[narrator] this time on moonshiners...
[digger] oh, it's spongy.
Full of juice.
We getting ready to mash all this in.
The sugar cane needs nothing else except add it to the mash,
but these cherries are a little different story.
We're making us some hillbilly cajun cognac.
Whoa!
What do you think, brother?
Son, I'm digging this.
We're back in tennessee now.
It feels like a big accomplishment to have this still set up.
That good?
Jerry!
Oh, [bleep]!
So I'm dying to see this infusion thing that you have made, huck.
[mark rogers speaking]
[amanda] I don't think it's gonna shoot off or anything,
but it's just... Let's not stand in front of it.
[hissing]
[man] this is how we make the moonshine!
Boy, that sugarcane cutting me up.
Yeah, you get in there
and you fight that stuff.
[narrator] on the shores of the gulf coast in iberia parish, louisiana,
richard and craig harvest sugarcane
in advance of their trip to work with mark and digger on a run of cherry cognac.
Yeah, this is 10 times better than going to the store and buying sugar.
Like, the sugar content in this right here is so pure.
I called mark and digger for advice on how to make a cherry cognac,
and these guys said, "hey, come up here and we'll make it together."
[craig] we're in southwest louisiana.
Everywhere you turn is a sugarcane field,
so I think the best way to make this cognac
would be with some louisiana sugarcane.
Feel like I'm in the cornfield, man.
Anytime we don't have to buy anything to make a real high quality liquor out of it,
I mean, I'm game for that.
The less money you spend, the more money you make.
Yeah, this is 10 times better than going to the store and buying sugar.
Like, the sugar content in this right here is so pure.
This is one of the only places I've ever seen me be able to walk up to a sugarcane
and excrete sugar that easily.
I wouldn't even know how much this would be if I had to buy this in the store.
It would probably be in some high-end product,
'cause this is pure sugar without a molassesy, cane taste.
This is good sugarcane.
That's something that's real hard to get in alcohol production.
A lot of people don't take advantage of this and we exploit it.
That's why our alcohol is different.
That's why it tastes different.
That's why it tastes clean and clear.
The sugars that we use are clean and clear.
But mark and digger said they want something different,
we gonna give 'em something definitely different.
Thought cutting it was the hard part?
Loading is gonna be hard, too.
Mark and digger have forgotten more about alcohol than I'll probably ever know,
so any bit or piece that I get to learn from them,
lord, I take advantage of.
So now I'm gonna get the cherries.
Trip to tennessee. Let's go.
[lora] hey, marky.
-[rogers] hey! -About time you got here.
Yeah. Finally got here.
-We got some good pears here. -Got there some pecans.
[narrator] in graham county, north carolina,
mark and huck prepare to infuse corn liquor
with fresh, ripe pears from huck's wife's family orchard.
Yeah, huck, he, uh, make a real good pear-infused moonshine.
We're gonna see if we can get some good, ripe pears,
see what we can do with.
-[lora] catch, marky. -[all laughing]
-[lora] see if you can hit the bucket. There we go! -[all laughing]
these pear trees, they've been down at my dad's for about 50 years,
and they're the old-timey pears,
and these are hard to find.
They have a lot of juice. They're really good tasting.
No, he drank some with his friends.
Some moonshine and whatever else when he was younger.
When you're younger, you're always in your wilder days anyway, most of the time.
-I'm just getting in my prime. I'm getting started. -[lora laughs]
[lora] if he was still here, he'd say,
"well, you gotta give me a jug or two, so I can keep it for..."
-well, you know we'd give him a drink... -Yeah.
-...Anytime he wanted it. -[lora laughs] yeah.
[huck] lora, she really enjoys being around these trees,
and, uh, when we get all these pears,
we're gonna have some different flavors,
and, uh, I think we're gonna have a lot of happy people to deal with.
[rogers] they're good and ripe, ain't they?
When I was a little girl,
I always followed daddy around in the yard
and he showed me stuff about grafting.
[rogers] what is grafting, anyway?
You gotta have the same kind of tree, a apple or a apple,
and the tree that you're gonna graft to,
you cut a little bit of the branch off and then you wedge it.
You just put it in there like a little puzzle,
and then later, when it produces,
it has a little bit of flavor.
It's got a flavor mixed in with the tree you grafted it to
and then the tree you took it off of.
What about that?
[lora] think that's all of 'em.
[rogers] well, let's load 'em up, get 'em back,
and see if we can get 'em worked up.
These pears, we're gonna try to work our corn in
and we'll see how it turns out.
[huck] I think I can do this on a lot larger scale and a lot quicker.
Well, we'll get the little scientist, amanda, back.
Make sure we'll do it right,
-'cause I don't understand the science behind this. -I don't either.
I don't know nothing about it.
I just let it ferment and dump it in the pot.
Yeah, moonshiners, they help one another out, you know.
Amanda, if she can come up with something better than I can,
I'm all for it.
She got all kinds of little gadgets
and trinkets, you know, little cups, bottles of gas.
Lot like being in a science lab.
I'll call her and see what she says.
[huck] okay. I'll see you.
[digger] he'd better hurry or we're gonna melt here in this sun.
There won't be nothing here but a puddle of grease that's left of me and you.
-Damn. -And two big chicharrons.
