HoneyBerry
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Organic Liqueurs

I am thinking about trying some organic liqueur that I have never had before. It is expensive and I do not have any idea which flavor to choose. I rarely have alcoholic beverages at all, so if I buy some there is a chance that I might not like it. I am wondering if any of any of you could help me choose a flavor. Ginger would be my first choice.

Here are the flavor choices:
Basil
Ginger
Maple
Lemongrass
Nectarine
Hibiscus
Honeybush
Cinnamon
Chrysanthemum
Red Raspberry
Thyme-coriander
Rose Petal

They all look interesting. Hmmmm . . . . which one should I try first?
I think it would be fun to use them as desert recipe flavorings. I made Apple Crisp with Cointreau once for a potluck and it was fantastic. It was a big hit and I'm sure it was the Cointreau that did it.

Vanisle_BC
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We like ginger in just about anything. Rhubarb & ginger wine is a favourite.

We make blackberry Liqueur; raspberry too. Vodka, berries & sugar. When you decant the liquid, you can freeze the berries for later use in desserts etc. In our freezer the containers are labelled "adult berries."

That's an interesting list you have, of potential ingredients. Years ago we found a commercial, spicy/herbal liqueur called Entre Amis. It had an interesting flavor without a lot of sweetness: We liked it a lot but it vanished from the market soon after we found it.

HoneyBerry
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Sounds like fun. "Adult berries" ha-ha. Good name for them.
Homemade Blackberry Liqueur sounds really good. I love blackberry anything.
I haven't bought any of the liqueurs yet. The cost is over $28.00 per bottle so I am thinking about it. I would like to find somebody to try it with. I don't like hard stuff such as vodka so I think using it in a recipe might work better for me. Alcohol can easily make me sick. 1 glass of wine is okay. 2nd glass and I can't walk straight. 3rd glass and I am sick. I am a wimp when it comes to alcohol.

Vanisle_BC
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HB, if you're seriously impaired by 2 glasses of wine I don't think you could tolerate drinking much liqueur - most of those are pretty high alcohol. Using them in recipes, are you thinking the alcohol would boil off? I think that's right but then why pay for the booze in the first place; you could just make/buy tasty syrups?

I googled around a bit for liqueur ingredients and saw angelica mentioned often. I grew it once but it was a magnet for aphids & slugs. We intended to candy slices of it but never did. Might try growing it again; it grew well here.

HoneyBerry
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Now that I know how liqueurs are made, I probably won't buy any after all. I was enticed by the display and the interesting flavors. At the organic health food store, of all places.
This may sound funny, but I had no idea that liqueurs are made using vodka.
I guess that I am still pretty naive when it comes to alcohol, probably because of how I was raised. My parents didn't drink at all. I never developed a taste for it, although my brothers sure did. So much of my extended family has the alcoholism gene but I don't seem to have it. I am the oddball in that way.

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rainbowgardener
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Liqueurs are often made with 150 or 190 proof grain alcohol. Here's a sample recipe:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/lemon-liq ... pe-1665285

I didn't plan ahead for Christmas too well this year. Some other year, I would like to make liqueurs for the Christmas basket. And some day I would love to get in to wine making.

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applestar
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I really don’t drink either. So I buy big bottles of vodka and rum and use them for making herbal hand sanitizers. Currently I’m spraying straight rum to sanitize around the shiitake block and clean up mold incursions. I actually thought about how people who drink the stuff might think this is very wasteful. Haha.

I like making herbal tinctures which are used by drop counts or dropperfuls at a time, and I’ve been making vanilla essence with organic whole vanilla beans, too. While I do make fruit liqueurs to preserve fruits, I mostly gift them away or use them in baked goods, etc. And the “adult berries” (or apples or pears, or....) make fantastic jams and jelly after boiling and adding pectin.

Once in a while, I put about 2 tsp to a tablespoon of fruit liqueur in my tea or coffee. Just yesterday, I opened a jar of toasted hazelnuts in rum and sugar (soaked for 4 weeks) and mixed it up with my stevia tincture to make my own hazelnut/stevia coffee sweetener. This first try was straight cold mixture and still contains alcohol, but once I figure out the proportions I want to mix with water, I’m going to heat/boil and bottle in jars for longer shelf life.

HoneyBerry
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Now I am intrigued again. Vanilla essence sounds really good. Vanilla is my favorite flavoring. I choose vanilla over other creamer choices for my coffee. I also like vanilla as a perfume. Vanilla amber paste is so nice. The natural scents that I prefer don't last as long as the synthetic ones, but they sure smell better. I wish those organic liqueurs were available in smaller sample size bottles. The $28.49 size bottle is so expensive.

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Gary350
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applestar wrote:I really don’t drink either. So I buy big bottles of vodka and rum and use them for making herbal hand sanitizers. Currently I’m spraying straight rum to sanitize around the shiitake block and clean up mold incursions. I actually thought about how people who drink the stuff might think this is very wasteful. Haha.

I like making herbal tinctures which are used by drop counts or dropperfuls at a time, and I’ve been making vanilla essence with organic whole vanilla beans, too. While I do make fruit liqueurs to preserve fruits, I mostly gift them away or use them in baked goods, etc. And the “adult berries” (or apples or pears, or....) make fantastic jams and jelly after boiling and adding pectin.

Once in a while, I put about 2 tsp to a tablespoon of fruit liqueur in my tea or coffee. Just yesterday, I opened a jar of toasted hazelnuts in rum and sugar (soaked for 4 weeks) and mixed it up with my stevia tincture to make my own hazelnut/stevia coffee sweetener. This first try was straight cold mixture and still contains alcohol, but once I figure out the proportions I want to mix with water, I’m going to heat/boil and bottle in jars for longer shelf life.
Vodka & Rum are usually for mixed drinks. I have not done mixed drinks since about 1970 flavor so ok but too much alcohol for me. Some people use mix drinks to get drunk fast. I buy wine kits they are so easy to make in about 1 hour work, in 6 to 8 weeks wine is ready to bottle and drink. Before buying a wine kit buy wine at the wine store to learn what wine you like. A 6 gallon $85 kit makes 32 bottles = $2.72 per bottle.

35 years ago I made jelly & jam with a small amount of whisky for flavor. Whisky & Brandy both add a nice flavor to jelly & jam. Alcohol boils off at about 187 degrees F.

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rainbowgardener
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This year I made peach wine jam with peaches from our trees ... Came out very nice.

HoneyBerry
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That sounds so good, peach wine jam made with peaches from your own trees.



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