Honor Your Summer Fruits by Turning Them Into Liquor
Fruit liqueurs don’t have the best reputation. As with flavored vodka, most of the options available for purchase are sugary and artificial. But homemade fruit liqueur can be a wonderful thing: all you need is fruit, vodka, and simple syrup.
Fruit liqueur is one of the simplest alcoholic beverages you can make yourself. There is no fermentation, no distillation, no measurement. You just need to mash the fruit lightly in a couple of cups of vodka (or other alcohol) and leave for a few days, then strain the solids and sweeten with simple syrup.
The procedure will vary slightly depending on your fruit. Soft berries release juice faster than hard melons, but the juiciest fruits will do the trick in two to three days. Crunchy fruits like apples and pears can take up to a week – although I’ve seen several recipes recommending a whole month – and orange liqueur is best cooked with the peel rather than the fruit and can take several weeks to infuse. The method we’re discussing today works best for juicy summer fruits like berries and melons and stone fruits like peaches and nectarines.
I used the approximate ratio of two cups of fruit (chopped if necessary) to two cups of alcohol and one cup of plain syrup. Vodka works well, especially if you want fruit liqueur, but sometimes I add a little brandy, especially if I’m making berry liqueur. You can also mix two different fruits together, or add herbs, citrus zest, peppercorns, or cardamom pods for a more complex sip – experiment and create your own recipes. (I added a large sprig of tarragon to my Hood Strawberry Liqueur and it turned out to be a very good solution.) To make juicy summer fruit liqueur, you will need:
- 2 cups fruit (berries must be whole; cut melon and stone fruits into about 1-inch pieces)
- 2 glasses of alcohol, or all of the vodka, or 1 1/2 cups of vodka and 1/2 cups of brandy
- A couple of sprigs of herbs or a few strips of citrus zest (optional)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 glass of water
Add fruit and rubbing alcohol to a large jar or other airtight container and stir the fruit lightly with a wooden spoon. Place in a cool place protected from direct sunlight for 2-3 days.
Give the mixture a taste to see if the fruit sprouts. If this is not exactly where you want it, let it brew for another day. Once it has a sufficient fruity flavor, make a simple syrup by heating the sugar and water over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let cool completely.
Strain the solids while the syrup cools, passing it through a mesh sieve to remove the larger pieces of fruit, then through a fine sieve lined with cheesecloth to remove the smaller pieces.
When the booze is strained and the syrup has cooled, add half a cup of the syrup to the ethanol filled with fruit, stir and taste. If you want it to be sweeter, add more syrup. Once you get the sweetness you want, pour it into a pretty bottle and chill for 24 hours. Sip, stir in cocktails, or spray with bubbles. Fruit liqueur will last at least two months in the refrigerator.