I used to have The Herbal Pantry but don't any more. It helps to post the recipes because the choices you make for the alcohol base may differ depending upon ingredients.

Just as a cost measure, if you're using vodka you might also consider Everclear (grain alcohol) which is much much cheaper. In comparing price, keep in mind that you'll cut grain alcohol 50-50 with water to reach an equivalent strength to vodka.

Putting it in sterilized mason jars is no problem. Glass is probably the best thing you can use. I once made a batch of Limoncello (We won't discuss how long it took me to zest the lemons for this.) big enough to require a gallon jar.

The longer this stuff sits the better. I've kept liqueurs in a dark cupboard for three years before touching them.

Brandy will add a flavor, but in some cases that may be an advantage because if you're not aging the liqueur for a while, anything with a vodka or grain alcohol base can seem harsh initially. Apricots and brandy certainly go together well. It's been more years than I care to think, but I do remember making that combination.

You can decant the liqueur into sterilized bottles. The long-neck salad dressing bottles (or vinegar bottles also) sound fine. Sterilize, allow to air-dry or dry in the oven on a low temp, decant and then seal with a cork. An option then, which makes a very pretty and inexpensive closure, is to take some paraffin, melt with some food color (red is nice), and dip the corked bottle into it down over the cork and the top of the neck. Let rest until firmed up, tie a nice ribbon with a tag and you're good to go!

You can do the same sort of thing with vinegars also.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your project.

Carol

Here's the recipe for the pear ginger. The apricot thyme is the same except 1 lb. apricots and 1/2 cup lemon thyme are used instead of pears and ginger. I am surprised by the relatively short aging now that I hear some others' experiences. Are there different kinds of brandy? I didn't think about grain alcohol, I'll have to compare prices. I buy el cheapo brand vodka usually, same for most types of liquor. It's wine where I'm willing to spend more.

Thanks for the tips Carol!

Pear Ginger Liqueur

8 very ripe pears, about 4 cups
2 inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
4 cups vodka
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Combine the pears, ginger, vodka and wine in a large jar with a tight-fitting cover. Place in a cool dark place to steep for one month. Crush the pears slightly with a wooden spoon or potato masher and steep for another 4 days. Strain the liquid, pressing and much juice as possible from the pears, then filter. Boil the sugar and water together in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved; cool, then gradually stir into the liquer, tasting as you go. When the liqueur has reached the desired level of sweetness, bottle and age for an additional 3 weeks in a cool, dark place.

Definitely there are different kinds of brandy. There's the standard all-purpose like Christian Brothers (decent, not too expensive, and what I use for mincemeat - well, mincefruit, actually). Then there're the upscale fruit brandies like Clear Creek Distillery's Pear. But it would be a sin to use that as the base for a liqueur.

I wonder how that Pear Ginger would be with some honey in lieu of part of the sugar or another thought - some of the syrup off candied ginger. Now that has interesting possibilities and I'd think there'd be a smoother finish for something aged not-very-long.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Clear Creek Distillery Pear Brandy

I made this Pear ginger recipe about 10 years ago. I used a combo of wine and brandy. I have tried vodka in a few diff mixtures and did not like any of them. I found the vodka much too harsh for cordials. I use either brandy alone of the mix of brandy and mild white wine. My pear ginger was great and everyone loved it. I aged it for 3 months though before sweetening. I also added a little glycerine to make it a bit smoother in texture.

I made raspberry with vodka last year, thought I would try the vodka again, it was awful!

I get clear or white brandy that way the colors are true.

Susan

Brandy is made from wines, be it grape or other fruits. They distill the brandy so its alcohol content is higher. If you do use a brandy, choose one that accents the flavor your wanting. Blackberry brandy is flavoful and great on a soaked fruitcake. Things like Grand Marnier are also great, but are sweeter liquors.

I'm off to see what they have at the liquor store tonight. Whenever I've seen flavored or fortified wine, brandy is always the liquor that is used, so that's why I was wondering about the vodka. In all my wine punches, hot or cold, I use brandy to give it an extra kick. I just don't know anything about brandy. When I make a wine punch for a party, I just buy a little bit of brandy, because I don't drink it otherwise, so I buy whatever is in the smallest, cheapest bottle. I'm used to amber colored brandy. Is there white brandy? I want something plain tasting so that the fruit and herbs I add will be the flavor element that shows through.

