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Blackthorn grows on the territory of almost all of Europe, from the Scandinavian Peninsula to the European part of Russia. Also, the area of its growth extends far to the southeast, up to Iran. And where something grows and alcohol is present, there are interesting alcoholic drinks based on this something. So, today we are going on an exciting journey through the habitats of turn liqueurs and we will call it, as always, absurdly – Tour de Turn!
Of course, in terms of the area where the thorn grows, our journey will be more like the Paris-Dakar rally, because we will go from one part of the world to another, albeit without changing the continent (however, the thorn bush was seen even in Tunisia, and this, for a moment, is another continent ).
From previous articles about turn, and there were quite a few of them (thorn liqueurs, liqueurs, turn wine and the legendary sloe gin), we found out that turn + alcohol = tasty, fragrant, spicy drink, permeated with warm rays of summer and bright autumn colors. Homemade turn liqueurs are no exception. What is the most famous blackthorn liqueur? That’s right, layer gin. We will not look at foggy Albion again, but using the fruits left after cooking is a useful thing.
Pack your bags, we are going to sunny Spain, where proud Basques prepare pacharan from blackthorn (look for its recipe in tinctures), and ordinary people use it … however, you will see everything for yourself!
Liquor “Thorny Sherry”
Just one of the options for further processing of blackthorn fruits left after the preparation of the legendary sloe gin liquor. The berries themselves, after insisting on gin, are quite bitter and not very suitable for desserts, so the most logical way out is to put them further into the production of amazing drinks. Don’t throw it away? The only note to this recipe: do not use the cheapest sherry, it is better to give preference to the average in quality and price.
- sloe fruits left over from sloe gin
- 1 liter medium priced sherry
- 1 st. l. sugar (optional)
Fill up to half a one and a half liter jar with the sloe berries left after preparing the sloe gin. Top with sherry. Close the jar tightly, preferably hermetically (you can first close the neck of the jar with cling film) so that you can put the jar upside down. During the week, once a day, the jar needs to be turned over. Then leave it for 3-6 weeks in a dark, cool place. After a couple of weeks, you can try the drink to see if it is progressing. At the same stage, you can pour a tablespoon of sugar into the jar. After 3-6 weeks, the finished liquor can be drained, filtered and bottled into clean bottles.
Liqueur “Thorn Port”
Let’s move on to Portugal. This time, the fruits remaining after the preparation of the sloe gin are moistened with port wine with a small amount of sugar, and then the drink is fortified with cognac. The result is an incredibly fragrant and tasty liquor with a strength of 15-20%.
- about 500 g blackthorn left over from the sloe gin
- 750 ml of medium-priced port wine
- about 100 g sugar
- 200 ml cognac (any grape or fruit brandy)
In a jar of suitable volume, mix the turn, sugar and wine. Close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 6-8 weeks. For the first couple of weeks, it is advisable to shake the contents daily. Also, after a couple of weeks, it is recommended to try the drink and, if necessary, add more sugar, if necessary.
When the time has come for the liquor, it must be drained through a sieve or several layers of gauze, if necessary, filtered through cotton wool or coffee filters, add cognac or any fruit brandy and pour into clean bottles. After bottling, let the liquor rest for a week or two and you can start tasting.
Chocolate candies sloe gin
Another insanely brilliant sloe gin turn turning idea is to make chocolates with it. They are extremely easy to prepare:
- Arrange the fruits from the sloe gin in one layer on a baking sheet with sides or special baking trays (or build such a tray from foil and lay parchment inside).
- Sprinkle the fruit with ground cinnamon and crushed orange zest to taste.
- Melt good quality dark chocolate in a water bath.
- Evenly pour the melted chocolate over the sloes.
- Send the tray to the freezer until the chocolate has completely hardened.
- Cut the mass into portioned sweets. Ready!
When he eats sweets, do not forget that there are still bones in the turn. These sweets go great with the blackthorn port you just made.
Good health!
Turne liqueur Bargnolino
Where without sensual Italy, which is often called the “first garden of Europe”? Bargnolino is a typical liqueur from the provinces of Parma and Piacenza, which is named after the berries of the plant Prunus Spinosa, known to us as blackthorn. The blackthorn fruit is vulgarly called “prugnolo” in Italy, but in the Piacenza dialect the berry is called “bargnò”.
