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Thanks to its pleasant taste with a slight sourness, cranberry liqueur is considered one of the best alcoholic drinks that can be prepared at home. Cranberry liqueur can easily be confused with tincture, since the preparation technology and ingredients are similar. There are two main differences: the aging time of the tincture is usually limited to several weeks, while it is recommended to keep the liqueur for at least two to three months. In addition, the strength of cranberry liqueur is usually lower, and the sweetness, on the contrary, is felt more strongly.
Traditional cranberry liqueur recipe
Before moving directly to the recipe, we cannot help but mention a few unwritten rules for preparing liqueur, which simplify and optimize the process:
- Since the filling requires a large amount of cranberry juice, the berries are slightly frozen before use.
- Infuse the drink in a dark place at room temperature for several months.
- Of the alcoholic drinks, vodka and purified moonshine are the best, but technically you can use any alcohol whose strength is 40 degrees, for example, rum or cognac.
- The liqueur can also be prepared using fermentation with wild yeast, without the use of alcohol.
- You can add spices to any recipe to suit your taste. This is done at the initial stage, after the berries give juice.
- The taste of the drink can be adjusted differently - by adding other fruits to the basic list of ingredients.
So, to prepare cranberry liqueur according to a traditional recipe, you need the following ingredients:
- cranberries – 0.5 kg;
- sugar – 0.7 kg;
- water – 0.5 l.
During cooking you will need a water seal.
A water seal, also known as a water seal or valve, is used as a means to prevent explosions of carbon dioxide that yeast produces during fermentation. By using a water seal, the resulting gas can be safely removed from the container. In addition, the valve protects the contents from oxygen.
As a simple water seal you can use:
- A pierced medical glove placed around the neck. The advantages of this method include: ease of use, low cost of consumables, compactness, and the ability to determine the end of the fermentation process. The disadvantage is that this method is only suitable for medium-sized containers with a wide neck. To prevent the glove from falling off, it is secured with adhesive tape.
- A thin rubber hose passed through a hole in the lid and lowered into water. An approximate usage diagram can be seen in the diagram below. The advantages of the method include its reliability and simplicity. The disadvantages are the need to additionally secure the tube and close the hole in the lid.Typically, plasticine or a special sealant is used for this purpose. Additionally, using an extra water container can be inconvenient, especially if you have active animals at home.
This is what one of the options for a homemade water seal looks like.
Prepare as follows:
- The berries are sorted, small debris and dirt are removed, but not washed.
- Using a masher or rolling pin, knead them into a homogeneous mixture.
- Pour sugar into the resulting mass, add water and stir.
- Cover the neck with a cloth or thick gauze and leave in a dark place at room temperature for 4–5 days.
- Stir daily with a wooden spatula.
- After the berries have fermented, put a water seal on the jar - purchased or homemade.
- After a month and a half, when fermentation is over, the liquid is carefully drained, trying not to touch the cloudy bottom sediment. The liqueur is filtered and bottled into prepared bottles. They insist for several more months.
- If the strength of the drink seems too low, at the last stage you can pour a small amount of alcohol into the liqueur and let it brew.
Alcoholic cranberry liqueur with alcohol
If a recipe that involves long-term fermentation is not suitable for the cook, you can use alcohol-containing ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 0.25 kg of berries;
- 500 ml water;
- sugar – 0.5 kg;
- 500 ml alcohol.
Prepare as follows:
- First, wash the berries and sort them thoroughly.
- Drain the water and let the cranberries dry a little.
- The berries are pierced with a needle or lightly mashed with a masher or rolling pin and left for half an hour to release the juice.
- Alcohol is poured in. At the same time, water is put on fire.
- Warm boiled water is added to the berry-alcohol mixture.
- Carefully mix the workpiece and transfer the container to a shaded place, where the liqueur is infused at room temperature of 20 degrees.
- After a month, the liqueur is filtered, after which it can be drunk.
Cranberry tincture 20 degrees
Since the tincture and liqueur are very similar both in taste and in the purpose of preparation, and differ mainly in strength, a twenty-degree tincture can easily be confused with a regular liqueur.
For preparation you will need the following ingredients:
- 300 g cranberries;
- 250 g granulated sugar;
- 150 ml water;
- 500 ml vodka.
You will also need a sieve and gauze.
Prepare as follows:
- First, the cranberries are sorted, washed and thoroughly mashed with a masher.
- Vodka is added to the crushed berries.
- Close the container with a lid and leave to infuse in a dark place for 5–7 days.
- A sieve is lined with several layers of gauze, placed over a saucepan and the infused mixture is carefully filtered through it.
- Sugar syrup is made in a separate container, cooled and combined with the alcoholic component.
- Pour the tincture into bottles and leave for a few more days.
Recipe for cranberry liqueur with vodka
To make a sweet liqueur with vodka, you need the following ingredients:
- cranberries – 500 g;
- vodka – 1 liter;
- sugar – 1 kg;
- water – 1 liter;
- You can add spices to taste - mint, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, etc.
Prepare as follows.
- The berries are sorted, removing spoiled or rotting ones, washed and the stalks are removed.
- Mash with a masher or rolling pin until smooth, or alternatively, pass through a meat grinder, food processor, or grind with a blender.
- Add spices and pour in alcohol, stir.
- The container with the filling is infused away from direct sunlight at room temperature for two weeks.
- After two weeks, they move on to the next stage - combine water and sugar in a saucepan and prepare syrup. Allow it to cool at room temperature.
- Syrup is poured into the liqueur, mixed and left to infuse again for 10–14 days.
- Then the finished liqueur is filtered through gauze folded in several layers. The resulting cake is properly squeezed out and thrown away, and the drink is poured into bottles.
Shelf life
Cranberry liqueur has a fairly long shelf life - on average, it can be consumed within two to three years from the date of preparation. However, if stored incorrectly, the shelf life can be significantly reduced.
To keep the drink longer, it must be kept away from direct sunlight in a cool place. Therefore, a refrigerator or a basement or cellar is best suited for storing cranberry liqueur.
Conclusion
Cranberry liqueur is very similar to cranberry liqueur - both in taste and in the set of basic necessary components. Their main difference is “gender”, since it is believed that the tincture is very popular among men, and the liqueur, like liqueurs, is popular with the fair sex. Another difference could be considered the difference in the strength of the drink, however, due to the variability of recipes, this indicator is rather arbitrary.
