Homebrew Underground

Finding a steady supplier for dried black currants in the U.S. has been a challenge. Since I made my last post on this topic in September, 2010, the supplier I was using at that time (Good Sense) has stopped carrying them. Lucky for me, though, there is a currant farm in New York that has an online store where you can buy dried black currants in quantity.

The company is called CurrantC™ and it is managed by Greg Quinn. I am very happy that the company is offering dried black currants and that you can buy them in quantities. The are available in 1 lb, 5 lb and 10 lb bags.

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It’s been awhile since I posted the recipe for Black Currant Liqueur (crème de cassis). When I first made the liqueur, dried black currants were readily available. I just happened to get lucky when I put together the recipe for the first time and the liqueur turned out really well.

I originally obtained the dried black currants locally from Trader Joe’s (image to right). The dried fruit was of exceptional quality. I was disappointed to find out later that Trader Joe’s decided not to sell them anymore. They said it was due to low sales. I suppose that’s because black currants are not very well known in the USA and people were just not used to buying them. Read Full Story

Step Three: Straining, Filtering and Clarifying

After the sugar infusion it will be time to strain the fruit out of the liqueur. Shown below is a shot of the liqueur after the sugar has been allowed to macerate for 4 weeks.

Using a saucepan and kitchen strainer, pour the contents of the jar into the strainer.

Wait for another 3 to 4 weeks and allow the infused spirits to settle. The lighter cloudy parts will rise to the top and the heavier sediments will settle to the bottom. You want to rack off just the cloudy parts on top first. Pour about half of the the strained, infused spirit through a metal coffee filter into a clean 2 qt. Mason jar. That should separate the cloudy parts.

Filter the remaining part through a paper towel into another clean, 2 qt. Mason jar. This will remove bigger impurities and won’t clog as fast as a paper coffee filter.

Allow the infused spirits to settle again for another 3 to 4 weeks and then repeat the filtering process only this time rack off the cloudy top part and filter it with a paper towel into one jar and then filter the remainder into another jar using paper coffee filters. Be patient. Clarification can take some time. You may have to repeat the process over and over a few times – allow to settle for a few weeks, then filter and rack off the infused spirits each time.

When you no longer see the cloudy parts floating at the top, the infused spirits are clarified and ready for blending. After filtering through paper coffee filters, the liqueur should be clarified and ready for blending.

Step Four: Blending and Bottling

I prefer to blend the liqueur because it tends to come out a little bit sour at this stage. You don’t want to blend with straight sugar (or sugar syrup) alone. That tends to kill some of the flavor. Instead you want to blend with a little 100 proof vodka plus a little sugar. This will take away the sourness without killing any of the flavor.

Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients ready for blending. Make a blending stock from 1 part sugar and 8 parts 100 proof vodka. I like to use Smirnoff No. 57 because it is very smooth. The finished blended liqueur should be somewhere around 3 parts clarified infused spirits plus a little less than 1 part blending stock. Don’t use too much blending stock because it will tend to make the liqueur too strong. Still, these proportions will put the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) to somewhere around 30% for this liqueur.

Bottle the liqueur when you are done!

You can make a great cocktail with this liqueur – the Pomegranate Daiquiri.

(UPDATED – October 2011) This is a recipe for black currant liqueur (cassis – or creme de cassis) that you can make with dried fruit. The advantage here is that black currants are only in season for a very short time in December. I made this liqueur starting in July, 2008. It is made with dried black currants.

After I made it I wanted to make some more in October, 2008. The problem was all the dried black currants were gone and I would have to wait until after the next crop after December. I bought the dried black currants at Trader Joe’s here in Southern California (please see later posts for where to buy dried black currants in the U.S.).

When I first made this recipe, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t sure if it would come out allright because I was using dried fruit. My idea was to simply infuse the black currant flavor into vodka. Once I added the dried fruit to the vodka, I could tell the next day that it was going to work. You could see that the mixture was thickening up and that when the jar was agitated, the inside of the jar was coated with a nice reddish-blue color.

This recipe is similar to the recipe for cherry liqueur here at this website. The general idea is that you macerate the fruit with vodka for 4 weeks, then you add sugar and let it macerate for an additional 4 weeks, then you strain it to separate the fruit. Then you let it age and clarify for a few months while you rack off the clarified parts, then blend and bottle it.

