Blackcurrant Vodka

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Triptych

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I've got loads of blackcurrants this year and have decided to make them into Blackcurrant vodka. Does anyone know of any recipes? I've had a bit of a google but all I can find are recipes for drinks using ready made blackcurrant vodka.
 
You can make vodka out of virtually any fruit, in fact anything - mainly by putting the fruit in a bottle, filling it up with vodka and storing in a dark place for a few months. I'd have thought that with blackcurrants it would be best to mash them or something so that the full flavour can come out. I'll have a look in a book I've got at home, see what it says - for some things they recommend putting sugar in too, I'd have thoguht that would probably be a good idea for blackcurrants.
 
You can use both wild and cultivated berries when you make this schnapps. Cultivated berries are just as strong-flavoured as the wild ones. Just remember to pick or buy the berries when they are big, juicy and most ripe.

Pick also a couple of young, fresh black currant leaves and add them to the vodka. The leaves will enhance the wonderful berry flavours.

Direction:


Rinse black currant berries and leaves carefully.

Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel.

If your berries are frozen - defrost them in the vodka.

Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.

Fill half the jar with berries - plus a couple of leaves.

Fill up with clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).

Steep for 3-12 months in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20°C (64-68°F).

Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.

Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.
You can serve your black currant schnapps after it has settled for a couple of days. Or you can store (age) it up to a couple of years in a dark place at room temperature before serving.

Note: If for some reason you are not satisfied with your infusion, there are ways to adjust both taste and flavours - click here to see how.

Serve your black currant schnapps at room temperature in suitable glasses. And remember to keep your schnapps bottle tightly closed and in a dark place before and between servings.
 
Thank you! I now need a clean large glass jar and a bottle of vodka as I don't appear to have any left. :(
 
I would suggest leaving the blackcurrants whole rather than crushing them. With sloes when you are making sloe gin, I think I am right in saying that you just prick them with a fork - frezing them first also helps.
 
Or you could make jam!

Or best of all Jane Grigson's fab Burnt Tart with blackcurrants - where blackcurrants flavoured with cinnamon are baked in a tart under a custard flavoured with creme de cassis and then bruleed.
 
Not for you anyway ? :P

I imagine you would go for brussel sprout vodka too ? :lol:
 
Brussel sprouts are very nice served finely mashed with creme fraiche, a hint of nutmeg and some crispy bacon bits sprinkled on top.
 
Originally posted by Ardross+Aug 7 2006, 09:07 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Ardross @ Aug 7 2006, 09:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-jinnyj@Aug 7 2006, 08:58 PM
Brussel sprouts are very nice
Click to expand...
Nice and sprouts surely should not be in the same sentence . [/b][/quote]
Agreed :lol:
 
Don't knock what you haven't tried - I hate ordinary sprouts - but this is really very nice.
 
I think I'll with the vodka! Although Jane Grigson's Burnt Tart does sound nice and I seem to have a never ending supply of blackcurrants. Apparently its been a very good year for them.
 
I dunno, must I explain everything? You get thin strips of crispy-fried (smoky if preferred) bacon. You place them in fine muslin and insert them into the vodka, leaving a pull of muslin over the top of the bottle. The muslin stops the bacon disintegrating into the alcohol. After two weeks, you pull the muslin carefully out of the bottle, and there you have it.

In Saudi, we used to put oak chips into the 'sadiqi' (white lightning) for about 3 weeks, to mellow and turn the alcolhol to what was brilliantly called 'brown'. The flavour was fabulous - like Maker's Mark or similar. We also made Cointreau by setting a whole orange about 2" above an open bottle of sadiqi, in a dark cupboard. The orange slowly wizened and its oils and aroma went into the bottle. It took time, of course, but the result was deeelicious. You can use vodka just like white lightning because, neither having a strong flavour of their own, they will take on the flavour of whatever you introduce to them.
 
Just decanted my little vodka distillery - last count it consisted of chocolate, vanilla, lemon peel, basil & chilli vodkas. The chocolate stuff is simply superb - thick and gloopy, made with lots of proper chocolate :D
 
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