-[laughs] -[mark ramsey] oh, look at there.
Man, I'm glad I finally got here, man.
-Like a marathon, wasn't it? -[richard] yeah. How y'all doing?
We're really, really excited about getting richard here with us.
We're gonna try to run a run of cherry cognac.
I brought some grass with me, man.
You got that grass on steroid.
That... That's definitely what it is. Look at this stuff here.
Wow.
[richard] this is louisiana sugarcane.
Digger and I, we've never worked with sugarcane whatsoever,
and we're really excited about seeing what we can learn from him.
Now, they make sure that they get real high sugar production out of this.
Yeah.
It's not like it was back in the days when you just planted the stuff.
They put some science, they put some math into it.
-They try to figure out-- -like everything else, they're genetically modified
-where it'll produce more. -[ramsey] more sugar.
Less...
-Less head. -[ramsey] raw product.
It feels like it's dry as a cinder to us,
but he assures us it is full of liquid sugar.
[richard] lemme show you what I got in here for you, though.
Oh, my!
-Holy moly! -What you think about that?
-[ramsey] look how pretty them are! -[digger] look at yonder.
[richard] this should make a real fine drink, right here.
-[ramsey] oh, them are nice. -Mmm.
-[digger] mmm-hmm. -Damn, them is excellent.
Don't eat no more of them now, puss, that's gotta be in our liquor.
You know, technically, it won't be cognac,
because the grapes for cognac have to come
-from the cognac region of France. -Mmm-hmm.
So we're just gonna call this something else.
We'll call it hillbilly cajun cognac,
-how 'bout that? -That sounds real good, right there.
I promise you the cognac that's made today does not taste like the first cognac.
It evolves, you know, it changes.
So why can't it change with fruits as well?
Our first business, we gotta get that sugar out of that cane.
I got a sugarcane presser. At home, that's what I do with it.
Run it through a press.
Well, why didn't you bring it with you?
Oh, it's a little too big to put in that little truck right there.
Well, how we gonna squeeze it if we don't got no press?
Well, I'm gonna go to the store and I'm gonna get some pipes,
and we'll build something that's like an old clothes wringer.
Why don't we just use an old clothes wringer?
Oh, there's plenty of them old things around here.
And we don't have to build nothing.
That'll cut a day off of our worries.
There's one over at popcorn's if it ain't rotted apart.
He used one of them all the time when he washed them rags and stuff out there
-by that little pump house. -He had it screwed on the side of the...
-The pump house. -Yeah.
You know, it's... It's just build out of old telephone poles and...
He'd just drop 'em in there and wring 'em out.
-Catch him throwing 'em on the clothesline. -[digger] yep.
Well, if it's still there, it'll work.
We could wring that sugarcane out
and get every bit of liquid that's in there.
You ain't never been to... To popcorn's anyway.
It'd be an honor for us to take you over there.
It'd be an honor to tag along with you guys.
Yeah, we'd... We'd like to share that with you.
I got kinda weak in the knees right there.
Well, let's... Let's head over there. Just follow us.
-I will. -Just follow us, richard.
[jerry] what's going on, buddy?
[mike] what's happening, captain?
[narrator] in north carolina,
after losing their maggie valley still site,
mike and jerry are working on a plan to relocate their operation.
-I have found the still site for us, brother. -Really?
It's beautiful, man.
It is deep in the mountains.
We got plenty of water. We got everything that we need.
The thing about it is, it's in tennessee.
-Are you serious? -Yep, but--
so what's the lawyer situation going on?
I hadn't seen or heard anything.
-Nice. -[mike] we can set up there
for the duration, I believe, man.
You know, me and jerry,
we been running in north carolina this season.
I thought we had the perfect place,
but the man decided to sell the property out from under us.
[jerry] you know, the doctor's kinda...
He's lifting my restrictions a little bit,
as far as I can get out and walk and do what I need to do,
but he said still, no heavy lifting for a while.
I don't wanna take no chances, you know, just having a damn aneurysm.
I understand.
I want you to do everything you can do to get healed up and better.
You know, jerry's on doctor's orders right now.
He can't do a whole lot. He can't pick up on heavy stuff.
So all jerry's gotta do is load up and come with me.
We're just gonna have to have some help, though.
Well, I got a fellow on the way.
I got jesse coming.
We're gonna load this stuff up,
we're gonna get it up there to where we're going.
-You done one step ahead of me, friend. -I am. I'm...
I told you I was gonna beat the damn ground up, sir.
-Man, I'm super tickled. -I gotta get it... I gotta get it going.
Anytime you're moving your stuff point a to point b,
it's a risky move to start with,
let alone having to find somebody to help you do that
other than your all-the-time partner.
You gotta find that guy you can trust in to help you move that stuff.
I trust jesse. He's never turned his back on me whatsoever.
-[mike] what do you say, jesse earl? -[jesse] not much.
[mike] well look, uh, we'll make it short and sweet.
You know, you've helped us out a good bit in the past and everything,
we're gonna take the back roads across the mountain.
You know where to go.
Yeah, I know where to go.
-[jesse] I'm ready. -Let's do it.
[mike] come up on there, bubba.
