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Dates are one of the most delicious and sweet dried fruits. But humanity has managed to improve this yummy too – far, far away, in northern Africa, in Tunisia, they learned how to make a wonderful liquor – Tibarin. In this article, we will learn the mysterious recipe for this drink, and also talk about other tinctures and liqueurs on dates.
Winter is the time to use dried fruits widely. For example, we already have articles about tinctures of dried apricots, raisins, and so on. And one of your humble servant’s favorite sweets is dates. It is not surprising that when I came across the Tibarin liqueur recipe, I immediately hurried to try it and share it with the readers of The Rum Diary, and also scouted out a couple of other interesting date liqueurs for you.
Tibarin – a liqueur with an “oriental” character
Thibarine is a drink based on dates and spices, with a pronounced aroma of oriental spices, date sweetness and a bitter aftertaste. The strength of the factory liquor reaches 45 °, it is quite thick, but not cloying, the taste is somewhat reminiscent of Jägermeister or Benedictine. This liquor goes well slightly chilled in its pure form, it is added to tea, cocktails, desserts.
How could a strong alcoholic drink appear in such a purely Muslim country as Tunisia? According to some sources (to be honest, very doubtful), its name is associated with the name of the Roman emperor Tiberius. Allegedly, the legionnaires who stood in the garrisons of North Africa learned how to make a liquor from local fruits and herbs, naming it after their leader. Most likely, the emperor gave the name only to the city “Tibar”, and the local liquor was named after the city.
The ancient origin of Tibarin is also doubtful. Most sources indicate that the liquor began to be produced only in 1895 – just when Tunisia became part of colonial France. The French are not fools to drink, they quickly learned to use exotic fruits to produce wines and other drinks.
By the way, in addition to Tibarin, fig vodka with the telling name “Bukha” is popular in Tunisia – so, perhaps, Russian missionaries were also here. “Bukha fig vodka” sounds very Russian.
Nevertheless, Thibarine is tasty and original, as evidenced by thousands of tourists who bring beautiful bottles of unusual liquor from exotic travels. Well, we won’t, sorry for the pun, “go to Arabia with our dates” – we’ll take it, and make our own, home analogue!
Recipe for Tunisian liqueur “Tibarin”
It’s not as scary as one might think. To prepare Tunisian date liqueur, we need:
- 0,5 liters of 70-degree alcohol
- 500 g dates
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon anise
- 1 teaspoon cardamom (this spice is harsh, so the amount can be reduced by a third the first time)
- 2 cloves
- 1 gram ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon each of dry tarragon, mint and helba (Greek fenugreek)
- 1/2 medium cinnamon stick
- 150-200 grams of honey
- 300 ml of water
How to cook:
- Put all the spices in a jar and pour alcohol. Insist in a dark place for a week, after which – carefully filter.
- Remove the pit from the dates, throw them into a saucepan, cover with cold water and boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, cool slightly, add honey, mix thoroughly.
- Dates, together with a completely cooled broth, mix with herbal tincture and set aside in a dark place for 2 weeks.
- After this period – carefully filter (the infusion will be filtered poorly, so the procedure will have to be repeated several times, each time increasing the number of layers of gauze). At the end – drive through a cotton pad or paper filter.
- You can try now, but it is better to let the liquor rest for at least a couple of weeks. With prolonged storage, the drink becomes noticeably better!
You can also add medium roast oak chips to the finished drink and let it brew for a couple of months, if you have the patience – the original Thibarine is aged in an oak barrel.
The simplest date liqueur
In addition to Tibarin liquor, there are other recipes for alcoholic tinctures on dates – simpler, but not the fact that they are less tasty.
For the simplest date liqueur, we need:
- 0,5 liters of vodka
- 300 grams of dates
- 150 grams of honey
Preparing the tincture is very simple. Dates are freed from stones, poured with vodka and insisted for 5 days. After they are softened and swollen, we take out the jar, drain the liquid, and knead the fruit with a muddler or a spoon into gruel. We send it back to the jar and fill it to the top with previously drained alcohol. After a week, the infusion should be carefully filtered. Melt honey in the microwave and add it to the drink, stir well and let stand for another week, strain through a cotton filter.
Date liqueur on brandy
To prepare this drink, we need cognac. You can choose a product of average quality, but not the cheapest “shmurdyak” – spices and dates will hide the flaws of a simple brandy, but will not turn Greenwich into Remy Martin.
So, we take:
- 0,7 l cognac
- 200 grams of dates
- 2 small cloves
- 1/2 vanilla pod (or vanilla extract, see this article for dosage and preparation).
Preparing this liqueur is even easier than the previous one. We take out the seeds from the dates, cut into pieces, separate the vanilla from the beans, cut into thin strips. The chopped pod and beans, along with dates and cloves, are sent to a jar and filled with alcohol. The term of infusion is 4 weeks in a dark warm place. After that, the tincture must be thoroughly filtered, if necessary, add sugar syrup and let it rest for another week or two. If during this time a precipitate has fallen in the drink, filter it again.
As you can see, making an alcoholic drink from dates, including the famous Tibarin liqueur, is not difficult at all! What are dates? Eat and forget. And such a tincture will delight you with its original taste and aroma for a long time, relaxing, raising your spirits and charging you with positive, sipped a glass or two – and seemed to soak up the Mediterranean sand under the hot Tunisian sun!