I’ve tried making a few, and have been a tad underwhelmed with the results. I’m willing to take a shot at anything that sounds interesting.
I have a killer cranberry liqueur recipe, but it requires Everclear. You can make it with 100 proof vodka, but it is somehow…lacking.
Why are you holding out on us, silenus?
OK. You command is my wish, and all that.
3 quarts fresh cranberries, or the equivalent in frozen berries
750 ml 190 proof grain alcohol
6 cups sugar
3 cups water
You’ll need a gallon crock or pail for this. Crush the fresh berries in the crock. (Frozen berries are “crushed” already.) Let stand 24 hours. Add the alcohol, let stand another 24 hours. Strain the pulp through a muslin bag or a sieve. Get every drop of liquid. Make a simple syrup of the sugar and water. Let cool. Add syrup to juice, stirring well. Bottle, cap and let age at least 3 months. Yields about 3 fifths.
That sounds - awesome!
I’m currently making a pear liqueur…needs two more weeks until it’s ready though, and it’s the first time I’ve made it, so I don’t know how good it’s going to be yet. But tomorrow I strain the fruit out, and I think I’ll be nibbling on the alcohol soaked pears…lol.
I’ve made a coffee liqueur that turned out great, and an Italian Cream Liqueur that was well-received. And my next project for this year’s gifting is a Chocolate-Mint Liqueur. The limoncello I made was good, but not amazing. We can’t get Everclear here in Ohio, so I have to use vodka and I scrimped and used really cheap vodka, and it showed.
coursely chop some baking chocolate and wrap in some cheesecloth, suspend this bundle over some white brandy or vodka (don’t let the chocolate touch the alcohol. seal the container and leave for about a month. take the chocolate bundle out and use now for something else. Sweeten the alcohol to taste with either sugar syrup or honey. You now have shelf stable chocolate liqueur. You can also do this with orange peel instead of choclate.
For a quart canning jar:
12 oz. raspberries
2 1/4 c. vodka or half Everclear and half water
Soak for 1 month, shaking every week or so.
Strain out the raspberries and throw them away (they’ll be an ugly pale pink and be basically solid booze - not tasty).
Add 1 1/8 c. sugar (1 c. plus 2 T.)
Again, shake every day or two or three, until the sugar dissolves.
Technically, you should strain this after 3 months, let it sit for another 3 months, then drink, but it’s quite good immediately.
Pour over ice cream in February and think of summer. 
I highly recommend Silenus’ Irish Cream recipe here, though Silenus mentioned he got it from yet a different Doper.
Just sampled the pear liqueur when I strained it last night…a bit spicy (maybe I shouldn’t have thrown in extra allspice and cloves) but quite nice. It has two more weeks to go, but I think it’s going to be good, so here’s the recipe:
Pear Liqueur
3 large pears, unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/2" wide strips
2 whole cloves
2 whole allspice berries
1 3" cinnamon stick
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups vodka
In a large glass container with lid, combine all ingredients. Cover tightly and shake to blend. Store two weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking the container every two days to blend.
After two weeks, drain the liquid through a strainer or doubled layer of cheesecloth into a glass bowl. Pour the liquid into a glass bottle, cover tightly and store in a cool, dark place for two more weeks.
Makes about 2-1/2 cups of liqueur.
I’ll just take a canning jar and put a package of dried apricots and pineapple in along with some sugar, top it off with vodka and let it sit a month.
The key to good lemoncello is to start with a bottle of 100 proof vodka (Sminoff has one with a black label), then add a good quality 80 proof vodka at the end. The 100 proof extracts the oil from the lemon zest better than an 80 proof and is less harsh than Everclear.
I made my first (and so far, only) batch using Everclear, and it is good, but the batch that my bartender friend made using 100 proof instead is much smoother. It’s a better drink, IMO. I’ll be going that route in the future.
Oh, man. These are some awesome recipes! Thanks to Yllaria for starting this thread. I’m already eyeballing the cranberry & pear recipes, even as I’m planning to make Imbibe Magazine’s amaretto (no idea if it’s any good, as I need help breaking the peach pits).
They all sound great! The cranberry one even sounds seasonal. My daughter-in-law has floated the idea of making liqueurs for Christmas, and with recipes like these, I’d be willing to give it a shot.
I’ve got mint growing on the side of the house and I’m wondering if adhemar’s recipe would work with some suspended mint added to the chocolate.
Here’s the recipe I’ll be using for the mint one I’m starting next week:
Chocolate-Mint Liqueur
2/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1/2 cup creme de cacoa
4 cups vodka
3/4 cup fresh mint leaves, crushed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
In a large nonmetal container, stir cocoa and creme de cacao until smooth. Add vodka and mint leaves. Cover and allow to stand at room temperature at least 1 week, or up to 4 weeks.
Strain liquid into another nonmetal container. in a small saucepan, combine sugar and water over medium-low heat, cook until sugar is dissolved. increase heat to high and bring syrup to a boil; boil 1 minute. Allow syrup to cool. Add sugar syrup to liqueur to desired taste. Serve liqueur as prepared over ice or stir into hot chocolate or coffee. Yield about 5-1/2 cups.
I’m not clear on adhemar’s recipe…why suspend the chocolate? Does enough chocolate flavor transfer?
Use a hammer.
I think it was this one: Homemade Blueberry Liqueur Recipe
The cloves add a bit of spice, it turned out pretty well. The berries are a pain in the ass to squeeze and filter, but I like the results.
I’ve been tempted to make some since my ex sold quart jars of various cordials at Faire. He had a spiced apple that was really good, but he won’t give me the recipes.
Does it matter what brand of vodka you use? I wouldn’t want to use rotgut, but I’m also very cheap. I ask because I’m not a big booze drinker and I don’t really like the taste of alcohol.
I have no idea if it makes a difference, but I sometimes put the vodka through a Brita filter. Because I’m cheap, it’s usually one that has already been used for water and is technically going to be thrown away. I have no idea if it really helps. The cheap stuff I use is Gordon’s ; I don’t know if that qualifies as rotgut; it’s extremely cheap but I think a cut above Popov, Wolfschmidt and such. Other times, I use the red label Smirnoff. Things I have read suggest that is a good one to use, things like Grey Goose don’t provide any added benefit beyond wasting your money faster.
You can’t really taste the oily vodka taste if you make a strong-tasting liqueur. With infusions, the taste is more subtle, so a better vodka might be in order.
I make blueberry cordial. I have lots of blue berries and use a couple one gallon glass crock type containers with lids. The basic recipe for cordial is 1 cup sugar, 2 cups vodka, 3 cups berries. But this is how I do it:
Fill the containers with berries. You want to use a glass container with a lid. Pour in the vodka to fill the spaces between the berries. Be sure to use a good brand of vodka, don’t skimp on price. Do not refrigerate, leave in a warm place.
After one week leave the berries in the container but use a wisk or something to mash them up good. Add the sugar, I put about 4 cups in my gallon containers. Fill up any remaining space with more vodka.
One more week. Taste it. Some of the sugar will have also turned to alcohol. Adjust to taste.
Wait one more week and squeeze it all through a cheeze cloth and bottle. Give to friends and they will exclaim “Sweet Blueberry Jesus!” as it warms the throat.