Yeah, we gotta make sure when we get all this stuff loaded up,
we get it covered up with a tarp
where nobody'll notice anything suspicious or anything like that
and get it back across the mountain,
and me and jesse, we know the back roads where we don't have to hit no interstate
or no main highways at all, and get it back over there.
So that's the route we're gonna take.
All we gotta do now is get across the damn mountain with it.
Gonna come in there and supervise first?
-Well, why not? -Hell, yeah.
Let's get across there in one damn piece.
[richard] oh, this is the place!
-[digger] yep. -[ramsey] this is it, richard. This is...
[digger] this is where all the history was really made.
This is where popcorn made liquor.
I'm standing where popcorn made liquor.
I'm really, really humbled that you guys would...
Would even allow me to stand...
-Well. -...Where popcorn stood.
[ramsey] he'd be honored to have you here.
Well, richard's came and he's brought all this sugarcane,
but he didn't bring any means of pressing it to get the sugar out of it.
We just made the suggestion if a old clothes wringer would work,
and, uh, we knew popcorn had some of 'em at his place.
There's a lot of damn drinking and shindigging went on up here.
Now, this is popcorn's original old house.
It don't look any different now than it did 20 years ago, really.
[richard] this is where popcorn opened doors and spended his nights.
-[digger] it's a little cleaner than it was. -[all laughing]
[digger] he didn't get one of anything, he got 12 of everything.
-[richard] popcorn's phone book, huh? -[ramsey] hey, digger.
[digger] hey, there's your daddy.
-[ramsey] that's still my daddy's phone number. -[digger] yep.
-[ramsey] digger right above it. -Yeah.
That [bleep] said March, 2001.
Well, I don't have a home phone anymore, but...
There's a good chance that there's damn snakes and rats, so...
We ain't gonna look real deep in here.
You see that wringer anymore?
[digger] I do not.
Hell, he always washed them old rags and laundry
over there at the pump house, digger.
If it ain't in here, I ain't digging around in that no how.
I'm glad these damn walls can't talk, richard.
[digger] ooh, if them walls talk, I'm gonna call 'em a liar.
[laughs]
[ramsey] here's where he washed clothes.
[digger] this is where he kept stuff, in the old pump house.
You see him, ask him where that wringer's at.
[richard] oh, damn. This is it?
You were right!
-Yep. -Mr. Mark, you were totally right.
That'll definitely crush cane.
[ramsey] just so you know,
if popcorn was here and you had a press,
-he'd still do it this damn way. -[richard laughs]
-[richard] let's go mash it in. -[ramsey] all right.
Here we go.
Now that we've found this wringer,
it's time to go up on the hill at their old barn and wring out some sugarcane.
Cane juicing 101.
-[ramsey] well, it is pretty, ain't it, richard? -[richard] yes, it is.
[digger] oh, it's spongy.
Full of juice.
Full of potential alcohol.
Yeah, potential being the main ingredient.
The problem with sugarcane
is all that juice is inside the cane.
So we've got to flatten this out as flat as we can
to press all that juice out.
That's the way you want it, right there.
[richard] I think that'll hold us just fine.
Right now, we're gonna test out our theory.
We're gonna see if this will do what we need to do.
[digger] yeah, just take it. Just go straight down right here.
Look at that!
[ramsey] you'd think they're dry as powder, but...
Damn, it shot me right in the... Money shot.
[ramsey] digger's really figured this out, richard.
[digger] watch it when you go back up with it.
[richard] oh, it comes out even more!
Richard brought these stalks of sugarcane.
There's a half gallon of juice coming out of each one of 'em.
It's just like a waterfall.
Nature's bounty.
A processed sugar like we would buy in the store is a processed sugar.
This is a clean sugar, unadulterated.
It's not been tampered with by man,
so this is a much purer substance.
This fibrous stuff, this is where you're gonna pull
a whole lot of sugar from.
In louisiana, every part of this was used.
They made brake pads out of this.
This and the skin at one time.
Even the liquid that was left over is called bagasse.
They would take that stuff, and it's putrid, it stinks, it dries,
-we spread it over... -[both] use it for fertilizer.
They weren't throwing anything away back in the day.
[digger] well, you know, we use sugar that's been refined
out of juice that would come out of cane like this.
But, you know, with this process, it's not being refined.
It's a totally different flavor profile.
It might hurt your teeth, it's so sweet.
[richard] well, doing a little research on this stuff,
I found out that some people actually take this for bad breath
and strengthening enamel on your teeth.
-[digger] hmm. -Dentists will tell you
that that's something that can't be done, but science--
[digger] four out of five dentists say you're full of [bleep].
[ramsey chuckles]
[richard] in louisiana, we've got a lot of wild hogs running around.
These hogs taste a whole lot different that it's been eating
the sugar cane.
These things taste so good.
They shed their tears their self while they're alive. [laughs]
-you ever heard of such a thing? -[laughing] I have not.
We are what we eat.
-Digger, your new name's macaroni and cheese. -[digger laughs]
[digger] I'd send every elementary school teacher right to your front porch.
You'd start feeding it to them in kindergarten.
Their eyes would be that big right out on the stem,
[buzzing] vibrating like they ate a thread of sewing machine
and then running.
Richard, he's the sugarcane king,
he knows more about it than we do.
[ramsey] look at that.
