How to Make Snake Wine and Key Points
The steeping material for snake wine is generally dried snake, though it can also be made by steeping a whole snake after cutting it open and removing the intestines. The steeping methods include raw steeping and cooked steeping. Generally, snake wine is pale yellow and transparent, with a slight aroma and snake odor, and a smooth, mellow, slightly astringent taste. To enhance the medicinal effect, various Chinese herbs can be added to the snake wine, and the extract may sometimes have a slight sediment.
Methods for steeping snake wine: (1) Dry steeping method: steep processed dried snake meat in 55-degree baijiu at a ratio of 5:1, seal for 2 months, and it is ready to drink once the wine turns yellow; (2) Fresh steeping method: kill the snake, remove the internal organs, wash clean with water, steep in 55-degree baijiu, and seal for two months.
Three-snake wine is made by steeping banded krait, oriental ratsnake, and cobra together with related Chinese herbs in liquor. The method: take 1 of each of the three snakes (about 1000-1500 grams), remove the internal organs and heads respectively, wash clean with water, wipe dry with a cloth, and steep in 7.5-10 liters of rice wine of 50 degrees or above, then seal for 2-3 months. Three-snake wine is orange-yellow with a fragrant, mellow taste.
Drinking wine made from dried sea snake is said to have special effects on rheumatism, frozen shoulder, and sciatica, and it is called the "nemesis of rheumatism." The steeping method is to first wash the dried sea snake with liquor, cut it into small pieces, then steep 100 grams of dried sea snake in 5 kg of high-quality baijiu of 40 degrees or above, and an appropriate amount of Chinese herbs may be added; it is ready to drink after 20 days.