Can I buy glycerin at the grocery store? Also, do you think this will be any good by Jan.? It seems like two months tops for the aging in that recipe above is a shorter time frame than any of you are talking about. I'm just wondering if it is worth giving as Christmas gifts. I was going to give it to people and tell them not to use it for three weeks, but that only gives the fruit and alcohol a little over a month to age if I start it this week.

I'm still going to try it but maybe not give as gifts, I don't know. Maybe gifts for NEXT year, or valentine's day! :)

The reason I like grain alcohol for some of these liqueurs is that it is colorless and flavorless. Even vodka will add some element of flavor. However, in my (admittedly limited) experience, those liqueurs do require a longer aging time to assure the harsh edge is gone.

I doubt you'll find glycerin in the grocery store. Brewing suppliers carry it and also cake-decorating suppliers. You might be able to buy some from a local bakery if they use it for icings, etc. It does add a viscosity to the liqueur equivalent to what you find in a commercial product.

By the way, here's a link to a nice site with a lot of information on liqueurs, including trouble-shooting. Check out his cranberry recipe.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Liqueurs, Principles and Techniques

Carol, that Web site was so COOL!
This is going to be fun. I especially like all the tasting involved in making liqueur!
:)

I thought you'd like that one. I should have mentioned it earlier, just spaced a bit there.

Carol

I have made homemade liqueur for many years.

These are the recipes I use...

In a glass jar place fruit and vodka (or gin) and sugar. No heating/boiling is required. Every day flip the jar back and forth to mix the sugar into the solution. This will dissolve the sugar into the liqueur.

Amounts...

Raspberry Liqueur
4 cups whole fresh raspberries
3 cups vodka
3 cups sugar

Cranberry Liqueur
3 cups fresh wild cranberries
2 3/4 cups vodka
2 cups sugar

Black Currant Liqueur
1 1/2 cups fresh black currants
1 1/8 cups vodka
1 3/8 cups sugar

Chokecherry Liqueur
4 cups fresh chokecherries
3 cups vodka
3 cups sugar

Nanking Cherry Liqueur
4 cups fresh nanking cherries
3 cups vodka
3 cups sugar

Strawberry Liqueur
4 cups fresh strawberries (prefer to use real homegrown ones)
3 cups vodka
3 cups sugar

Kind of jar...I just use an empty l litre cheeze whiz jar (2 cups fruit with 1 1/2 cups vodka and 1 1/2 cups sugar fits perfectly...a half batch) or an empty l litre canning jar. But I like the cheeze whiz jar because of its lid.
No refridgeration needed now or later, just put the jar(s)on the counter. Actually, that way you will also remember to shake it once a day. There is enough alcohol in the solution that it does not have to be in the fridge. When I make homemade Bailey's then I put it into the fridge because of the cream and the condensed milk ingredients.

Do not pit any of the fruit. It is not necessary. You will be straining them later anyways...and can then enjoy eating the fruit. I usually let it sit for about 3 months before straining. Strain contents through a coffee filter and pour the liqueur into a clean jar or wine/liqueur bottle. Label it and enjoy.

Gin will give kind of a lemony taste so I prefer to use vodka. I have never used Brandy. I just buy the cheapest vodka on the shelf. The same when I make my homemade Bailey's...I buy the cheapest rye.

Nanking cherry liqueur is one of our favorite liqueurs...after homemade Bailey's. Occasionally we will have a taste testing night with friends and usually the raspberry, cranberry and the nanking cherry are the favorites. My BIL makes apple liqueur out of crabapples also. Now, that is good!

I need to make grape liqueur yet and this time will be using grapes that I froze this summer to make it with. Anyone used frozen fruit before? I always have used fresh because it was available to me.

Over on the 'Far North' forum in Garden Web, in the conversations a lot of members tried making liqueurs last summer for the first time. The results were excellent with the different kinds of fruits that were tried by all of us.

Brenda

Hey Brenda thanks for taking time to post all those recipes! So what do you use your liqueur for? I mean drinking obviously, but what's the role of the liqueur in the scheme of things. The only things I've use commerical liqueurs for is flavoring coffee, wine punch, and jam. Obviously fancy desserts, but I don't make those much. I've also drank copious amounts of herbal liqueurs at a Swedish midsummer bonfire last year. Caraway was "interesting" to say the least.