That's pure, untouched sugar.
[ramsey] 35 gallons.
[richard] that's a lot of liquid gold right there.
Plus all that sugar that's in them cherries.
It's going to be something else.
Well, we've got a 55 gallon drum nearly full of it.
Cane juice and now, we're gonna bunch it up and we're going to haul it off
and get ready to make mash with it.
[softly] five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30...
There's 45 gallons there, richard.
[richard] that's a lot of sugar.
That's about 125 lbs. Of sugar worth right there.
-If not more. -[digger] hell, yes.
[thunder rumbling]
[huck] well, we've got the liquor, I've got the pears here.
-About right, ain't it. -Yeah!
-I'm excited to see how we can make some pear moonshine. -Oh, we can do it.
Last time amanda was here, she brought a pressurized rig she'd owned and all that.
So, I'm dying to see this infusion thing that you've made, huck.
This time, we're gonna try to scale up a little bit on our volume.
See if we can infuse a little more liquor quicker
than the way we was doing it before.
Huck thinks we've come up with something, but we'll see how it turns out.
-You was using co2, right? -[amanda] no2.
But co2 would work just as well because they use that
for sodas, and beers, and things.
-[huck] that'll work right there. -[amanda] yeah.
The no2 can just give it, like, a sweeter flavor, where the co2
would kind of be used to flavor, like, saltier things.
How'd you come up with this?
This right here comes from a steel supply company.
And I found this at a junkyard somebody just threw off to the side there.
I was looking for a part.
-[amanda] you're kidding. -[huck] yeah.
Looks like a bomb to me.
-Yeah, it does, don't it? -[laughs]
does it say on there how much, uh, psi this thing can hold?
-A hundred and thirty. Okay. -That's enough, ain't it?
[amanda] yeah, that's a lot of pressure.
[rogers] I don't know nothing about that. I'll cut the pears, then.
How about that?
Sounds good. [chuckles softly]
this apparatus I'm trying to put together right here, uh, it'll be 20 times faster
than the way we was doing it before.
Amanda had these little whipped cream chargers, you know,
with the little co2 cartridges you screw in.
And then you couldn't do but maybe a couple quarts at a time.
Then the filter system she had was...
I mean it worked good, it cleaned the liquor up,
but it was a long, drawn out process.
But this'll be the inlet line for the gas.
You go into here.
And pressurize this chamber.
And then you're just gonna attach some kind of, like, uh
-like a psi gauge on this side? -Yeah.
[amanda] all right.
I believe that's tight enough.
Initially, I see this chamber that he has,
and I can't believe somebody would throw this away.
It seems like it's all functional.
That's perfect.
Yeah. Yep, it goes right above where we need it.
A good ratio for this size vessel is three gallons of alcohol,
one gallon of flavor, and then just about a gallon's worth of room
for space, so that we can add the gas into the chamber.
You let me know when you start laying the pressure
because I'm gonna get way back.
[amanda laughs]
so, the only concerns that I have is that he did find it from a scrapyard
and we are about to put, like, about 100 lbs. Of psi in this tank right now.
So, I think we're all a little bit nervous at this point.
[rogers] I'm gonna get back.
[huck] okay.
[amanda] now, you're making me nervous.
-Shoot. -[huck] all right, here we go.
[amanda] fingers crossed, let's see.
Oh, it's working.
Yeah, it's up to 50 psi right now. Sixty...
You can cut it. I mean, we're just, you know, testing it out.
So, it definitely holds the pressure.
-This is the fun part, though, right? -[huck] yeah.
[hissing]
-it works. -Didn't blow my ark up.
-[amanda laughs] -that's what they call hillbilly engineering,
-right there. -[amanda] yeah.
But with fruit, I think this will work great.
Once we release all the pressure and the carbonation,
we should just be left with the moonshine, plus all the pear flavor.
Now that we have everything hooked up, everything works pretty flawlessly,
and on our dry run.
So, I think that this is gonna be a really smooth, really good-tasting
pear corn whiskey at the end.
[huck] that peeling on them pears right there will lower your cholesterol.
-[amanda] really? -Sure will.
Yeah, once we get all these pears cut up, we'll boil them.
Twenty, 30 minutes. Get them softened up real good.
Get all the sugar out of them that we can.
But it'd ought to make a good flavor.
[amanda] so, I've been meaning to ask you guys. You guys are cousins, right?
-First cousins. -[amanda] and you learned how to moonshine
from, you know, your fathers?
-My uncle. -Uncles. My uncles on my dad's side.
So, you guys just grew up around it.
-That's all you've ever seen as kids. -We was born in still, really.
It's really great to be here to work with guys like mark and huck
because they have learned from generations of people who've been practicing
moonshining and distilling in the backwoods.
-[rogers] that a burn? Yeah. That's bold. -Smells stout.
I feel like it's really important to learn this craft and preserve it
because it's been a part of our history since the beginning
of our country.
That's a pretty neat setup, isn't it?
[amanda] I think it's awesome. It's exactly like the small one.
And we have a gauge, so we know we're being safe with a gauge. [chuckles]
-[huck] you're not gonna watch the gauge? -[amanda chuckles softly]
-[rogers] I'm gonna let you guys do that. -[huck] here we go.
