Nobody has managed to systematize, or at least make a complete list of liquors known to the world.
Liqueurs occupy a special place among all alcoholic drinks, due to its variety, a universal method of preparation.
They are healing drinks and alcohol-based treats.
Liqueurs are a delicious addition to confectionery and desserts.
The exact recipes for the preparation of the most famous liquors are kept by their manufacturers in the strictest confidence. You can try to guess them, of course, but often new and unexpectedly interesting recipes for drinks are obtained from such an undertaking.
Currant liqueur - basic principles of preparation
Currants can be safely called the Russian berry. She loves a temperate and even cool climate, which is comparable to the geographical location of Europe, North Asia and America. But Western Europeans were never particularly interested in currant as a food product, and at the time when America was discovered, in Russia there were already many options for using aromatic and medicinal currant berries in ancient Russian cuisine.
Stone manuscripts testify to the invention of liquors by the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Greeks, Romans, then the Benedictines and other monks also participated in the further improvement of this alcoholic delicacy. The improvement and invention of new recipes continues, but not only in monasteries, but also in home kitchens, especially when the summer is very generous, berry.
Currants are rich in vitamin C and potassium, so it is a rich source of medicinal raw materials. Of course, these useful substances can be preserved by preserving them with sugar, or by cooking jam, but, after all, most of vitamin C is destroyed even at 40 ° C. But alcoholized berries do not oxidize under the influence of air, do not collapse under the influence of temperature and are not affected by the effects of various bacteria.
Perhaps that is why liqueur was invented in antiquity. Alcohol is a solvent, and the word "liquor" contains not only the name of the drink, but the method of its preparation - the dissolution of any plant components in alcohol. Given the plant's abundant planet, the list of new liquors will be replenished for more than a century.
But dwell on the currant liqueurs. The most common varieties are black, red and white (or golden), because it is these species that are most often found in suburban areas and annually require attention to methods of their processing.
Blackcurrant has the most pronounced aroma. Therefore, blackcurrant liquor is for everybody. Red and white berries have a less saturated, although characteristic smell. All these types of currants are best used for the preparation of liquor drinks, both in combination with each other and with other berries.
Black currant gives the liqueur a rich dark red color, which can be adjusted by blending the raw materials until extraction, mixing different berries, and mixing the finished liquors: black and white currants; black currants and gooseberries, yellow cherries, apricots, wild berries. Red currant liquor has a bright ruby color. White currants can be combined with berries and fruits of any color.
As for the taste of currant liqueurs, it should be noted that for black berries it is better to choose fruits with a neutral smell, but with a lower acidity. The remaining types of currants are not inferior to black currants in their acidity, but are less picky in terms of compatibility of aromas. The acidity of berries is an important criterion for evaluating raw berries for making a sweet alcoholic drink. It is especially important to consider this indicator for the preparation of liquor wines, as this technology provides a certain level of acid and sugar, the presence of tannins to produce high-quality strong wine. Currants have too high acid content, which is not very well reflected in the preparation of wine. Its berries have an acidity that exceeds the required values by more than 2 times.
Strong liquor wines are prepared as usual, in several stages:
Raw material preparation: picking, sorting berries (only ripe berries of good quality, without signs of damage to various diseases, without mold or rot are suitable for liquors). Removing impurities involves cleaning the berries of the stalks and dry inflorescences.
Getting pulp - a mandatory process. You can then proceed by choice: put the wine for fermentation with mashed berries or first separate the juice, pour the thickening with alcohol, and then mix the finished alcohol tincture with wine. In the first case, alcohol is added to the finished wine in pure form.
Next is the preparation of the wortwhen the required amount of water is added to the feed to reduce acidity. Sugar content is increased by the addition of sugar, honey. Partially, the lack of sugar in currant raw materials is compensated by mixing it with berries with a higher sugar content. The result is new types of fruit liqueurs. However, most often berry or fruit liqueurs have a single taste and aromatic classifier, which is subsequently mixed in cocktail drinks.
In the manufacture of liquors, sugar and its substitutes - also one of the main components. Actually, all liquors are classified by strength and sugar content. The minimum allowable amount of sugars is 25%, the maximum content is 60%.
Alcohol content ranges from 15-75%. The maximum amount of alcohol is contained in balms, which, as a rule, are used in small quantities and for medicinal purposes.
The second way to make liquor- the most simple. It consists in insisting the plant components on alcohol, with the simultaneous or subsequent addition of sugar. The exposure time of raw materials in an alcoholic liquid most often depends on the patience of the manufacturer, but the longer the extraction process, the better the result.
White currant and raspberry liqueur
Composition:
Sugar 6.3 kg
Berries (raspberries and white currants) 9.1 kg = 5.5 liters of juice
Alcohol 2.5 L
Cooking:
Prepared berries, in equal parts or in an arbitrarily chosen proportion, combine with sugar and crush with a spatula.
