Bird cherry tinctures on vodka, alcohol and moonshine – 4 recipes

In our latitudes, bird cherry tincture has been produced from time immemorial. Cheryomukhovka is slightly similar to cherry, but its aroma is thinner, its taste is more tart and sour, and the smell and taste of almonds is very pronounced.

Bird cherry is an unfairly forgotten berry. The British even squeamishly call it “bird-cherry”, “bird cherry” – they say, it is not suitable for people to feed, only for swallows and sparrows. In our country, cherry tincture on moonshine has been produced from time immemorial, it doesn’t matter that the berry itself is tasteless, it goes with a bang with alcohol, like, for example, mountain ash. Cheryomukhovka is slightly similar to cherry – so if you did not have time to put the cherry in season for alcohol, all is not lost. But its aroma is thinner, the taste is more tart and sour, and the smell and taste of almonds is very pronounced, which is why the ignorant sometimes call bird cherry tincture “homemade Amaretto”.

Choice of bird cherry for home tincture

For starters, as usual, a little materiel. Common bird cherry (aka “Bird bird cherry” by the way) is a common plant for our latitudes, it is found from Moldova to the Far North, both in wild and cultivated form. Its black, somewhat similar to elderberries, small berries are rarely used in cooking due to their low sugar content and peculiar taste. All sorts of simple sweets and compote – that’s the whole range of applications.

True, we also have another type of this berry – red, it is also Virginia bird cherry. This is a product of the selection of bird cherry and cherry itself, its fruits are sweeter, smell weaker and their color, respectively, is from scarlet to brown. Red bird cherry tincture on vodka turns out to be sweeter, but not pronounced, and the characteristic “amaretto” note is almost not felt in it. In general, for fruit tinctures, it is always better to use wild fruits in order to have more flavor. Sweets can be added later, with syrup or fructose. The red variety is perfect for liqueurs, which we will talk about in the next article, or a very rare bird cherry wine.

And another product for tinctures is dried bird cherry. It is sold both in the form of whole berries and in the form of a powder. Whole is better for homemade alcohol – the powder can make the drink too harsh, especially since it contains crushed seeds, the aroma of which alcohol absorbs faster than the aroma of the pulp.

Fear hydrocyanic acid – do not drink homemade tinctures!

You can talk about it endlessly. Yes, hydrocyanic acid (HCN) is a dangerous poison found in the seeds of many berries and released during the breakdown of amygdalin glycoside. Of course, if you are so afraid of poison, and you do not mind spending a lot of time, you can pick out the bones from the bird cherry. But, firstly, there is an opinion that this substance is absorbed into alcohol only after 6 weeks of maceration, and secondly, sugar is an effective HCN antagonist! Even Wikipedia will tell you this. From here we draw 2 conclusions: firstly, we keep the bird cherry tincture on alcohol for no more than a month, after which we remove the berries, and secondly, we must make the drink sweet.

There is one more important thing to know about bird cherry. Never use branches, bark and leaves of this plant for making tinctures! In the article about homemade Amaretto, it was already said that there is a lot of hydrocyanic acid in them, many times more than in berries, and no sugar will help here – an unforgettable hangover, or even health problems will be guaranteed to you! If you want to make Amaretto – take almonds, if you want wild cherry – take berries. They are, as they say, “not only harmful, but also useful.” For example, they help with diarrhea and have bactericidal properties.

An interesting fact: “Bird cherry” because of the similar smell is called a tear irritant used by the police during assaults and dispersal of demonstrations. So do not offer your friends who have problems with the law to enjoy the aroma of homemade cherry tincture – they will not appreciate it.

Recipes for tincture of bird cherry on vodka, alcohol and moonshine

So let’s go. As already mentioned, bird cherry tincture at home is made on alcohol (sorting), vodka or moonshine. The berry is taken fresh, dried or dried, depending on the recipe.

Fresh black cherry tincture

This drink resembles cherry tincture, it is medium sweet and quite strong.

Technology:

1. We sort out the bird cherry, lay out the suitable berries on a piece of cloth and dry it (in the attic or in another dry warm place) for 4-6 days, until it wrinkles and releases sticky juice. Vysotsky himself said – they say, “let the bird cherry trees dry with linen in the wind!»
2. We send dried bird cherry to a three-liter jar, add sugar and alcohol / moonshine there, insist for about two weeks, until the liquid becomes fragrant and acquires a bright color. Sugar should dissolve, so shake the jar periodically.
3. Drain the tincture through a cotton filter.
4. Then there are two ways – either to defend the filtered drink for a few more days and taste it, or to re-fill the berries with alcohol. If you choose the second one, the bird cherry must first be thoroughly kneaded in a mortar.
5. After another two weeks, we drain the “vtoryaki” through the filter and mix with the first tincture. You need to add sugar, fructose or sugar syrup to the drink, it should be sweet enough. After mixing, it is infused for at least another week.

A simple tincture of dried bird cherry

For this drink, moonshine of double distillation is best suited, and bird cherry is needed exclusively dried, black, whole. The drink should not be sweet.

Technology:

1. Bird cherry is sent to a jar and filled with alcohol to the top, after which it is sent to a dark, warm place for 3 weeks to a month.
2. Filter the drink through a cotton swab, squeeze the berries with gauze, if necessary, sweeten and let rest for another week.

Simple and delicious!

Red cherry vodka tincture

Red bird cherry in terms of hydrocyanic acid is safer than black, so you can infuse the drink for longer so that the alcohol has time to draw out all the flavor from this not very bright berry.

Technology:

1. We clean the berries from twigs and other foreign objects and pour them into a jar, after which we put sugar on top of it. We close and shake until the berry starts to let the juice, and sugar sticks around them from all sides.
2. Carefully pour alcohol into the jar, stir well and send it to the stash – as usual, dark and warm – for 20 days.
3. After that, the bird cherry tincture on vodka is filtered through a cotton wool and bottled.

This drink should be stored in the refrigerator.

Spicy tincture of red bird cherry on moonshine

If you have moonshine, you can make such a drink, spices will kill the unpleasant smell, and bird cherry will brighten up and ennoble the taste. But even with 50% sorting, it is quite possible to do it.

How to cook:

1. We sort out the dried berries and send them to swell in warm boiled water.
2. Pour the slightly swollen bird cherry into a jar, add a whole clove and medium-sized cinnamon cut with a knife, sugar. We fill everything with moonshine and insist about 2 weeks.
3. We filter the drink well, sweeten if necessary and bottle it.

Making tincture of bird cherry at home is a simple matter, requiring only patience. But the drink turns out to be very tasty, and if you took a wild berry, then fragrant. Many appreciate it much more than cherry tincture. Recommended!