-You tell me when you think we need to stop. -[amanda] okay.
It might go up faster this time because we have a lot of stuff in there.
-[huck] here we go. -[hissing]
I don't think it's gonna shoot off or anything, but, just,
let's not stand in front of that because it'll go in that direction.
Worst case scenario.
[hissing]
[huck] here we go.
[amanda] I don't think it's gonna shoot off
but, just, let's not stand in front of that.
[hissing]
-it has a safety pressure release. -It does, don't it.
-[amanda] look at that. -[all laugh]
-[amanda] it's a blow off valve. -[huck] right.
-[mark] I wouldn't shake it, huck. -[huck] you got to.
While it's sitting here, there's all those bubbles in there
and it's just forcing the liquor into those pears.
And once we release it again, it'll pull the flavor out of the pears into the liquor.
-In that little device there. -[rogers] I told you you was a scientist.
-[amanda] want me to release the pressure? -[huck] yes, ma'am.
-All right. -[hissing]
-[rogers chuckles] -[amanda] let's see what we've made here.
Once we take the alcohol out of the chamber, we strain the pears
to get all the liquor out.
-Smells like pears. -[rogers] mmm-hmm
we've made it a little cloudy,
so instead of trying to run this back through a filtration system,
we're gonna use the still as our filter this time.
And we'll redistill it, clean it up, and we're gonna get
a cleaner, smoother product in the end.
-[huck] eat ya one of them. -[amanda] yeah, taste that.
-Whoop. -[rogers laughs]
tastes a little bit hot though, eh?
That infusion really worked.
It's just about biting into one of those large pears.
You know, that's how good a flavor it is.
It's like a pear corn brandy.
[rogers] but we need to try to clear it up.
If we can keep this same flavor, we'll really have something.
We probably got, what? Four or five more gallons of this to infuse now?
After infusing this corn with the pears, it tastes awesome.
-[huck] here we go. -[hissing]
you tell me when to stop.
I feel like we could take this and sell this to anybody and they would love it,
but because we have the time now,
we can take this back to the still and redistill it and bring
this pear corn whiskey to a whole other level.
Well, I guess it's back to still side, isn't it?
-Yeah. -Think so.
Load her up. Head that way.
[rogers grunts]
well, I tell you what, man. You're gonna love this damn place, brother.
-I hope so. -It's awesome.
We're back in tennessee now to show jerry our new still site.
But just getting the stuff back across the mountain is one thing.
But getting it all the way up into the woods to where I found the still site.
We're just gonna have to haul it in there a couple pieces at a time
until we get it all in there and set up.
I'll tell you what. This is a pretty little trail up through here.
Yeah, it is.
Park it right here.
What do you think, bro?
[jerry] son, I'm digging this.
With a big, old, fat shovel.
Why don't you look at that water, brother.
[mike] reckon we've got plenty of it, did I not tell you?
-[jerry] I don't think it'll ever dry up on us. -[mike] no, sir.
-Is that not good? -I was about to say well that's
some damn good water right there and cold, god!
You can tell this place has never been logged or anything.
The trees are just gigantic. This waterfall's enormous.
I think mike got us a really good site for the rest of the season.
Luckily, this right here is about the only flat spot we got.
Right in this little area, right here.
[mike] with the setup we got, it don't take much.
[jerry] no, this little setup we ain't got much at all.
Run it here. Barrel to barrel.
Set our mash barrels right up against that log right there.
Keep it all nice and tight.
That's right. We'd kill all this little stuff.
That'd kind of open it up right in here a little.
I'm excited being back here in east tennessee.
Me and jerry, we've had our ups and downs.
But all our stuff's here that we can work with.
And I'm ready to hit the ground running, get me set up.
Mike, I got this part.
-I feel like I done my part today. -Yeah, you did.
It's all right.
You know, I got pretty strict doctor's orders. I'm not gonna overdo myself.
My life is more valuable than any still sites.
We're in here now, we'll get this little place cleaned out.
We'll get set up. Gotta pop in water.
It's only one damn step at a time. We can only do so much.
My work for the day's done.
I'm getting out of this damn hollow for a little while.
-That'll work. -Let's do it.
[mike] so, you owe me a steak dinner now, right, jerry?
-[jerry] you got it. -[mike laughs]
-[crackling leaves] -[footsteps approaching]
[gurgling water]
[digger] I know one thing.
It don't take long to eat up them 40 or 50 dollars' worth of cherries.
[richard] oh, no, I think I ate about 30 yesterday.
[digger] welcome to our old still site, richard.
-Tried and true. We love it. -[richard] man.
Looks like home. I'd have a hammock up here
and a little tent set up. I wouldn't go nowhere.
Well, you don't know that the moonshiners don't ever sit down.
They sleep standing up.
Normally, you don't walk a stranger into your still site.
They're breaking rule number one for me.
-[digger] that's big sloppy. -[ramsey] and the baby.
[digger] we're getting ready to mash all this in.
The sugar cane doesn't need nothing else except adding the mash,
but these cherries are a little different story.
We gotta cook them up or they'll cook apart.
The seeds will come out and we can eliminate those from the process.
[ramsey] I guess first thing we need to do is get that little still took apart.
We just need the burner, don't we?
Gotta get us a little water established.
