Inspired and fascinated by Lviv, I decided to delve a little into homemade drinks. I wanted to start such research with the drinks I tried in kneips, but I decided to cook some of them myself and share photo recipes with you. I’m not going to cook viburnum tincture, because I don’t really like its sugary, bitter taste. But a lot of people like it.
As you know, viburnum is a very good remedy for many diseases, in particular colds and hypertension. I remember, as a child, when I had a cold, my grandmother prepared tea with viburnum for me, and I also had a chance to savor the jam from these berries – delicious. Actually, preparing an alcoholic version of this incomparable medicine is not at all difficult. To make vodka on viburnum at home, we only need berries and, in fact, vodka.
Very important! Ripe viburnum is sour and has a slightly sugary, bitter taste. But after the first frosts, the berries become sweeter and lose their bitterness – at this time they just need to be collected for our tincture.
For viburnum tincture on vodka, it is better to use berries harvested after the first cold weather.
Classic viburnum vodka recipe
To prepare the tincture we need:
- 0,5 liters of vodka;
- 0,5 kg of viburnum berries.
For infusion, you need to prepare the appropriate dishes, which can be hermetically sealed. For these purposes, it is better to use a glass jar or a food metal container of about 2 liters. I don’t recommend using plastic.
Preparation:
- Kalina needs to be sorted out, large branches removed completely – small ones can be left. After that, it is better to rinse the finished berries thoroughly and put them in a colander, dry them well on paper napkins or a towel.
- The dishes where vodka will be infused should be washed and dried well.
- Pour the berries into the prepared dishes, but do not ram them.
- Add vodka until it covers all the berries, then tightly close the jar (or other container) and let it brew for one day.
- After, add the remaining vodka (and it should still remain) and close the jar tightly again.
- In this form, viburnum should be infused for at least 2-3 weeks, and preferably a month, since its quality will depend on the aging period. The holding place should be dark and cool.
- After, filter the finished tincture through gauze and pour into bottles or decanters.
You can still collect the remaining viburnum cake and squeeze it well, and add the resulting liquid to the tincture. If the drink will be used exclusively for medicinal purposes, then more berries can be added, even up to the very neck of the vessel. But remember that viburnum has a specific smell and taste. This viburnum tincture can be used to treat colds, hypertension, lung diseases, as well as nervous disorders. Of course, you should not abuse it – a maximum of 50 grams per day. You can also make a sweet tincture, that’s for sure.
Recipe for vodka on viburnum with sugar
Sweet viburnum tincture is made a little differently. In a way, it’s just an ordinary drink.
We need:
- 200 ml of freshly squeezed viburnum juice;
- 150 gram of sugar;
- Xnum l vodka;
- 200 ml water.
The cooking process is as follows:
- First make the sugar syrup: dilute the sugar in a glass of warm water;
- Pour the chilled syrup into a jar, add vodka and viburnum juice there;
- Close the container tightly and shake it well, then put it in a dark, cool place;
- It costs at least 3 weeks to insist on a viburnum liqueur, sometimes you can shake the jar to completely dissolve the sugar.
In principle, there is nothing difficult and it is unlikely that it will be possible to spoil the drink. I also found a recipe for homemade viburnum vodka with honey: you need to take it as much as viburnum berries (0,5 kg). Berries need to be sorted out, washed, dried, mashed and rubbed through a sieve. Then pour vodka and add honey. Insist again for 2-4 weeks. I’m sure you’ll get something better than regular vodka.
You can also cook viburnum on alcohol and moonshine, there is a slightly different specificity, but in general the drinks are similar. If you are an avid moonshiner, then recipes for moonshine or alcohol will suit you.