First, a little theory. Liquors and tinctures are alcoholic beverages that are similar to each other in cooking technology. However, at the end of the process, their paths diverge. For the second time, berries for pouring are often poured with sugar syrup, and then the drink is exposed to the sun in order to "fill" with energy. And tinctures are not diluted with water. Often the berries are poured with a strong distillate: vodka, alcohol or cognac. Therefore, the strength of the liquors ranges from 20 to 25 degrees, and, for example, tincture of cherries on vodka has about 40 degrees.
For both drinks, ripe berries (blackcurrant, raspberries) or sweet fruits (plum, apricot, pear) are selected. How much the drink will ripen depends on the juiciness of the source material. Berry - two months, fruit - up to six months. The most popular in Russia and Ukraine liquor and tincture of cherry on vodka. Ripe, non-wormy and non-rotten berries are washed and slightly dried. Bones can not be removed. Then prick each berry with a toothpick. And then they throw in a bottle with a wide neck or a three-, five- or ten-liter jar (depending on how many cherries you have). Each layer of berries should be sprinkled with granulated sugar at the rate of four to five tablespoons per liter bottle. You need to fill the container according to the shoulders and tightly, so shake it so that the berries settle down. The neck of the jar or bottle should be securely covered with gauze from midges.
When the berries start the juice, the vial is filled with vodka. Now you need to tightly seal the jar with a nylon cover. Shake the container from time to time. Cherry tincture is stored in vodka at room temperature for two months. After that, the liquid is filtered. Berries can be consumed for cocktails or for the “Drunk Cherry” pie. But the ruby liquid is bottled, which is tightly clogged.
But there is another recipe for this delicious drink. The berries are immediately poured with alcohol. That is, they do not wait until they, in interaction with sugar, start juice. But the container immediately closes tightly. And besides, you need to consider that sugar does not dissolve well in alcohol, so you need to shake the jar slightly every couple of days. Well, and the end of the process completely coincides with that described in the previous recipe: the berries are decanted, the tincture of cherry on vodka is bottled.
For greater strength of the alcoholic beverage, you can use medical alcohol instead of vodka. About one and a half kilograms of berries goes about one and a half liters. And four more spoons of granulated sugar, but it is added at the very end of the process. Alcohol must be diluted with boiled cold water to a strength of 70%. In half of the berries we take the seeds, put the rest in a three-liter jar like that. Cherries should occupy 50 percent of the entire capacity.
Fill the berries with diluted alcohol, close the capron lid, put in a shaded cool place for three months. After this period, the berries are decanted. Dilute sugar in half a glass of ruby liquid, mix. Cherry tincture on alcohol is filtered through several layers of gauze. Then it is bottled. You can use it when
patience bursts. She’s so tasty!
In Armenia, another drink is popular - cherry on cognac. Tincture is prepared like this. A kilogram of berries sprinkled with 700 g of sugar, add five buds of cloves and a few leaves of cherry for a smell. Withstand in the sun for about forty days. Then strain the resulting juice and mix it with cognac. The amount of alcoholic drink can be adjusted based on your taste preferences.