Homebrew Underground

This a great cocktail ready mix that you can bottle and give away as a gift. It is made with homebrew Black Currant Liqueur (cassis or creme de cassis), pomegranate juice, light rum and fresh lime juice. You will need to obtain some 750 ml wine bottles. I used screw top wine bottles for my project (with plastic tops) because it was convenient for me. I don’t have a corker and the screw tops make a good seal.

I used Bacardi rum and 100% pomegranate juice from Trader Joe’s. It is also a good idea to strain the fresh squeezed lime juice through a small strainer when adding it to the mix. I used the smallest size strainer in the photo here. Straining the lime juice is necessary to remove the pulp.

I also made a custom label with some directions on how to blend the cocktail with crushed ice. Look for the custom label template and layouts in a future page in the Bottles and Labels section of the website. Also check this page for the seals (hoods).

You can find 750 ml wine bottles from most homebrew supply that sells winemaking equipment and supplies. You can search for "wine bottles" in Google to find many sources.

This a great cocktail recipe you can make with homebrew Black Currant Liqueur (cassis or creme de cassis). You can also bottle this recipe and give it away as a gift. The trick is to make sure the mixture is chilled enough and that you use enough crushed ice so it will blend until slushy. See the tip below for pre-chilling the blender.

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.

Pour the strained, infused spirit through a metal coffee filter into a clean 2 qt. Mason jar.

Use cheesecloth to strain the remaining liquid from the fruit. Add the remaining strained liqueur to the Mason jar as in the previous step by straining it through the metal coffee filter.

Shown below is a shot of the strained liqueur. Allow it to settle for about 3 to 4 weeks.

After the liqueur has been allowed to settle for about 3 to 4 weeks, filter it through a paper towel into a clean, 2 qt. Mason jar. This is the first filtering. Allow to settle for another 3 weeks or so and do a second filtering with paper coffee filters.

After filtering through paper coffee filters, the liqueur should be clarified and ready to bottle.

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

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. It is made with dried black currants.

After I made it I wanted to make some more in October. 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.

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, then filter it 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