The alcohol content in the measuring cup inched higher and higher, and the proof gradually smoothed out, moving down from the initial seventy-something degrees with impurities to a cleaner sixty-something degrees.
As the distillation neared its end, the proof crept back up, rich with fusel oils, to over seventy degrees again.
Seventh Uncle, an old hand at this, knew to discard the heads and tails and keep only the heart of the run.
However, with three hundred jin of sorghum, there was far too much for the family-sized distiller, which was matched to the size of the pot and not yet that big, so they had to steam it in batches, slowly.
Nobody sat idly by during this time, and with so many people in the kitchen, Seventh Uncle simply decided to peel and steam the pumpkins left from the morning's work (at Qiaoqiao's adamant request, he even left a few steamed pumpkins for the kids) and then, they made dough to make pumpkin pancakes and steamed pumpkin buns!
