Home made liqueurs

Start making your own liqueurs

Making your own liqueur from scratch is quite easy! I am calling it a 'passive hobby', as most of the time all you need is alcohol, sugar, and the ingredient which gives taste. The main ingredient is being patient! . These make perfect presents, but start early!

Here are the recipes of what I have made so far. Often I make tiny batches just to see how it tastes like. More can always be made later. Make sure you label and write down everything well, as time and quantities is what makes a drink great - or not.

Interesting enough, many people will ask if "all is going well", when you are talking about making your own liqueurs...

Basic procedure

There are plenty of good instructions on the web already. Here is a short summary .

• » Clean (sterilize) your tools and bottles using a pan of boiling water. This is important, as your liquids will be steeping for weeks.
• » Put your alcohol + ingredients in a air tight jar or bottle
• » Remember to shake the jar or bottle regularly
• » Sugar syrup is as easy as warming up the amount of water and adding sugar to it, stir until the fluid has become completely clear again. Cool, and add to your liqueur.
• » I filter first using a reusable tea filter, to get the large bits out. Then followed by one or more coffee filters (sometimes they get clogged really quickly!
• » Personally, I like to have the liqueur stored in the fridge. The expiration date should often be many months, but just keep an eye on it.
• » Drink responsibly

Coffee liqueur

Ingredient	Quantity
Jenever (gin)	1 liter
Brown sugar	500 grams
Vanilla beans	3, sliced
Coffee beans (halves)	200 pieces

Wait for 6 weeks. But you can try after two weeks if the strength is already good for you.

Limoncello

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	500 ml
(Organic) lemon peel	6 lemons, no white stuff!
Sugar	150 gr
Water	30 0ml

Wait for 4 weeks. Then add sugar syrup, and wait for two more weeks.

Arancello

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	300ml
(Organic) Orange peel	of 4 oranges, make sure there is no white stuff!
Sugar	100 gr
Water	100 ml

Wait for 3 weeks, then add sugar syrup. Wait for one more week.

Spiced arancello

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	350ml
(Organic) Orange peel	of 6 oranges, make sure there is no white stuff!
Cloves	4 pieces
Cardemom	2 pods
Vanilla bean	1, sliced
Sugar	100 gr
Water	100 ml

Wait for 3 weeks, then add sugar syrup. Wait for one more week. This recipe is based upon this BBC link

Strawberry liqueur

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	300ml
Vanilla bean	1, sliced
Strawberries	200 gr, remove stem, halved
Sugar	55 gr

Mix everything (including sugar) and wait for 3 months, of course shaking regularly. I put it in the fridge. With fruits that is just better in my opinion.

Red current liqueur

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	200ml
Red currents	150 grams
vanilla bean	1 sliced
Sugar	80 gr

Mix everything (including sugar) and wait for 3 months, of course shaking regularly. Again, I think fruit stuff belong in the fridge.

"Speculaas" liqueur (similar to apple pie spices)

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	200ml
cinnamon stick	59gr crunched
Cloves	2.2 gr, ground using morter
Cardemom	2.3 gr, ground using morter
Anise seed	0.6 gr, ground using morter
Nutmeg	0.5 gr, ground
Vanilla bean	1, sliced in half
Brown sugar	65 gr
Orange peel	5 gr

Wait for 4 weeks. The result will be a strong herbal drink which feels like it cures a cold in one sip.

Vanilla extract

Easy to make home made vanilla extract! All it needs is vanilla beans in vodka, shaken regularly. It gets better by the day and lasts practically forever.

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	200ml
Vanilla beans	2, sliced

Perfect for baking

Hazelnut liqueur

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	250ml
Hazelnuts	100 gr. chopped
Normal sugar	50 gr.
Brown sugar	50 gr.

Wait for 6 weeks before adding sugar, then wait two more weeks. Filter everything.

Tip: Afterwards you can make a nice 'brownie-esque' cake using the hazelnuts that are remaining. I mixed the following for that:

• » 120 gr hazelnut, finely chopped (20 grams extra because of the vodka?)
• » 40 gr flour
• » 60 gr cocoa powder
• » 60 gr oil
• » 3 eggs
• » 140 grams of sugar
• » 1 tsp baking powder

Bake for about 20-30 mins on 175 C.

Coconut extract

Same as vanilla extract, just with fresh coconut. Find some instructions how to properly open a coconut yourself . It can be a 'tough nut to crack' . As you do only need some amount, use the rest for a cake or something.

Ingredient	Quantity
Vodka	200ml
Fresh coconut	Fill until you think it's enough.

Irish cream (aka Baileys)

Pear liqueur

Ingredient	Quantity
Brandy	250ml
Pear	1, peeled, uncored, sliced into pieces
Normal sugar	50 gr.

Mix all into a big jar, and wait for 6-8 weeks.