Step One: Infusion

Shown below is a shot of all the ingredients: sugar, vodka, dried black currants plus a 2 qt. Mason jar.

Add the dried black currants to the Mason jar, then measure out the vodka and add it to the jar. Use a measuring cup.

Shown below is a shot of the batch. Shake the jar to thoroughly mix the ingredients, then set it aside to macerate for 4 weeks. Periodically shake the jar to mix the ingredients. To facilitate clarification, do not shake during the last week just prior to straining.

Step Two: Adding Sugar

After macerating for 4 weeks it is time to add the sugar. Measure out the sugar and add it to the jar.

Shake thoroughly to completely dissolve all of the sugar. Make sure all of the sugar gets dissolved. Set the jar aside for another 4 weeks.

Continue to Black Currant Liqueur Recipe – Part II

Step Two: Straining, Filtering and Clarifying

Shown below is a photo of the infused spirit after macerating for 4 weeks. It is ready to strain.

Using a metal coffee filter, carefully pour off any clarified part into a clean 2 qt. Mason jar.

When all the infused spirit has been poured out, empty the contents of the jar into the filter and let it strain naturally for 10 – 15 minutes to recover as much spirit as possible. Discard the strainings afterwards. Normally I would try to press the strainings through a cheesecloth, but in this case these remains are very bitter and cloudy and will only spoil the flavor and clarity.

Shown below is a photo of the strained, infused spirit. Set it aside for 3 to 4 weeks to allow it to clarify. The sediments will settle to the bottom of the jar and you can rack off the clarified part.

After 3 or 4 weeks the infused spirit should be mostly clarified. At this time carefully rack off the clarified part into a clean 2 qt. Mason jar. You can see the difference. It is totally clarified.

Sweetening and Blending

Note: Blending a number of batches may produce unexpected results. The batches may become cloudy when blended together. If you have more than one jar to blend, then I strongly suggest that you wait and see if the infused spirit becomes cloudy when you blend the batches. If so, then wait an additional 4 weeks or so the allow the infused spirit to clarify again, then rack off the clarified part, then filter it with paper coffee filters to remove any "sludge."

Shown below is a shot of the clarified infused spirit, standard sugar syrup and a measuring cup.

Combine one part infused spirit with one part standard sugar syrup. It is now ready to bottle and serve!

My goal in developing this recipe was to create a homebrew orange liqueur that I could use as a mixer. I wanted a good substitute for Cointreau that I could use in cocktail recipes.

Cointreau is 40% ABV (alcohol by volume). That is rather high for a liqueur. Most liqueurs range from 18% to 22% ABV. In my first attempt I tried using straight vodka for the spirit component when I first began to experiment with this recipe. Vodka, like most spirit (e.g. brandy or gin) is usually 40% ABV and after adding sugar syrup the finished liqueur was around 20% ABV. It was horrible!

After that first failure, I began to see why Cointreau was so much higher in alcohol content than other liqueurs. I discovered that to make a good orange liqueur, the alcohol content would need to be more than usual. It definitely needed more "zing."

In later attempts I used grain alcohol plus vodka and brandy for the spirit component. The grain alcohol raised the alcohol content and the brandy gave the liqueur some depth. The grain alcohol brand is Everclear. It has an alcohol content of 75.5% ABV and it is available in liquor stores. When made according to this recipe, the final ABV should be somewhere around 26%. The finished liqueur works as a substitute for Cointreau in most drink recipes. You can find recipes here in the blog for a Margarita and a Cosmopolitan.

Step One: Infusion

Shown below is a shot of all the ingredients. Back row, left to right: brandy, 2 qt Mason jar, vodka and grain alcohol (Everclear). Front row, left to right: sweet orange peels, bitter orange peels, fresh kumquats, cloves and cinnamon sticks.

One of the key ingredients for this homebrew orange liqueur recipe is bitter orange peel. I decided to use it to add contrast to the sweet orange peel and kumquat flavors. Cointreau is also made with bitter orange peels. The point here is to add a little bit of bitterness to the sweet flavors.