We got fresh cherries, cane juice...
[ramsey] we're making us some hillbilly cajun cognac.
This is definitely better than what comes out of the bayou.
I can drink this right now.
[digger] I'm gonna get some cherries
because I don't know how much water we need.
It really, really is a hard job getting the pits out of cherries.
We've got a lot of cherries, so we're going to have to try to find a way
to get these pits out of here effectively.
We're definitely taking those stems off of them.
Cherries do so good with liquor, man, but the work you've gotta put into it.
Exactly.
-Damn watched pot don't ever start a boil. -That's what they told me.
One of them's right here.
[laughs] you might. I can feel her getting softer.
When you're dealing with fruits, it's very important
to make sure you start to break down the structure so it can ferment effectively.
-[digger] yeah, they're getting mushy. -Dropping the pits in there.
Look, there's a pit right there.
You know, these cherries are wonderful.
They're not tart, they're really sweet, they're full of juice.
It makes a beautiful mash.
We're gonna make us a screen to pour this damn gravy through.
[digger] we're gonna screen test it.
That's what that policeman did to me down there in nashville that time.
He slammed them brakes on there, was handcuffing, then bam!
-I said, "boy, that was a screen test." -[richard laughs]
[digger] the screen we're gonna build, it's simple.
It's just a square made out of two by fours.
We'll just pack some chicken wire
kind of like what you build to build a fish trap or a minnow trap.
[ramsey] look at that.
Hell, that looks like that'll work.
Now we just gotta get it out of this pot.
[digger] when it comes to the stones is,
they used to call the seed and the fruit,
not only can they produce wood alcohol, which is a no-no,
seeds also can contain cyanide.
We eliminate that altogether, just where that doesn't have to be a concern.
I know this is the pits, doing this stuff.
-You're a clever man, richard landry. -[chuckles]
[richard] so, the pits will stay at the top of this screen
and we'll have all our flesh and our cherry juice in the bucket.
[digger] I'm gonna nut-bust, and any of you can scrape, how's that?
[richard] they're still hot in there.
We have these cherries heated up.
We brought 'em to a temperature would help
break down a little bit more
what we need broken down from this.
Start doing a real good ferment.
We're gonna throw our sugar cane in there,
let it cool down, and we'll pitch some yeast.
That's sugar cane juice, right there.
If each of these buckets was equivalent to 50 pounds of sugar,
then we've got plenty.
The more sugar, the more alcohol.
Boys, we're running out of daylight.
-We gotta pitch this yeast. -Pitch it.
-This temperature's good, I mean... -Mmm-hmm.
We don't need a bunch of it. Just about a good cupful in there.
Scattered on top.
All we got to do is top that off.
Let it do its magic.
We're gonna let you cap that rascal off, there, richard.
Oh, man. Y'all gonna let me cap off this pot?
Line it up with that. I'm gonna put it in this thump arm.
That way, we don't get no unwanted critters.
There's a lot of people think that they're moonshiners,
and they ain't got a still as big as that cap.
[digger] till you unload two truckloads of sugar a week,
you ain't no moonshiner.
[amanda] you guys ready to redistill these pears?
[huck] ready as we'll ever be, I guess.
[amanda] back at the old still site
it's a miracle.
[amanda] it's a miracle.
Well, today we made it back to the still site
with these two buckets of infused liquor.
It's a little bit dingy.
You know, it ain't real, real clear?
So that's the reason we want to double-distill it.
And hopefully, it's gonna be pure.
There ain't gonna be no sediment in it.
But right now, it's just a gamble.
So, just gonna have to see how that turns out.
You know what? We're gonna let you run that yourself.
[amanda] really?
Mmm-hmm. We are.
We just want to sit back. We want to monitor you.
Watch you.
[amanda] all right. That's good practice.
I think I can handle it.
I think it'll be definitely easier to fill the still today.
Lot less going in there. [chuckles]
the guys just told me that it's gonna be my job to run it
all by myself this time.
So, I'm pretty honored, because I want them
to trust me and respect me, and know that I am also a moonshiner,
and I can also pull my weight here.
Mmm. God!
When we run this, that'll tell the tale, right there.
All right.
There's a ton of pressure. And it's gonna be my chance
to show them what I can do.
[rogers] here you go, amanda. Here you...
-A little starting fluid here. -[amanda] all right.
Just be real careful, I'll tell you. Don't spill it.
Yes, sir.
Step number one, be careful.
[flicks lighter]
so, cooking on an open fire through furnace heat?
Not a lot of people do that anymore.
And if I just get that flame a little bit too hot,
we could scorch the liquor, possibly, and...
And then the whole run would be shot because of that.
So I gotta really make sure that I pay attention and watch those coals.
[mark] how's it coming over there?
-About ready. -[mark] pretty close?
Yeah. Steam's up in this arm, here.
[huck] I'm a little bit nervous about rerunning it.
Might lose a little bit of the flavor.
Don't know yet.
So what do you guys think about the infusion, so far?
It sure flavored it, I'll tell you that.
[amanda] yeah.
I guess this right here is gonna tell the tale though, ain't it?
It should.
Normally, you'd probably let it sit
for six to eight weeks, to get a smooth flavor.
So, we're able to squeeze it into 20 minutes.
