Having had a bumper crop of blackcurrants this year, once we had used some, given some away and made all the jam we might want, I decided to make some crème de cassis liqueur. It is quite simple to make, and the result is surprisingly good.
There are many recipes on the Net, and they vary quite a bit, which suggests that you can go about it in various ways and get good results. Here is how I proceeded.
I bought a litre and a half of inexpensive red wine and poured the contents over a big bowl of currants and about 2 cups of sugar. I expect I had about 8 cups of currants (I don't think one cup more or less will make much difference). I crushed the currants and a few blackcurrant leaves in the wine and let the mixture sit for 4 days, mixing it with a spoon every day.
Then I strained the mixture through a cheese cloth, added another cup of sugar and heated the juice resulting from the straining, until it started to boil. I then poured it back into bottles. I used two one and a half litre bottles and, as you can see below, both were more than 3/4 full, which suggests that a fair bit of blackcurrant juice was extracted.
I then topped up the bottles with spirits (about 15% spirits and 85% wine and juice mixture). This produced a liqueur that is not very sweet. You could add more sugar, if you wanted to. I wanted to get some nice bottles to put it in, but did not find any. So I thought I would leave it in the initial bottles and serve it in a decanter, voilà! That is all there is to it. Of course I am partial, but I think it is delicious!
There are many recipes on the Net, and they vary quite a bit, which suggests that you can go about it in various ways and get good results. Here is how I proceeded.
I bought a litre and a half of inexpensive red wine and poured the contents over a big bowl of currants and about 2 cups of sugar. I expect I had about 8 cups of currants (I don't think one cup more or less will make much difference). I crushed the currants and a few blackcurrant leaves in the wine and let the mixture sit for 4 days, mixing it with a spoon every day.
Then I strained the mixture through a cheese cloth, added another cup of sugar and heated the juice resulting from the straining, until it started to boil. I then poured it back into bottles. I used two one and a half litre bottles and, as you can see below, both were more than 3/4 full, which suggests that a fair bit of blackcurrant juice was extracted.
I then topped up the bottles with spirits (about 15% spirits and 85% wine and juice mixture). This produced a liqueur that is not very sweet. You could add more sugar, if you wanted to. I wanted to get some nice bottles to put it in, but did not find any. So I thought I would leave it in the initial bottles and serve it in a decanter, voilà! That is all there is to it. Of course I am partial, but I think it is delicious!
Lovely vignette. Just waiting for sunset.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had much luck making homemade wines, but by starting with a store-boughten one, how could I go wrong? It will be a pretty small batch, though, with only 180 g of currants. Still, tempting...
ReplyDeleteYou could always add different fruits your blackcurrants (raspberry would be nice, plum perhaps?) and call it a fruit liqueur.
DeleteYou're on! I've mixed the blackcurrants, which make one cup, with two and-a-half cups of red currants. All the fruit is from our backyard. The wine is a 750ml bottle of wine-store kit wine. Will know by Saturday how it turns out.
DeleteI don't think you can go wrong. You will just need to add a bit of spirit (brandy, vodka or anything really). You should have almost 2 bottles.
DeleteAnd it's a Y-E-triple-S YESSS!!! If you haven't peeked at the hostas-and-liqueur post comments section since I replied to you, you might want to see E.g.'s verdict (she goes by the pseudonym Eyegillian). We're both very pleased with the results of the liqueur recipe. Thank you!
DeleteSure sounds delicious. Maybe I can get Maria to switch some of her jam making efforts (about 60 jars so far, 5 different kinds) to include a little liqueur!
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of Anne of G.G. and the raspberry cordial...: ) Sounds like the perfect thing for a snowy midwinter day. Sheri
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I could sit there waiting for 4 days unless I had a nice bottle of wine whilst waiting ha ha ha. It must be a nice feeling to make your own drinks fresh from the garden. I bet it tasted nice too.
ReplyDeleteYour bottle of liqueur inspired me to pour myself a glass of wine. :o)
ReplyDeleteSo I am having a good influence!
DeleteI bet it is delicious and would make a great gift for someone. You are most creative and yes, that is a fair bit of juice. It looks very appealing.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Alain! I've been blogging since 2009, and this is the very first time when I read that someone grows blackcurrants and, moreover, makes liqueur from them! Most of the gardeners around me don't know what it is. I am originally from Russia, and blackcurrant is #1 berry there. Well, it used to be when I lived there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment on my blog!
Hi Tatyana, It is nice to hear from you. Blackcurrant is also my favorite berry. I was first acquainted with them in my grand-parent's garden as a child. It is surprising they are not more popular as they are so easy to grow. However, they probably grow better in cold areas like Canada and Russia.
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