Homemade chokeberry liqueur

Step-by-step cooking

1. Step 1:

   

   Both fresh and frozen chokeberry fruits can be used for pouring. In the first case, they need to be pre-sorted from the petioles, and in the second - thawed at room temperature. Transfer the aronia to a colander, rinse thoroughly under running water and transfer to a saucepan.

2. Step 2:

   

   Using a mash grinder, lightly crush the fruits so that they give a little juice. It is better to use a wooden pestle so as not to scratch the saucepan. And be careful with the juice of aronia! He has an extremely persistent blue-violet pigment. If the juice gets on a porous work surface and is absorbed, it will be almost impossible to clean it. Therefore, immediately wipe the surfaces of the juice with a damp cloth.

3. Step 3:

   

   Pour cold filtered water into a saucepan and mix the mixture. Put the saucepan on medium heat.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour in the granulated sugar and mix the future liqueur. It is not necessary to achieve complete dissolution of sugar. In the process of heating the liquid, it will still dissolve on its own.

6. Step 5:

   

   Bring the liquid to a boil and boil the base of the infusion for a couple of minutes. At the very end, add citric acid. Then remove from the heat and cool slightly at room temperature for about five minutes.

7. Step 6:

   

   Add vodka to a saucepan and mix the liqueur well. At this stage, I advise you to strain the infusion through several layers of gauze or through a special purchased filter. I didn't strain the liqueur and regretted a little that I didn't do it. I will tell you further why exactly.

8. Step 7:

   

   With the help of an aoronka, pour the liqueur into pre-washed and dried bottles. If long-term storage is planned, it will be better to sterilize the bottles in advance. And if the liqueur is stored in the refrigerator, then you can pour the drink simply into clean bottles. Since I had not filtered the liqueur beforehand, the berries clogged the narrowest part of the funnel and had to be thrown out during the transfusion into bottles. Therefore, it would be better to strain the liqueur in advance.

9. Step 8:

   

   Close the bottles with screw caps, let them cool completely and put them away for storage.