It is impossible to overestimate the beneficial properties of alcohol tinctures , especially if they are made independently from berries grown in their area. These tinctures are tasty, healthy and can be a wonderful decoration for any festive table. But not everyone knows that the Chinese were the first to produce alcohol tinctures, and this happened around the 3rd century BC. Recipes for alcohol tinctures came to Russia much later, almost seven centuries later.
To learn about how to make tincture from alcohol, you need to learn some of the basics of this craft. Alcohol tincture is a drink with a strength of 45%. It is obtained by insisting on alcohol, in particular alcohol, on berries, fruits or fragrant herbs. Sometimes tincture is confused with liquor, which is obtained by fermentation or by mixing berries and alcohol. The strength of the filling usually does not exceed 20%.
You can read a mountain of literature, but never know how to make a tincture of alcohol. Only practical tests will help to master this art to perfection. There is no one right recipe for tincture. Using the same ingredients, you will get drinks of different tastes at the exit. Tasting qualities depend on aging, storage conditions and other circumstances.
The tinctures of propolis, blackcurrant, lemon, pepper tincture and many others are widely known. But especially popular were tincture of cherry and cranberry. And how to make tincture from alcohol and from these berries, you will learn from the following recipes.
How to make cherry tincture
There are several recipes for tinctures from cherries, consider some of them:
- Put one kilogram of cherry without twigs into a five-liter bottle, cover with sugar (750 g), cover with gauze and soak in the sun for about a month. Then divide the resulting syrup into 250 g portions. Mix each portion with 500 g. vodka and 250 gr. water.
- One and a half kilograms of cherries pour two liters of 60% alcohol and insist 1.5 months. Drain the resulting infusion, mix the berries with sugar (800 gr.) And water (1.5 l), bring to a boil. Cool the syrup, strain through cheesecloth and mix with alcohol infusion.
- Put the cherries in a three-liter jar neck and pour alcohol (vodka), tightly close the lid and put in a dark place for 3 months. After this time, drain the tincture. If you add sugar, you get a delicious liquor.
How to make cranberry tincture - “Klukovka”
Cranberry tincture , recipes of which also exists a lot, is no less tasty and useful. Here are some of them:
- Pour a glass of cranberries into a 0.5-liter bottle, add 5-6 tablespoons of sugar, pour alcohol or vodka, insist in a dark place for about two weeks.
- Grind a kilogram of washed berries with a blender, strain the juice. Cook the syrup from the pulp, adding a kilogram of sugar and a pinch of vanilla to it. Pour cranberry juice into the resulting syrup, boil and cool. Pour in 700-800 gr. vodka and insist 2-3 days.
By the way, fragrant herbs such as lemon balm, mint, and galangal can be added to any berry tincture. They will give the drink a refined and original taste.
Now you know how to make tincture from alcohol and berries. Experiment by adding different ingredients, surprise your guests with new drinks.