sealant around the lip of the stockpot. Let dry.

Drill one 1/2-inch hole in the top of the lid and insert 3/8-inch rubber grommet. Put a bead of silicon around the grommet. The tubing will eventually go in here.

Drill a 1/8-inch hole for the thermometer (or just eyeball the thermometer diameter). Insert a rubber grommet and bead with silicon. Insert thermometer.

Drill a hole into the side bottom of the water cooler. Place the copper tubing coil into the water cooler. Feed one end out the hole in the bottom of the water cooler. Bead with silicone sealant.

Check proper assembly. Place the lid on top of the cooker and feed about a half-inch of the copper coil through it (copper should not immerse in liquid). Clamp the cooker together with several C-clamps. THIS SEAL MUST BE TIGHT AND STURDY. Contents will be under great pressure.

Step Three

Supplies:

• Cooker and cooler

• Cheesecloth

• Flour

• Water

• Ice

After four weeks of fermentation, strain mash through cheesecloth. Open the cooker and pour in clean juice. Feed in copper tubing (should not touch liquid). Clamp shut.

Place the cooker on the stove, with the cooler beside it on the counter. Fill the cooler with half ice and half water. Turn on the stove burner to start heating the fermented juice. Place the stub of copper coil emerging from the bottom of the cooler into a receiving vessel — a big bowl or a quart-sized Mason jar works just fine.

Step Four

As the fermented fruit juice heats, it will evaporate, traveling through the copper coil and cooling as it does, turning into liquid that runs out the end of the coil.

There is a chance the still will spring a leak. For this, mix together a paste of flour and water. Slap it on there. Add a washcloth bandage for extra hold.

IMPORTANT: Discard the first 100 ml of the yield, essentially anything that comes out before the liquid is up to proper temperature. When it hits 172-189 degrees Fahrenheit, it will hold. This is the proper cooking range. What comes out is rakija.

EQUALLY IMPORTANT: Cooking is over when the liquid begins to run cloudy. This occurs when the longtime steady temperature begins rising. When it hits about 190-192 degrees Fahrenheit, turn off the burner. Let cooker cool for at least an hour before opening to discard remaining juice.

This is a long process, taking anywhere from 3-5 hours.

Run distilled rakija through a Britta filter a few times, to eliminate some of the heavy metals that leech from the copper tubing and cause heavy metal toxicity, which would be an awesome band name.

Step Five

To finish the rakija, cut the yield with water — half rakija and half water is just about right, topped off with another smidge of the rakija before sealing with the lid, producing roughly 80 proof spirits.

I like my rakija straight, and in the morning. But many perfectly respectable drinkers doctor it up. Here is a recipe from my good friend Saša, from Vukovar, Croatia:

• 1 liter rakija

• 1/4 liter honey from flowers

• 1/4 liter boiling water

• Juice from one lemon

Mix these ingredients together and set it in the sun like sun tea, only it'll put hair in your ears.

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Jennifer Wilson is the author of Running Away to Home, a chronicle of her family's experience in Croatia, where she learned how to make this stuff. She really does drink it in the morning.

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