Homebrew Underground

The Cranberry Cooler is made with homemade Amaretto Liqueur (or DiSaronno Originale), vodka, cranberry juice and orange juice. It is a fruity cocktail that is served in a highball glass. Use 100% cranberry juice and fresh orange juice for best results.

This is a classic cocktail that you can bottle as a ready mix. It makes a really great gift. This recipe uses homemade Orange Kumquat Liqueur (or substitute with Cointreau), 100% blue agave tequila 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 Puerto Vallarta Blanco Tequila (100% blue agave tequila). 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. This is truly a premium Margarita cocktail. The Orange Kumquat liqueur has a unique, distinctive flavor that adds a special character to this drink recipe.

I also made a custom label with some directions on how to prepare the cocktail. 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 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

The Cosmopolitan is made with four basic ingredients: fresh lime juice, orange liqueur, vodka and cranberry juice. It is made with homemade Orange Kumquat Liqueur (or Cointreau if none is available). If you do make your own Orange Kumquat Liqueur and give it away as a gift, then you can provide this recipe as a serving suggestion. Use 100% cranberry juice and fresh squeezed lime juice for best results.

When made with homebrew Orange Kumquat Liqueur this Margarita recipe will have a unique flavor you would swear would only be found at a high class resort hotel. If homemade Orange Kumquat Liqueur is not available, you can use Cointreau as a substitute. Use only high quality, 100% blue agave tequila for this cocktail like Puerto Vallarta Blanco (photo right). Don’t use "gold" tequila. Use fresh squeezed lime juice for best results.

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