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Let’s ask women what they prefer to drink from alcohol with or without it. Usually something light, something that does not harm the figure and does not hit the head. Rarely when they are drawn to vodka or cognac. Here to drink weak wine and it is better not too sour, but rather sweet – just right.
Few people remember that there is such an alcoholic drink as liqueur. In stores, it is always on the bottom shelf in the most inconvenient place. Yes, and the sugar in it is like in liquor, and its whole appearance speaks of cheapness and artificiality.
The story was shared by blog subscriber Viktor.
How I decided to make homemade blackthorn liqueur
I decided to start making liqueurs by coincidence. Circumstance one: my dacha neighbor was presented with a small basket filled to the top with blackthorn.
She received this berry as payment for some service, but as such she did not need a turn. She would be glad to get rid of him and offered me a basket of berries.
The second circumstance was that I found in my dacha stocks two liters of drinking French alcohol left over from the 90s. Then alcohol bore the proud title of liquid currency, since vodka was sold in stores with coupons and was in short supply.
Alcohol, at one time, was taken to the dacha for the implementation of certain barter transactions and safely forgotten, safely hidden in a shed with garden tools.
The blackthorn is a wild relative of the domestic plum. Often serves as a stock for varietal plants.
I must say that the idea to make a liqueur has been in the air for a long time. There are always a lot of ingredients for the implementation of such an idea in the country, another thing is that it was a pity to buy vodka or cognac for this business, as well as to drive moonshine, and then drag it out of town.
I had theoretical training – at some book sales I bought and read the corresponding pamphlet. She contained a number of hardly feasible recipes, including burying a keg of liquor in her own garden.
I decided to go the other way and make the fairy tale come true a little easier. In general, the stars converged, and it was decided to start a culinary experiment.
What is needed for pouring
Among the country junk, my wife and I found a three-liter jar with a screw neck and washed it thoroughly. We had:
- sloe basket – 1,2 kg;
- alcohol – 2 l;
- empty glass jar.
Turn in person.
Subsequently, additionally required:
- granulated sugar – 200 grams or a glass;
- boiled water – 6 liters.
- empty jars and bottles 0,7-1 l.
Pouring is not necessarily sweet
The steps for preparing the liqueur were as follows:
- Berries we, of course, washed and dried. I don’t think the drying made any sense other than preserving the extractive quality of the alcoholic liquid. Alcohol or strong moonshine a couple of extra drops of water is not a hindrance.
- The pits were then removed from the berries. The halves of the turn were immediately put into a jar, filling it more than half, but not up to the shoulders of the container. The turn is a rather dry berry, it breaks into halves easily, the stone is separated from the pulp cleanly.
- Berries were poured with alcohol above the shoulders of the jar to the beginning of its neck. A little free space is required to shake the glass bottle and mix its contents.
- The container with the preparation of the liqueur was removed in a cool dark place. The fact is that strong alcohol actively absorbs everything that is needed from the pledged raw materials. In the light, this process goes much faster than in the dark. Thus, excess bitterness is concentrated in the extract. Since the blackthorn berries have a peculiar astringent effect, it was decided to preserve it without freezing the berries.
- About once a week, the contents in the jar were shaken so that the alcohol would most fully extract the substances from the berries. We set the liqueur to be prepared at the end of August, and shook it until the end of November – three months.
At the very beginning of December, the resulting drink was drained from the sediment and diluted with syrup: a solution of sugar in boiled water at room temperature. We diluted the blank 1:3, which gave us an alcohol-containing berry drink with a strength of about 18 °.
For convenience, the future liqueur was poured into cans and bottles, and then put into a dark cabinet to ripen. As you can see, a little bit of sugar is added: only to clog up the possible bitterness of the extract.
In the liqueur, instead of alcohol, you can use moonshine, vodka, cognac, and not necessarily of high quality. The filling has a self-cleaning effect.
Consequences of inexperience
Before the new year, I quietly decided to take a sample. The result exceeded all expectations. I have never drunk such rubbish before. The taste of the drink could be clearly divided into fractions: sweet water, berry juice of unknown origin, and something alcoholic, like burnt vodka. No, it smells like acetone, and that was the sharpness of cheap cognac.
After explaining to my wife that the experiment had failed, I went to the store for champagne. The disgusting muck was safely forgotten until March 8th.
Blackthorn pouring.
On International Women’s Day, we were unexpectedly visited by guests. I was about to run to the deli and buy something for the ladies, but my wife remembered the liqueur. I resisted for a long time, the guests looked at each other in bewilderment.
Throwing in my hearts, they say, you wanted it yourself, I took a decanter and poured the contents of one of the jars into it. Well, I poured myself one too.
With bulging eyes, I returned to the guests with a decanter of liquor. The people drank, were filled with sensations and exhaled quietly: “What kind of charm is this?” “Pouring from the sloe!” I answered proudly.
I don’t understand how, but the drink turned out to be an exceptionally balanced plum flavor with a pleasant astringency and, you know, such freshness that distinguishes a freshly picked fruit from compote from it. The liqueur had a rich cherry color. It was a success.
You can get rid of the bitterness of the turn by freezing the berry in the refrigerator. It is often pointless to wait for the first frosts, because the berry does not live up to them.
I must say that the liqueur was again forgotten right up to the next autumn, and its taste became even more original, and it itself acquired a noble ductility when poured. In the future, I tried a lot of all sorts of berries in the manufacture of liqueurs. The best were from red rowan, lingonberry and blackthorn.
I learned that many of the now famous liqueurs and tinctures came from monastery cellars and private distilleries. At one time, I was even fascinated by the idea of opening my own production of such liqueurs, but, frightened by the difficulties, I never started this project.
Now I sometimes regret it, but I still do not know if it is possible to implement it. Who knows, tell me!
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!