Add to the bottle, to the crushed berries, alcohol and insist for six months.
Pass the finished liquor through the filter. Let stand for another week to remove sediment again if necessary.
The second time it is better to remove the liquor from the sediment, similar to how it is done in making homemade wines: pour the liquor through a plastic tube by inserting one end of it into the bottle with liquor, and the second into a clean and dry vessel.
Try to ensure that the end of the tube does not touch the sediment at the bottom, so that you do not have to repeat this operation again after the liquor has settled no earlier than a week later.
Seal the finished liquor and store it in bottles.
Red currant liqueur with refreshing mint
Composition:
Berry 3.5 kg
Vodka (40%) 4.5 L
Sugar 5 kg
Peppermint, fresh (500 g)
Cooking:
Peel fresh berries from tails and sepals, mash them with sugar.
Pour 1.5 liters of vodka into a jar with finely chopped mint leaves, close tightly with a lid and remove for two weeks to insist, away from sunlight.
It is advisable to shake the contents of the jar every day, morning and evening. Pour the rest of the vodka into a bottle with grated currants, and also insist for at least 14 days.
At the end of the period, squeeze out the liquid and filter the tinctures from both vessels, connect them. Stir and bottle.
Strong blackcurrant liqueur
Composition:
Sugar 3 kg
Water 1 L
Currant berries 1.5 kg
Fresh currant leaves 300 g
Alcohol 0.9 L
Cooking:
Wash the currant leaves, dry them slightly, chop and pour in alcohol. Remove the container for insisting.
Prepared berries (without stalks and sepals), crush and cover with sugar (1 kg).
Put in a bottle and add boiled and cooled to room temperature water.
Shuffle the contents of the bottle and close the neck with a cotton closure. After the appearance of foam on the surface of the berries, install the shutter and hold the bottle at a constant temperature of 20-22 degrees, protecting from drafts.
When the fermentation is over, squeeze the thick and add the second part of sugar.
Drain the tincture by removing currant leaves, and combine with the wine removed from the sediment. Wait 7-10 days until the liquor settles and small particles settle to the bottom, then remove it from the sediment and pour into prepared dishes.
Strong liquor from white currant and oranges
Composition:
Currant berries 3 kg
Oranges, red 2 kg
Vanilla 5 pods
Cognac (brandy) 2x0.5 L
Sugar 6.5 kg
Vodka 2.1 L
Juniper berries, dry 50 g
Cooking:
Sort currants, wash and beat with a blender.
Add to it the orange zest and peeled oranges. Mix fruit puree with sugar and transfer to a bottle.
Add the dried juniper berries and vanilla pods and pour vodka and brandy into the mixture.
Liqueur infusion time depends on the patience of its manufacturer, but it is better to wait at least two weeks, shaking the bottle every day to improve extraction.
When finished, pass the filter through the filter and seal in bottles.
Original currant, banana and condensed cream liqueur
Composition:
White currant 0.7 L
Bananas 1.0 kg
Vanilla 10 g
Condensed Cream 500 g
Lemon tincture (40%) 1 l
Cooking:
This liquor, based on the famous Beilis, is prepared quickly, but it can be stored for no more than 3-4 days, but it is better to drink it right away.
Wipe the currants through a sieve. Pass the fresh juice through the filter and add banana puree, vanilla powder.
Mix mashed potatoes with condensed cream with a blender, pouring in small portions homemade lemon tincture or "Limoncello".
After 24 hours, the liquor is ready to drink. Serve in tall glasses, with a straw, cocktail cherry and a slice of lemon.
Currant and Apricot Liqueur
Composition:
Whitecurrant juice 1.0 l
Apricots (pulp) 1.5 kg
Almond essence 25 ml
Wine yeast 5 g
Sugar 2.5 kg
Water 0.7 L
Alcohol 1 L
Vanilla Extract 20 mg
Sugar syrup (thick, dark) 0.5 L
Cooking:
Washed apricots, pitted, chop and pour into a bottle a mixture of white currant juice, water and sugar and yeast dissolved in them.
Stir the wort and cover with a cotton swab before fermentation, and then with a water lock.
Remove the finished wine from the sediment and let stand until complete clarification. Repeat sediment removal.
Pour sugar syrup, alcohol and essences into clarified wine.
Stir the contents of the bottle daily for 15 days. Pack in prepared containers and seal.
Currant liqueur - useful tips and tricks
Any liquor is better to insist in a place inaccessible to daylight. With positive temperatures, extraction will be faster. In addition, it is advisable to shake the containers often in order to achieve the best effect of alcohol saturation with extractive substances. In production conditions, special equipment is used for this purpose.
If you prepare multicomponent drinks using medicinal herbs, remember that these herbs are medicinal and you must use them as carefully as the medicine!
