Saturated tart taste, beautiful bright ruby color, noble aroma - it's all about the famous cherry tincture all over the world. There are several basic recipes for homemade cherry liqueur: classic alcoholic drink and tincture without alcohol.
Selection of berries
There are no strict requirements for the selection of cherry berries, almost any variety is suitable. The main thing is that the fruits are ripe, juicy, fragrant and intact.
Ideal - sweet and sour varieties. Fruits are used fresh, frozen or dried. Frozen fruits, available all year round, are much better suited for harvesting than fresh fruits (with the exception of natural fermentation).
Bones give the finished tincture a light tartness (pleasant almond flavor). Depending on the recipe and taste preferences, the bones are left or removed. At home, the bones can be removed using an ordinary safety pin. 
Did you know? In the pits of cherries a significant amount of prussic acid and cyanide is concentrated. With prolonged contact with alcohol, these substances have a toxic effect on the human body.
How to make alcoholic cherry liqueur at home
For the manufacture of classical tincture on cherries, first of all, cherry berries, sugar and alcohol are required. Berries insist on any strong alcohol - vodka, cognac, moonshine or alcohol.
Do not forget to pay attention to the quality of alcohol. Try to use not the cheapest alcohol. Vodka should be without any additives. Sugar is better to take coarse, as it should not dissolve too quickly.
So, let's see how to make a fragrant cherry liqueur at home.
List of required ingredients
We will need:
- 1 kg of fresh or frozen cherry berries;
- 320 g sugar;
- 0.45 l / 450 g of alcohol (vodka, brandy, moonshine or 45% alcohol).
Cooking process
- First you need to podvyalit cherry berries. We lay out fresh or frozen fruits evenly and leave them in the sun for several days. Another option is to bake the fruit in the oven for 5-6 hours at a temperature of 60-80 ° C. Thanks to the drying of the berries leaves excess moisture, which makes the tincture watery. However, this step is optional, you can skip it.
- Extract from the fruit bone.
- We distribute the pulp in banks, add sugar and leave for a few hours until fruits give juice.
- We pour alcohol into the prepared cans, close the lids, shake well and transfer to a shaded and warm (15-25 ° C) place for 15-18 days.
- Next, several times we filter the resulting liquid through gauze until it becomes transparent.
- Bottled tincture ready. Keep the drink in a dark cool room. The shelf life of the workpiece is 3 years.
Important! It is advisable not to wash the berries. Also, try to avoid harvesting immediately after the rain. If the dirty fruit had to be washed, treat the berries with purchased wine yeast (in no case pressed or dry bakery).
Cherry liqueur without vodka and alcohol
Sometimes cherry juice is made without the addition of vodka or alcohol. Instead of alcohol, use the usual purified water. Manufacturing technology - more difficult than in the first case. The resulting drink resembles liqueur wine. At the same time, there is no smell of alcohol, and the taste of the drink is much softer (the strength does not exceed 12%).
You can make wine at home from Isabella grapes, raspberries, apples, yoshta, blueberries and even compote, jam, birch sap.
What is needed for cooking
For pouring without vodka and alcohol you need:
- 3 kg of cherry fruit;
- 1.2 kg of sugar;
- 400 ml of water.
How to make a drink at home
- Ripe cherries should be peeled.
- At the bottom of a three-liter cans we fall asleep 300 grams of sugar. Next, alternating, lay layers of cherry and the remaining sugar.
- Pour into the harvested can of water. Water does not flow into the neck, but to the shoulders, since foam and gas are released during the fermentation period.
- Put a medical glove on the neck of the jar. Fix the glove with a rope or rubber ring. In one of the finger gloves, you must first make a small hole with a needle. Instead of gloves allowed installation of a trap.
- We transfer the blank to a dark and warm (18-28 ° C) room or cover it with a thick cloth. After 2-3 days should seem foam. The glove should swell a little, and the water seal should start blowing bubbles. These signs indicate that the fermentation process is proceeding normally.
- Infusion usually wanders around 25-55 days. Then the glove is deflated, and the water seal stops blistering. When almost all the foam disappears, it is a signal that you can proceed to the next phase.
- Pour the liquid into a new balloon, trying to get rid of the remnants of the pulp of cherries.
- Defend the liquid for 2 days in a tightly closed container.
- Filter the liquid through several layers of gauze.
- The billet is bottled (preferably from dark glass), tightly closed with traffic jams.
- We transfer the blanks to the refrigerator or cellar with a temperature of 5-15 ° C. To improve the taste we maintain the pouring in such conditions for about 50 days.
- Store cherry drink in a cool and dark room. The shelf life of the brandy - no more than 3 years.
Important! In order not to infect cherry juice with mold or other microorganisms, it is necessary to sterilize cans with boiling water. In addition, carefully pick the berries, getting rid of moldy fruit. All work is carried out only with washed hands.
The recipe for the lazy: the simplest cherry liqueur
The following cherry liqueur at home is made according to a proven and simple recipe. In this case, the removal of pits from the fruit of the cherry is not required. In addition, the manufacturing process is so simple that it requires a minimum amount of your time and effort.
Various medicinal properties have tinctures of medicinal plants - Paeonia officinalis, bezvremennika, Manchurian nut goutweed, Mahonia aquifolium, anemone, aconite, rosemary, Solomon's seal, kalanchoe feathery, periwinkle, juniper, locust, Potentilla white walnut, goldenrod, evening primrose oil, calendula .Ingredients (per three-liter jar):
- 1 kg of cherry fruit;
- 3 kg of granulated sugar;
- 1 liter of vodka.
- Mix berries, sugar and vodka in a bottle. Tightly close the jar lid and transfer to a shaded room. The temperature in the room should vary between 20-25 ° C. Withstand tincture for 30 days. Shake the balloon once every 2-3 days.
- The finished drink is filtered through several layers of gauze.
- Bottled drinking and tightly closed with traffic jams. Store bottles should be in the cellar or refrigerator. Shelf life is more than 3 years.
Did you know? Aromatic and easy-to-make cherry brandy from antiquity serves as an excellent drink for the festive table. This drink was prepared in Ukraine during the time of the Hetmanate. Wooden barrels were filled with cherries and filled with white honey. Then the barrels were dubbed and buried for several months in the sand or earth. It turned out very fragrant intoxicating drink.
Serve a cherry tincture cooked at home in a large jug. Cool before serving. It combines with various desserts, chocolates and fruits. From it is often prepared flavored cocktails with spices (cloves and cinnamon).
Pouring also made to add to hot tea in one spoon. It enhances immunity, helps to get rid of cough, improves sleep. Pouring on a cherry thins the blood and increases the level of iron in it.
