Contents
A few years ago I met a beautiful lady who soon became my lawful wife. It was she who inspired me to many feats: to cook dinner when she was late at work, to take my mother-in-law with seedlings to the dacha on an early Saturday morning, to close the tube of toothpaste … And also, for her sake, I prepared my first weak berry tincture in my life.
I myself prefer strong alcohol, but my life partner prefers soft, tasty liqueurs and tinctures. But you won’t surprise her with store-bought drinks, so I decided to make a sweet alcoholic drink myself.
This letter was written by my subscriber Konstantin. But the truth is, men, who among us would not like to surprise his woman with a tincture made by himself? So to speak, with love and from the heart. I think Kostin’s recipe is perfect for this. Write to me later what happened.
Why I decided to make my own liqueur
Fully aware that real liquor (Baileys, Mokka, Coffee) is expensive and can be a shameless fake, I turned my attention to domestic products – tinctures and liqueurs.
Knowing for sure that almost any, including berry liqueurs, as a rule, are bitter drinks, I bought a bottle of raspberry liqueur with a very beautiful label, I don’t remember the brand.
As it turned out, just to make sure that the drink was absolutely unnatural, it was a clear achievement of food chemistry, but not a product based on natural raw materials.
That’s why I thought that it would be better to make raspberry liqueur with my own hands, since I have excellent neighbors around me who always share their berry crops with me and there was no shortage of raspberries.
It only remained to decide how exactly and from which raspberries to prepare a delicious, soft, and most importantly, natural liqueur.
All Ingredients for Raspberry Sauce
Usually, fresh and high-quality raspberries are instantly eaten, frozen or used to make jams and compotes.
That is why I decided to make a substandard liqueur – mint, beaten and overripe raspberries.
Raspberries are substandard.
In addition to raspberries, I also needed:
- sugar;
- 5 tablespoons of pure water;
- a few peas of allspice;
- a couple of cloves.
And finally, what makes a liqueur out of a berry is vodka. I used “Taiga Dew” – for prepared 3 liters of tincture – 2 bottles of 0.5 liters. With this ratio, the strength of the drink will not exceed 30 °.
Tip: if you want to make the tincture “stronger”, then instead of vodka you can take drinking alcohol (best of all – Mariinsky) or moonshine – this is already a matter of taste. The larger and stronger the alcohol, the more degrees will be in the final drink.
The process of making raspberry liqueur according to my recipe
There were many ways to prepare raspberry liqueur, both on the Internet and in the stories of experienced producers of homemade berry liquors, which, although similar, had some differences in each case.
Having summarized all the information about the different versions of raspberry liqueurs, I came up with my own method, which differs little from other recipes, but with some, precisely mine, subtleties.
Pour “substandard” raspberries into a jar (3 l). Exactly half the capacity, add 5 tablespoons of water and 8 tablespoons of sugar. We close the jar with a plastic lid with small holes.
I made them using a knitting needle heated over a lighter. We put it on the window so that sunlight falls on it – fermentation will happen faster.
Having withstood the base for liquor for 5-7 days on the windowsill, we are already preparing the drink itself:
- add 7–10 black peppercorns and 2–3 cloves;
- pour vodka into a jar with slightly fermented raspberries up to the rim of the neck;
- cover with a piece of plastic bag;
- screw on the lid.
After that, again put the jar in sunlight for a week. After this period, we remove the jar with the prepared liquor in a dark and warm place (I have a cabinet in the kitchen) for another 3 weeks.
After 3 weeks, we filter the drink into any clean container through a filter – gauze folded several times. Raspberry liqueur is ready – it remains only to pour it into beautiful bottles or a decanter.
What kind of liquor is the result
I note that according to my recipe, the liqueur turned out to be a little viscous and very soft in taste, but too sweet and not strong enough – just for my lady of the heart.
The drink turned out to be a beautiful dark red color. In the candlelight at a romantic dinner with his wife, he looked just gorgeous! The fortress is small – 20-30 degrees.
My wife enjoyed eating it with cheese and chocolate. Later, this drink was also appreciated by her friends.
Ready pour.
The main thing in this experience is the realization that the liqueur can be made from any berries – currants, strawberries and even honeysuckle, it all depends on your own preferences or the tastes of the lady for whom (mostly) the drink is being prepared.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health. Take care of yourself!
And from what berries would you advise me to make another tincture? I would like the taste to be soft and sweet. Well, share the secrets of cooking.