This is a very expressive and bright drink, which Italians drink very sparingly, in contrast to Limoncello, a bottle of which the complaisant Italian lingers only for a couple of siesta. Unfortunately, this is one of those alcoholic compositions that is supposed to be performed for a very long time – it takes more than two months to prepare. Of course, the efforts made will be rewarded a hundredfold.
- 1 kg ripe blackthorn
- 500 g sugar
- 1 liter of pure food alcohol 95,6%
- 350 ml dry Italian red wine
- 1 medium cinnamon stick
- grappa (optional)
Rinse the blackthorn berries, dry them and place them in a jar of a suitable volume along with sugar. Add alcohol, close the jar tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 50-60 days. The first 2-3 weeks every two days, the contents must be shaken vigorously to completely dissolve the sugar. Then you need to drain the infusion, add wine to it (in the original recipe it is Gutturnio Superiore DOC, read its description and find a worthy alternative) with a cinnamon stick and leave it in a tightly closed container for another 15 days in the same dark and cool place.
The resulting drink is drained through a sieve or several layers of gauze, filtered through cotton wool or coffee filters, and then poured into clean bottles. Bargnolino is ready. If you want to make up for the alcohol lost after adding wine, add about 1/6 of the total volume of the drink to a good grappa liqueur (or any other fruit brandy), so that the strength of the drink is 40%.
Homemade turn liqueur with elderberry and cardamom
A little bit of the East in our pilgrimage. An experimental recipe from a foreign alcohol enthusiast. The elderberry ripens at about the same time as the blackthorn, but we remember that the blackthorn needs to freeze, otherwise the drink will turn out with an unpleasant bitterness.
To do this, the fruits in this recipe are frozen and pierced with a toothpick (purists like to pierce the fruits with a silver needle). The dense fruity continental taste of blackthorn and black elderberry is set off by a bright tropical aroma of orange peel and a rich oriental aftertaste of cardamom.
- blackthorn fruits (as needed)
- black elderberries (as needed)
- zest of 1 orange
- 200 grams of powdered sugar
- 4 boxes of green cardamom
- Vodka or moonshine 40-50% (as needed)
Place the fruits of the turn in the freezer for an hour before use, and then take out and pierce each berry with a toothpick. Elderberry (only black, red – poisonous), rinse, dry and free from stems. In a liter jar, without ramming, place the prepared berries in layers, approximately evenly and under the very neck. Add sugar, orange zest and cardamom, after making cuts on the boxes. Pour everything to the top with vodka, mix well, close tightly and leave in a dark, cool place for 6 weeks.
In the process of infusion, shake the contents of the jar every few days until the sugar is completely dissolved. After 6 weeks, the drink can be tasted and, if necessary, add more sugar, after which it must be infused with shaking until the sugar dissolves. If the taste of the liquor suits you, it should be filtered through a sieve or several layers of gauze, filtered and poured into clean bottles. Exposure is welcome, at least until the New Year.
French sloe liqueur Épine
French romance in the end. The English use blackthorn berries to make amazing sloe gin. The French, on the other hand, went even further, showing unprecedented thrift, they cook their thorn aperitif on thorn leaves. This drink is literally called “épine apéritif” and it must be prepared on the basis of wine …
A little about the ingredients. Wine is only red, but you can use homemade crafts, such as blackberry or elderberry wines. Thorn leaves need to be collected in the early stages of their appearance, around the middle of spring (here rely on your instinct, because in different regions the leaves fit differently). It is not recommended to use more leaves than indicated in the recipe – like all types of plums, blackthorn contains amygdalin, the concentration of which is especially high in the leaves. Of course, sugar makes the drink safe for health (except that it is alcohol), but prepare the liquor at your own risk!
- 2,5 liters of red wine
- 250-300 ml brandy
- 500 g sugar
- about 0,5 l of blackthorn leaves (by volume)
Place all ingredients in a jar of suitable size, mix well and seal tightly. Leave the jar in a dark, cool place for two weeks. Periodically, the contents must be stirred so that the sugar is completely dissolved. After insisting, drain the liquor through several layers of gauze, filter through cotton wool or coffee filters and pour into clean bottles. As with almost all homemade spirits, French épine apéritif improves with aging. Sante!
Attention, our tour has come to a logical conclusion! Do not rush to unpack your bags, because there is still so much unknown ahead …