Making rosehip liqueurs at home

November. The first frosts have already passed, which means that now is the time to collect rose hips, which this year was disfigured just mom don’t cry! It hangs for itself: beautiful, ripe, juicy, and at the same time it’s also free, it’s not needed by anyone except us – it attracts lovers of homemade alcohol! So we take thick gloves, attack the bushes strewn with berries and make rosehip liqueur!

Almost everyone can make rosehip liquor at home! All you need is a ripe, fresh, freshly picked wild rose. Dried berries are not suitable for all three of the recipes below – it is better to make a tincture from it, about which we have a separate article, which, by the way, also shows a method for preparing the simplest rosehip liqueur. Today we will discuss more interesting recipes – rosehip liqueurs with quince, mint and spices. All of them will be made on an alcohol basis – rosehip liqueur without vodka or alcohol is not liqueur, but wine (by the way, very tasty!), About which we will write a separate article in the future. In general, let’s get started!

Rosehip liqueur at home – with quince and honey

Quince is generally an extremely fragrant fruit, great for various alcoholic drinks! But what about drinks – most recently, your humble servant cooked pilaf with quince, which was recognized by tasters as very unusual, but surprisingly tasty and fragrant. But we digress. For pouring you need:

Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or other spices can be added to this recipe, if there is no honey – it can be replaced with simple sugar or agave syrup – if one is accidentally lying around in your pantry.

1. Fermentation of fruits in this case is not used, so we thoroughly wash the wild rose and quince. It is also better to cut off the back and stems from the wild rose, but you can leave it whole if you are too lazy to mess around. Free the quince from the core with stones, cut into cubes of 2-3 cm. Cut the vanilla pod into several parts.
2. We put rose hips, quince and vanilla in a jar, add all the alcohol and half a liter of ordinary unboiled clean water. Close tightly and send to a dark warm place for infusion, shaking daily in a jar.
3. After 3-4 weeks, the tincture is ready. It must be drained into another jar, add honey or sugar, mix thoroughly and set aside.
4. Rosehip and quince, remaining in the jar, pour warm water and leave for 2-3 days to draw out the remnants of alcohol and flavoring compounds from the fruits. After that, we drain the water, and throw away the cake – it is no longer needed.
5. Mix both liquids. We try. If the drink came out too strong (subject to the proportions, its estimated strength at this stage will be about 30-35 degrees), add a little water. Also, the liqueur can be sweetened to taste.

It is recommended to keep the product in a dark, cool place for at least a month. Only after that it is filtered through a cotton filter and bottled. Well, or immediately drunk – there really is someone with an appetite.

Rosehip liqueur with mint and chamomile

An interesting recipe that uses the method of cryodestruction, or, if you don’t swear, freezing rose hips. The goal is to soften the berries, destroy the pectins that cloud the drink, and release the sugars contained in the rosehip. They do the same, for example, with mountain ash, from which they make wonderful mountain ash liquor – I highly recommend it! If you picked berries after the first frost, there is, of course, no need for cryodestruction.

To the ingredients, as in the previous recipe, you can add cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and also replace honey with sugar, in the absence of other options.

1. Wash the rose hips, dry and keep in the freezer for a day.
2. Defrost the berries, add mint, chamomile and spices to them, put everything in a jar of a suitable volume and pour alcohol to the top. Set aside in a dark place, shake daily.
3. Preparing tincture 4-6 weeks. After that, it must be drained, the cake is thoroughly squeezed through gauze or a cloth.
4. Make honey syrup from water and honey. It must be cooked over low heat, stirring constantly and not allowing the liquid to boil. Cool the syrup and mix with the tincture.
5. Let the drink stand for at least another week, without disturbing it in vain – during this time a precipitate will form in the liquor and the liquid can be carefully decanted with a straw, greatly simplifying its filtration.
6. If necessary, filter the filling and try. At this stage, it can be diluted with water or sweetened to taste.
7. Almost ready rosehip liqueur should rest for at least 2 months – during this time its taste will fully open, not quite related aromas of rosehips and herbs will “make friends” with each other. Do not neglect aging, this is very important!

After 2 months, re-filter the finished rosehip liqueur, if necessary, and that’s it – it’s ready for tasting!

Rosehip on cognac with spices

Rose hips go great with brandy! Any brandy or cognac of tolerable quality is suitable for us – one that is not scary to drink in its pure form. Do not worry, you need a little cognac – only half a bottle, the rest of the liquor is ordinary vodka.

Preparing this liqueur is much easier than the previous two. We take prepared rose hips and spices, put them in a jar, pour vodka and cognac, close tightly and insist for at least one and a half months in a dark, warm place. After this time, drain the liquid, squeeze the berries and discard. Gradually add honey to the tincture, stir and try – it should be quite sweet. In this recipe, it is better not to replace honey with sugar! When the sweetness of the drink suits you, we set it aside for another 3-4 weeks in a dark place. After that, the liquor must be taken out and carefully filtered through a cotton or paper filter. Everything is ready!

At home, rosehip liqueurs in almost 100% of cases turn out to be very tasty and fragrant. Such a drink is an excellent replacement for rosehip broth, since this vitamin berry retains much more ascorbic acid and other useful substances in alcohol. In general, wild rose liqueur is an ideal remedy for the winter, and tonic, and warming, and fun – where without it!