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Champagne made from blackcurrant leaves, prepared at home, is an excellent alternative to the traditional grape drink. Personally made champagne will not only help you refresh yourself in the summer heat, but will also create a friendly festive atmosphere. It has a pleasant aroma and excellent taste, is easy to drink, but at the same time can turn your head. In addition, the refreshing drink is quite easy to prepare at home.
The benefits and harms of champagne made from currant leaves
Many people know firsthand about the benefits of blackcurrant leaves. In addition to being rich in vitamins and minerals, the leaves synthesize vitamin C, which is then distributed to other parts of the plant. What is noteworthy is that the largest amount of this vitamin accumulates towards the end of the growing season - in August. If you collect the raw materials for champagne during this period, the benefits of the drink for the body will be maximum. Homemade sparkling drink has a tonic effect on the body, stimulates brain activity, and gives sharper vision. But this positive effect is only possible when drinking champagne in moderation.
People suffering from:
- thrombophlebitis;
- inflammatory processes in the digestive organs;
- high pressure;
- arrhythmias;
- poor blood clotting;
- mental disorders;
- alcoholism.
Ingredients for champagne made from currant leaves
In order to prepare homemade champagne from currants, you need to prepare everything you need in advance - raw materials, containers and corks. Ingredients you will need:
- Fresh blackcurrant leaves. They must be clean, without stains or traces of disease or the activity of harmful insects. It is best to collect raw materials in dry weather, no earlier than 10 a.m., so that the dew has time to evaporate. Blackcurrant champagne leaves can be plucked by hand or cut with scissors.
- Yeast is needed to ferment blackcurrant champagne. It is advisable to use wine yeast, but if you can’t get it, you can use regular dry yeast.
- Granulated sugar will help activate the fermentation process.
- Lemon will add the necessary sourness to the taste of champagne and double the vitamin content of the drink.
In the process of preparing homemade champagne, the correct choice of containers is as important as quality raw materials. Glass bottles are suitable for fermentation. But you need to store the drink only in champagne bottles or other containers with thick walls that can withstand gas pressure. It is advisable that the glass be brown or dark green in color to protect the drink from oxidation.It’s also worth preparing a little more corks, just in case.
How to make homemade champagne from blackcurrant leaves
Making champagne at home is a risky business, especially if the preparation technology has not been tested before. Therefore, there is no need to rush to prepare a large volume of drink at once; you should start with a small portion. For the traditional recipe you will need:
- 30-40 g black currant leaves;
- 1 medium lemon;
- 200 g granulated sugar;
- 1 tsp. wine yeast (or dry baker's yeast);
- 3 liters of drinking water.
Cooking method:
- Wash the leaves thoroughly under running water and chop coarsely (you don’t have to chop them, but use whole ones). Place in a bottle.
- Peel the lemon. Cut off a layer of white zest from the skin. Cut the lemon peel and pulp into pieces, removing the seeds, and also place in a bottle. Then add sugar and pour in cold boiled water.
- Close the bottle with the mixture with a nylon cap and place it on the sunniest windowsill, where it is warmest. For 2 days, until the sugar is completely dissolved, gently shake the contents periodically.
- After this, add yeast dissolved in a small amount of warm water into the mixture. Loosely cover the bottle with a lid and wait 2-3 hours, during which the fermentation process should begin.
- After this, put a water seal (water seal) on the jar and transfer it to a cool place for 7-10 days.
- After this time, strain the drink through several layers of gauze and put it in the refrigerator for a day.During this time, a sediment will form, which you need to get rid of by carefully pouring the champagne into a clean container. After this add 4 tbsp. l. sugar (preferably in the form of sugar syrup), stir and carefully pour into clean bottles. Close very tightly with corks (for this you can use plastic champagne corks, but cork ones are better). To increase the strength and reliability of the closure, the corks are additionally reinforced with wire, then sealed with sealing wax or wax.
- In this form, the bottles are moved to a basement or other cold place for 1-2 months.
Terms and conditions of storage
Homemade blackcurrant champagne, sealed with a cork stopper, can be stored for 1 year or a little more, but subject to certain rules:
- The temperature in the room where currant champagne is stored should be within + 3-12 °C. If it is impossible to create such conditions in an apartment, the bottle should be stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
- Light has a detrimental effect on champagne, so sunlight should not penetrate into the room.
- Humidity is within 75%; when this indicator decreases, the cork will dry out.
And the most important rule is that the bottle should only be stored horizontally. This way, the cork stopper will always remain elastic and will not crumble when opened.
Conclusion
Champagne made from black currant leaves is an economical and beneficial option from the point of view of preserving the family budget. The sparkling drink has a pronounced currant-lemon flavor. And don’t be upset if the first attempt is not successful. Next time it will definitely work, and perhaps soon homemade currant champagne will displace the factory-made drink from the festive table.
