Lingonberry is a very tasty and healthy berry that grows on a shrub from the heather family. In the wild, it grows in coniferous and deciduous forests, sometimes in peat bogs. Today it is actively cultivated, huge plantations are planted in Poland, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Finland, as well as in Russia and Belarus.
Lingonberries in the wild
The berry is popular, first of all, for its unique culinary and medicinal properties. Lingonberries contain a large amount of tannins and benzoic acid, which act as natural preservatives – thanks to this, the berry can be stored for a very long time without losing its beneficial properties.
Fresh cranberries are used for beriberi, as a laxative, diuretic, bactericidal, antiseptic, anthelmintic and choleretic agent. Berries – for pulmonary tuberculosis, catarrh of the stomach with insufficient acidity, nephrolithiasis, rheumatism, as a vitamin and antiseptic agent. A decoction of berries quenches thirst in a fever. Juice is drunk with high blood pressure, with neuroses and anemia in pregnant women.
And lingonberry tincture is even more in demand, which we will learn how to cook today. In principle, the drink is prepared very simply and many will like it. The berry itself can be bought in the markets from grandmothers or in supermarkets, in the form of a freeze, which is only to our advantage, because frozen berries are infused faster. The cooking process itself is not much different from the preparation of cranberry tincture.
Recipe for lingonberry tincture on vodka
We need:
- 500 g lingonberries;
- 1 liter of good vodka with a neutral taste;
- 2-4 st. spoons of sugar or 2 tbsp. tablespoons fructose (to taste)
Preparation:
The berries should be sorted out, washed in a colander and dried (you can use napkins or a waffle towel). Then lingonberries need to be mashed with a wooden crush and put in a 2-liter jar, then pour vodka over the berries. Sugar can be added immediately, but we do not recommend doing this, as a jelly-like mass may form due to the pectins contained in the berry. It is better to add it after insisting, of course, it is better to use fructose for this.
The jar must be sent to a dark place, for example, in a pantry or cellar, and forgotten about it for 2-4 weeks. You can sometimes remember about it, mix the contents. After infusion, the drink should be well filtered through a canvas or several layers of gauze and sent to the refrigerator for maturation and settling for several days – a week. To speed up the clarification of lingonberry tincture on vodka, it can be passed through a cloth (white flannel (pile outward), cotton towels (dip with boiling water), coarse calico or bumazei). After that, you can add sugar if the tincture seems too sour.
The resulting drink is a very good aperitif, no worse than anise. It is better to drink tincture chilled, in small glasses. The fortress will turn out not high, no more than 25%, so it is drunk very softly, there is no need to have a snack.
Chopped cranberries
Recipe for lingonberry tincture on alcohol
The main difference between this type of tincture and the previous one is that it is more correct to call this drink a tincture, since the infusion takes place on pure alcohol, the strength of which is more than 40% (you can read about the principles of making tinctures here). In addition, the berry can not be crushed, since alcohol perfectly penetrates the berry peel and draws out the juice, which means that the tincture will initially turn out to be more transparent.
We need:
- 1 liter of pure food alcohol;
- 1,2 kg cranberries.
Preparation:
Sort the berries, wash and dry. Pour into a container of the appropriate volume, pour alcohol. Place the container in a dark place for 3-4 weeks. After filtering through a canvas bag, stand in the refrigerator for several days for complete clarification and filter again. Take a sample – if it is very sour, then add a couple of tablespoons of fructose to 1 liter of the drink.
Lingonberry tincture for alcohol, despite the fact that it is prepared in a very strong water-alcohol solution, turns out to be very soft and alcohol is not felt in it. Intense, ruby color. Berries, in principle, can be crushed, but, as practice shows, there is no need for this. Instead of alcohol, you can use sugar or any other moonshine of double distillation of 60-80 degrees.
A faster way to prepare lingonberry tincture for alcohol: take a glass of alcohol, a glass of sugar and a glass of lingonberries, mix all the ingredients and leave for a week. Filter, add a bottle of vodka, let the drink rest for a couple of days and drink chilled, carefully following the sensations, because the tincture is drunk like compote, and the strength in it is enough to dump a hefty bear.
We wish you a successful “tincture making”!