Blackberry Vodka

With the frankly embarrassing surplus of blackberries in our house at the moment, we have been trying to find ways of using them up. So what better than the use of them to make cheap alcohol great?!

This is one of the most simple 'recipes'... it is more of an assembly job, combining everything together in a 700ml (or larger) Kilner jar then leaving it for 6 weeks or so.

The only thing I would suggest at this stage is that you make sure that the Kilner jar is sterilised with boiling water, or even better, the same kind of steriliser powder used for home brewing.

After combining all the ingredients, seal the jar then shake vigorously. Don't worry if all the sugar doesn't dissolve straight away as it will over time. Store in a cool dark place, shaking twice a week to start off with, then once a week will suffice.

After six weeks or so remove the fruit, as black-berries have a core that you won't want to be drinking, which can start to turn your delicious future beverage more bitter and unpleasant. Strain the contents of the jar through a sieve and then a muslin cloth if needed, before re-bottling into a tight bottle. It will keep for up to a year. Oh, and keep the strained vodka fruits for puddings.


You can follow this recipe for any soft fruit by following the the same weights: depending on the fruit you might want to change the amount of sugar added, to make things sharper or sweeter, but the end result will be pretty forgiving.

Slainte

Jim