Homemade cherry plum tincture is a strong alcoholic drink with a pleasant rich aroma, mild taste with a slight sourness and a long plum aftertaste. We will consider a classic recipe that has been repeatedly tested by practice.
To prepare cherry plum tincture, you can use berries of any variety and color: yellow, red, purple, dark. The main thing is that the fruits are ripe and fragrant, without spoilage, rot and mold (bad berries must be discarded in advance).
Vodka, cheap cognac (tannic notes will appear in the tincture), ethyl alcohol diluted with water to 40-45%, or well-purified moonshine (distillate), preferably double distillation, is suitable as an alcohol base.
Ingredients:
- cherry plum berries – 0,5 kg;
- vodka (alcohol, moonshine) – 0,5 liters;
- sugar – 50-150 grams (to taste);
- water – 50-200 ml (optional).
The amount of sugar depends on individual preferences, you can not sweeten the drink at all or replace sugar with honey. Add water only if you need to reduce the strength, while it is better to cook sugar syrup.
Recipe for cherry plum tincture
1. Put the washed berries in a jar.
2. Pour vodka or other alcohol base (should cover the cherry plum by at least 1-2 cm, add more alcohol if necessary).
3. Close the jar with a lid, transfer to a dark place with room temperature. Infuse vodka on cherry plum for 28-30 days. Shake once a week.
4. Filter the resulting infusion through gauze, taste it. If you want to make the tincture only sweeter, add sugar and mix.
To reduce the strength, mix water and sugar in a saucepan in equal proportions, bring to a boil, reduce the heat on the stove to a minimum, boil for 3-5 minutes until foam appears (you need to remove it with a slotted spoon). Cool the finished syrup to room temperature and add to the infusion.
5. Filter the drink through cotton wool to remove turbidity (optional), then bottle for storage and seal with stoppers. Before tasting, let stand for 2-3 days in a cool room to stabilize the taste.
When stored away from direct sunlight, the shelf life of homemade cherry plum tincture is 3-4 years. Fortress – 32-36%.