I have a great recipe for Kahlua if you are interested.

Linda P

Liqueur...just for sipping. yummmy! I just have a wee little bit once in a while and sometimes we serve it 'just because' when we have company. I tried an echinacea liqueur on the recommendation of someone I knew. She can keep it!! (yuck!)

I also have a Kahlua recipe...what is the difference between yours and mine, Linda? Here is mine...

Homemade Kahlua
Bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add:
1/4 cup instant coffee and
4 cups sugar
Stir to dissolve coffee and sugar. Cool.
Add:
3 1/4 cup rye
2 tsp vanilla.

I store this in a previously emptied Kahlua bottle in the fridge.

Now, for the good stuff...

Homemade Bailey's
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 cups rye
2-3 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water

Mix and refridgerate. This must be kept in the fridge because of the dairy products. I also keep refilling an empty Bailey's bottle. The recipe makes just under 4 cups (1 litre)...one large bottle.

My DH uses a little of this every morning in his coffee.

Anyone else make homemade (cream) liqueurs? I would love to get other recipes to try here.

Brenda

Echinacea liqueur sounds foul. I can definitely taste the "Yuck" factor.

I'm curious about the rye. Is there an advantage to using it? Kahlua is rum-based.

Carol

I'm glad I stumbled across this thread! PUN definately intended!

Definitely, that is.

Brenda,

I made your Bailey's recipe tonight. What kind of refrigirated storage or shelf life can I expect? Thanks!

Bailey's...in the fridge...I don't know how long it is good. My DH uses a little in his coffee each morning. But I do have to make a batch about every 5-6 weeks and it is still very good then. I wonder whether the rye might be a preservative in it??

Carol, as for the Kahlua... The recipe that I was given uses rye whisky. On the Kahlua bottle the ingredients give rum as an ingredient but it also lists wine as the next ingredient. A lot of recipes in the 'net use vodka. I guess, you need to make it and see whether you like it or not. We like the recipe I posted above. I have never tried any other one.

Brenda

Brenda,

Thanks for posting the recipes, the homemade BaileyÂs is delicious.

I know Kahlua uses shade-grown Arabica coffee beans, a variety of rums, sugar (I'm guessing Muscovado, Demerara, something of that sort), probably cane syrup, maybe some vodka or grain alcohol and of course vanilla. Oh, and cocoa beans.

The wine you mentioned is a surprise. Now I'm going to have to go out to the store and check the label. I thought I had some in the house but I don't. It's been years since I bought any.

I've tasted the vodka-based version. I know friends and family members who think it's wonderful, but we don't care for it. I took a bottle of the homemade we'd been given and did a taste-test with some actual Kahlua. They don't compare.

I don't believe I've ever tasted rye in anything; that would be new territory.

If I were making a coffee liqueur I'd skip the instant coffee and make a super-strong extraction from beans. It might be kind of fun sometime (not just before Thanksgiving, that's for sure!) to play around and see what the result is. It's intriguing to fiddle with copycat recipes.

However, I can see in this case it might become a very expensive endeavor, even working in small amounts. One benefit of the existing homemade recipes is they have a tremendous cost advantage over the original.

Carol

I believe when I did the last $ comparison, it costs 1/2 the amount to make the homemade version of Bailey's than buying the original.

On the Bailey's bottle the ingredients are listed as... cream, sugar, alcohol, whiskey, modified milk ingredients, natural flavours, glycerol monostearate, colour. I noticed that the bottle also has an expiry date of about 2 years and you are to refridgerate it after opening.

As for how long the homemade Bailey's is good for when reading the story from the Bailey's website it mentions that whiskey is a preservative for the cream and so therefore a 2 year old bottle tastes just as fresh as a new bottle of Bailey's. This is the Bailey's website...

http://www.baileys.com/en-row/TheStory/story

On the bottle of Kahlua it lists the ingredients as... sugar, Kahlua concentrate (coffee extract, rum, wine, caramel, vanillin), water. But, there is no expiry date on it and the original container says nothing about storing it in the fridge like the cream based 'Bailey's'.

Carol, as for instant coffee vs using beans, I can see how that would work really well. Since I do not buy beans to make coffee with, instant coffee granuals are what I use for this recipe.

Brenda

what is the difference bewtween hot and cold methods of making liqueurs??