To the left is a shot of the bitter orange peels. Bitter orange peel (also called "Curaçao orange peel", aurantium amarae pericarpium) is available under the brand name "Brewer’s Garden", which is available from most homebrew supply stores. This botanical is used for flavoring other popular citrus liqueurs (Triple Sec, Curaçao and Cointreau) and Belgian Ale.

Kumquats also lend their sweet and bitter flavors to this liqueur recipe. As a kid when I was growing up, one of our neighbors had a kumquat tree in their backyard and we used to raid the tree and eat them raw when they were ripe and juicy. The kumquat has a natural balance of sweet and bitter. The fruit and pulp is bitter, but the rind is sweet. With most varieties of oranges, the opposite is true. For example, with Navel and Valencia oranges, the fruit and pulp is sweet but the rind is bitter.

Remove the button from each kumquat then cut them into wedges similar to the photo below.

Add sweet and bitter dried orange peels to a clean 2 qt. Mason jar then add 1 cup distilled water. Wait about 4 hours to allow orange peels to rehydrate.

Add the wedged fruit and other botanicals plus the spirit to the jar with the rehydrated orange peels, then shake vigorously to thoroughly mix all the ingredients. Set aside and allow to macerate for 4 weeks. Periodically shake the jar to mix the ingredients, but don’t shake during the last week to facilitate clarification.

Continue to Orange Kumquat Liqueur Recipe – Part II

If you want to make cherry liqueur, then now is the time to do it. Yesterday I was shopping at Whole Foods and I noticed that dark, sweet cherries were $4.99/lb. The price doesn’t get any better than that and they looked ripe, juicy and sweet! I decided that now is the time to make cherry liqueur.

I have tried making dark cherry liqueur in the off-season with frozen cherries, but the results were not as good as when I used fresh cherries.

So I spent the afternoon pitting cherries and prepping a batch of dark cherry liqueur for this season:

If you want to make a batch, you can find the recipe here.

Part IV – Blending and Bottling

Shown below is a shot of the blending ingredients – back row, left to right: clarified infused spirits, standard sugar syrup, standard caramel syrup. Front row: vanilla extract, measuring cup.

Boil down the standard sugar syrup to 90% of its original volume to thicken it slightly.

In this case we start with 10 oz of standard sugar syrup. After boiling down we have 9 oz. Add to this 5 oz of caramel syrup. It is necessary to blend the caramel syrup with the boiled down sugar syrup otherwise the boiled down sugar syrup will crystallize if allowed to cool by itself.

Allow the blending stock to cool completely before adding it to the infused spirit. The point is to avoid the possibility that any of the alcohol will evaporate if it were mixed hot. Shown below is a jar with the blending stock.

Add the blending stock and vanilla extract to the clarified infused spirits according to these proportions: 4 parts infused spirit, 6 parts blending stock, 1/4th part vanilla extract.

Shown below is a comparison shot of real Kahlua next to my homemade Kahlua.

Part III – Filtering and Clarifying

Allow the infused spirit to clarify and settle for about 3 to 4 weeks, then setup 2 clean Mason jars side by side. Place a paper coffee filter in a coffee filter funnel over the other jar. Slowly and carefully rack off the clarified part into the first jar …

… then pour the remainder through the paper filter in the other jar. You do this to be able to continue pouring slowly without tipping the jar back and mixing up the sediments. If you were to pour straight into the filter, you would have to wait for it to clear to pour the rest out of the jar and there would be too much of a chance you would tip the jar back and mix it up.

Allow all the spirit to completely filter into the jar.

There should be a little sediment remaining in the original jar. Discard it.

Shown below is a shot of the clarified infused spirit combined into one jar. It is now ready to blend and bottle.

Continue to Homemade Kahlua Recipe – Part IV

Part II – Straining After Maceration

Shown below is a shot of the jar after 4 weeks. Don’t shake the jar during the final week of maceration to help rack off the clarified part.

Strain the infused spirit by CAREFULLY pouring it though a metal coffee filter. Pour slowly to rack off any clarified part first.

Allow to strain for about 15 – 20 minutes to collect as much infused spirit as possible. Set aside for about 3 to 4 weeks when done.

Continue to Homemade Kahlua Recipe – Part III