Applicious liqueur

Apple liqueur is divine! We love it neat, diluted with lemonade or as a component in a cocktail – Applicious Martini anyone?

It is worth spending time filtering your liqueur to ensure it is crystal clear; our Applicious just cries “drink me!”:

This liqueur is soooooo smooth! We are definitely going to experiment with sharper apples (probably a mix of Granny Smiths and Bramleys) because some drinkers found it a little sweet – rather like a dessert wine. However, I have a sweet tooth and it was perfect for me!

Here’s what you need:

5 eating apples – we used Gala for their sweetness but if you prefer tart apples go for Granny Smith
1 lemon’s peel
1 ½ cups vodka (we used Smirnoff Blue)
½ cup Polish pure spirit
1 ½ cups sugar syrup

NB. If you don’t wish to use Polish pure spirit, simply replace it with extra vodka.

Core the apples then coarsely chop – there is no need to peel the apples. Place in a kilner jar and add the lemon peel.

Add the vodka and seal the jar.

Place jar in a cool, dry spot away from any direct sun. Leave for 2 weeks but pick the jar up and swirl it every so often.

After the two weeks has passed, add the sugar syrup then return the jar to its cool, shady place for another 2 weeks. Again, swirl the jar now and again.

When it’s ready to filter your liqueur and fruit will have turned a rich ochre – full of mellow mists and fruitfulness:

Filter the liqueur through a fine sieve or mesh mashing the apples to ensure you get all the juice and flavour out of them. We start with a bit of brute force with the straining bag:

This is what was left in the straining bag after we had wrung it dry:

You will have to filter several times to ensure that all the apple flesh is removed and you have a clear, pulp free liqueur. We found that lining the sieve with a butter muslin (you could use a coffee filter but beware this can get clogged and you'll have to change it frequently) filtered the liquid very effectively. Filtering takes time - hours! Ensure you leave enough time as you don't want to rush. Clarity is your goal!

Bottle your now-potable liqueur!

Cheers!

Time to make, from start to potable: 4 weeks

Yield: approx 3 cups/750ml

Almond liqueur

This is a multi-tasking liqueur. You can drink it neat, add it to coffee, use it in baking/desserts or – for extreme naughtiness – reduce it to a syrup in a saucepan and pour it over ice cream!

Mr Portions selected this liqueur as he is a big fan of Amaretto. For this kind of recipe where you want to get maximum flavour from the nuts, it’s best to buy them whole and chop them just before needed. We used this handy gadget to chop the nuts:

Here’s what you need:

½ cup (85g) chopped almonds – make sure they’re unsalted!
Dash of almond extract
1 ¼ cups vodka (we used Smirnoff Blue)
¼ cup Polish pure spirit
Dash of cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar syrup

NB. If you don’t wish to use Polish pure spirit, simply replace it with extra vodka.

Place all the ingredients in a kilner jar and leave for 2 week, ideally somewhere cool and out of direct sun (obviously, we didn't leave it on the windowsill - it's just for photographic purposes!):

This isn’t the most attractive maturing liqueur you’re ever going to see! Close up just to really highlight its ugliness:

Filter and taste – it might need a little more sugar (ours didn’t). Do this several times until the liquid is free of any nuts. We found that lining the sieve with a butter muslin (you could use a coffee filter but this can get clogged) filtered the liquid very effectively.

Here’s our first straining, using a straining bag:

Inside the straining bag:

Our precious liqueur – liquid gold:

Age for a further 2 weeks.

Bottle your now-potable liqueur - if it looks cloudy (ours did) then don't be afraid to filter it once more, before bottling; it's worth it.

These dinky little bottles are ideal for giving tasters to family and friends. Come on...you didn't think we'd give away big bottles, did you???

Cheers!

Time to make, from start to potable: 4 weeks

Yield: approx 1 cup/250 ml

Pineapple liqueur

Ah pineapple! I have always thought pineapple to be one of the kings of the fruit world and I don’t even mind the way you can feel it’s acid burning into your teeth.

This pineapple liqueur is delightful turned into a long drink with cold lemonade, but is equally indulgent neat. It has a tropical taste; we were surprised at just how strong the pineapple flavour was - it's zingy and refreshing. There's also a warming burn of booze - not rough but punchy!

Here’s what you need:

2 cups fresh pineapple cut into chunks (we found that a large pot of ready prepared pineapple from M&S was just enough)
1 ½ cups vodka (we used Smirnoff Blue)
½ cup Polish pure spirit
½ cup sugar syrup

NB. If you don’t wish to use Polish pure spirit, simply replace it with extra vodka.

Place the pineapple, vodka and Polish pure spirit in a kilner jar and leave for 1 week, ideally somewhere cool and out of direct sun:

When the week is up, strain the mix and mash the pineapple so as to get all the juice and flavour from it:

Do this several times until the liquid is free of any pulp. We found that lining the sieve with a butter muslin (you could use a coffee filter but this can get clogged) filtered the liquid very effectively.

Add the sugar syrup and leave to mature for a month:

Bottle your now-potable liqueur!

Cheers!

Time to make, from start to potable: 5 weeks

Yield: approx 2 cups/500ml

Bottles

You will need two types of bottle: maturing bottles and serving bottles.

We like to mature our liqueurs in kilner jars as they are clear (so you can see how the contents are progressing) and easy to clean. They also have a strong air and watertight seal.

We bottle our liqueurs in "Grolsch style" bottles and have found an excellent supplier for these - BrewUk

Polish pure spirit

To make a well-flavoured liqueur with a good kick you need good quality strong vodka (or other spirit where specified). Normally, we use Smirnoff Blue as this is 45% as opposed to the standard 40%.

It is also recommended to use Polish pure spirit - an incredibly strong spirit ranging from 79%-90% proof. Obviously, this is dangerous stuff in the wrong hands (or mouths!) and you must never drink it neat. Seriously - this stuff could kill you!

As it is such a potent product you may not see it on the shelves of your off licence but, if you ask, they may well stock it and store it under lock and key. If you don't want to go through the embarrassing rigmarole of explaining how you're not an alcoholic but need it for home-made liqueurs then I recommend buying online!

It's not cheap but worth using sparingly in your liqueurs.

Basic sugar syrup

Most liqueurs will require you to add sugar syrup at some point in the procedure. Some liqueurs require special syrups, but if the recipe merely says ‘sugar syrup’ this is the one to use.

Sugar syrup is Mr Portions’ speciality and he makes a batch when it’s needed, knowing that any leftover syrup will happily keep in the fridge for up to a month.

Here is Chez Portions’ stash of syrup waiting to be called into action. It stores nicely in the fridge door:

Here’s what you need to make sugar syrup (note: liqueur recipes are usually given in cups and we find it easier to use cups, particularly when dealing with liquids):

2 ½ cups water
3 cups caster sugar

Place the sugar and water into a saucepan and stir occasionally over a medium-high heat.

Lower the heat and let boil gently (not a mad bubbling, spitting boil!) for 5 minutes.

Remove from the hob and leave to cool in the pan.

Add to liqueur mix as recipe indicates.

Any leftover liqueur can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.

This recipe yields approximately 4 cups of syrup, which amounts to just over 1 litre.

Cheers!

Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to my adventure in potables