So it's pretty interesting to see.
Oops. She's running, guys.
[huck] how does it smell?
[amanda] it smells like pears.
I feel like I'm getting pretty nervous at this moment,
because I really want mark and huck to approve
of all the work that we've done.
So, now's the moment of truth.
I can't believe this.
[amanda] what do you think?
That's just like biting into a pear.
[slurps]
-that's some good stuff, right there. -It is.
-That's good. -[amanda] yeah?
[rogers] yeah, move.
Good pear taste. Clear as a bell. Happy.
[rogers] y'all, I want to get me a good drink of this.
-Clear as a bell, isn't it? -Yeah.
I'm really happy with the final product.
It tastes just like lora's pears.
So, we didn't overwhelm the base spirit,
and we were really able to infuse it with a ton of flavor.
I'm getting warm.
-All the way down through my esophagus. -[huck] mmm-hmm.
-[rogers] is that what you call it? -[huck] esophagus.
-[rogers] esophagus? -[huck] esophagus
fingers starting to tingle a little.
[claps]
what I thought we would do is something like this right here.
Then fill it up with that infused liquor.
When that's on a shelf at a bar,
people will pick that out of 100 bottles, and say they want to try it.
-They will. Yeah. -'cause it looks pretty.
Yeah, you put this pear down that jar of liquor,
and set it up on the shelf for a week or two,
that pear right there will be pretty potent.
Yeah, we're gonna split this up three ways.
Oh, yeah?
I get to take a little bit of this home?
-[huck] yes, ma'am. -That's awesome.
[huck] I guess we better wrap this up and get outta here, hadn't we?
Amanda, you know, we kind of learned her how to do, uh,
liquor in the old-timey way.
And she taught us something, on this infusion, you know?
A quicker way to do it.
I think she's happy with what we taught her,
and we're happy with what she taught us.
You come up with any more of these brilliant ideas on this liquor, let us know.
We'll try something else.
We gotta figure on how we're gonna set everything up, don't we?
We've got the best still site in the world right now.
We have this massive water supply.
Now, all we've got to do is get everything set up, and we're ready to go.
-There it is. -There it is.
Lookee there!
Pretty good, ain't it?
That's the last bit.
[mike] I'm ready to see some damn monkeys fly outta that pot, baby!
Just gotta get some water fed over here,
and we're just gonna keep it simple.
We're gonna get us a couple pieces of 4-inch pipe,
lay it up against this water bottle,
and just hook a water hose to it and let mother nature do the work.
[screams]
hey! You son of a bitch, you!
[giggles]
you scream in that damn pipe!
[laughing] yeah.
[mike] oh, my god!
[jerry chuckles]
[mike] you scared me to damn death, bull.
[jerry] go to your right.
We're gonna send it up to your right, right there.
I tell you what, you know, it may not seem like it
standing down and looking up, but when you're up there looking back down,
that's a long way to fall.
Ugh! [bleep]
[jerry] hey!
Don't you slip and fall!
These stinking weeds is killing me!
A lot of people say it wouldn't be worth the risk.
This is our livelihood. This is what me and jerry does for a living.
It's gotta be done.
Jerry! Let me pull it this way a little bit and tie it off over here.
[jerry] okay, well, pull it up!
[grunts]
that's good!
[mike] getting my pipe exactly where I need it.
Got her tied off, and we're in good shape to go, now.
Yee-haw! Come on down!
[mike] all right.
Hey, hey!
Whoa! [bleep]
-whoo! -Careful!
Damn! What do we got, jerry?
We got some good water.
You want to see something really cool?
What's that?
Watch this.
Whoo-hoo!
We got all kinds of water.
By god, I think we do, don't we?
It's flowing out like a fire hose.
You could beat the paint off the side of a house with this stuff.
Son, we got water.
That ought to cool it, shouldn't it, though?
Ought to keep her good and cold.
Oh, yeah.
Now the big question is, what the hell we gonna mash in?
We'll come up with something.
We're gonna have to figure it out pretty quickly.
Gonna have to get mashed in in the next few days.
We're at that point, and we're ready. Right? That's a start.
We got the wheels a-turning.
We got the site for it, now. We got good, clean, fresh water.
Good damn job today.
It felt pretty good today, to get here and work.
Yeah! I'm tickled with it!
[jerry] I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a burger.
[ramsey] you know, I don't know if this cherry will be cognac, technically.
[richard] well, we'll make it believe it's cognac.
[digger] we'll tell it long enough, it'll believe anything we tell it.
[richard] back in paradise.
The day has come. It's time to run hillbilly cajun cognac.
[richard] lookee, there.
Oh, hell.
It's better than last year's calendar, ain't it?
Mash is wonderful. It's got plenty of flavor.
Got plenty of alcohol in there. It's bitter as acid.
Hot dog!
-Smells pretty good. -Hmm.
Let's make some damn hillbilly cajun cognac right quick.
Yeah, let's get busy of getting her preheated.
If we can get some of these flavors
to come through in this end run, we're in business.
[ramsey] I want you to do the honor of lighting this thing.
Get over here on this side, 'cause I don't want you turning
-that damn condenser on. -[digger] keep your head kind of out of the way.
Unless you like looking at flames right before they set your eyes on fire.
You ready?
[digger] well, no, but the question is, are you ready?
Whoa!
[ramsey] right here is where the old man's at, richard.
[digger] yep. Don't look like he's dug out, yet.
I wouldn't put it past him, though.
[richard] he try to get out of there?
-[ramsey] oh, yeah. -[digger] yeah.
He ain't never been one for conforming to the rules. You ought to know that.
[richard] never thought I would see this in my lifetime.
Yeah, he's a... He's there.
[ramsey] he's actually buried about eight or nine feet deep.
[digger] it's as deep as the backhoe would comfortably reach.
[mark] hell, we wouldn't want to give him a chance to claw out.
-[richard chuckles] -[digger] yep.
Old man, I want you to meet richard.
Richard, meet popcorn.
You can speak, but if he does, I'm outta here.
-[ramsey and richard chuckle] -it's a pleasure, popcorn.
[all chuckling]
[richard] you ready?
[all] whoa!
[richard] that got me.
[mark] I smell hair.
Yeah, you do.
Hillbilly biscuits. Rye paste. It'll get hard as superman's kneecap.
Popcorn always said he made enough paste
to make every man, woman, and child
in maggie valley, north carolina a biscuit.
But you know, I never did see that,
'cause he was always making me or jb make it.
[all chuckling]
[ramsey] well, it's sticky on your fingers, ain't it?
[digger] when you're out here in these mountains, you get hot and sweaty.
And then you don't feel quite so fresh?
Well, you don't have to carry none of that damn, uh...
Summer's eve with you, or anything.
You just put one of your wet rags up here.
Wipe your head off, wipe your arms off.
[laughs]
boys, we'll have liquor just about any minute.
[richard] a big stream.
Of what?
Hillbilly cajun cognac.
-There you go. -[ramsey] thank you.
Man, this is richard's liquor. This is his whole damn idea, so...
Yeah, we're just doing this for you.
You know, really, to be true cognac, it's gotta be barrel-aged.
You got some way of aging this up when you get it home?
I'll figure it out.
[digger] lookee there.
There's a little up in there already.
You know, sears, all them old catalog companies back in the day?
They sold these things as washtubs.
But they made 'em out of copper instead of steel
because people wanted to make liquor stills out of 'em.
They'd solder that cap on 'em,
put 'em a little worm coming off of it,
they'd run 'em a little liquor.
-[richard] make a still. -Yeah.
[mark] I can't get over how good it smells, boys.
[digger] oh, it's got a hell of a nose on it.
It smells like a big cherry pie coming out of the oven, don't it?
Damn, it's too hot to drink, ain't it?
We do a strip and run out of the mash,
get the alcohol out, and we get enough to fill
this other little still up pretty well full.
This son of a bitch is heavy!
-[richard] in the scoop. -[ramsey] oh, no! Whoa, whoa, whoa!
-God, the money! -We're spilling some good liquor.
Slow, slow, richard. Slow, slow.
I wanna get this thing completely sealed up
before we put any fire around it.
There ain't nothing like the smell of scorched skin
-from high-proof alcohol. -[richard chuckles]
this is what makes cognac cognac.
Second distillation.
You know, we're probably gonna end up with 25% less volume.
But it'll up the proof something fierce.
[digger] gotta get over behind the other still.
[richard chuckles]
is this one gonna be as bad as that one was?
I think we'll get a pretty good run
out of this spirit run over here in the smaller pot.
Should bring us plenty of liquor and plenty of flavor in it.
[richard] this is our spirit run.
This is where we're gonna get our flavor, and everything else from.
[digger] it's gonna get hot quick.
-It's hot right now. -[ramsey chuckles]
[digger] and that'd be pot holder.
-[richard and mark] whoa! -Yeah, what's wrong with you?
Well, it's coming. Ooh, it's already--
-I'm telling you. Look. -[ramsey] you're a damn glutton for punishment.
That's how you make one start quick.
[richard] that's how you do it.
[ramsey] now there's what damn dreams is made of, buddy.
[digger] fill us a jar outta there, hattie.
Let's see where we're at.
It ought to be really good liquor right about now.
There you go. I caught you a little bit.
Lookee here.
-[ramsey] isn't this pretty? -[digger] mmm!
Man, that smells good.
[smacks lips]
-[digger] tastes awful good, too. -My god, it is good.
[mouthing] oh, wow.
Fiery.
This tastes awesome.
There's a perfect balance right here, with these cherries.
You can appreciate the fact that cherry is in it without it being overpowering.
We just made a real good drink.
Last one.
You said you'd be happy if we could fill this barrel up, then...
-Man, I'm happy. -We should be happy.
I'm happy happy.
I'm gonna take this barrel back home,
find a barrel to put it in,
figure out a way to rapid-age this on the bayou, and sell it.
[ramsey] damn liquor's heavy.
It was much lighter coming in here,
-when it was just cherries and sugarcane juice. -[digger] you ain't [bleep].
Really and truly, it's all about all the camaraderie here,
and combining so many different worlds,
and gaining more knowledge from each other.
But, if you don't make good liquor, it's all for naught.
[ramsey] all it needs is a barrel.
[richard] yeah, we're gonna bayou-age this.
[ramsey] I got all the faith in the world in you, my friend.