Kiwi Liqueur

8/21/10:

6 Kiwis purchased at Trader Joes, they were 39 cents each
2 cups Vodka (80 Proof)
1 tsp lemon juice (I find lemon juice keeps the color of the fruit nice)

Steep 2 weeks, shaking daily

Straining: 1 cup sugar syrup
add 1 cup Vodka


9/11/10: Straining, 1st straining ran through metal strainer

Let sit for an hour or so and you can see the sludge drop to the bottom of the jar

pour the clear top part into a nice bottle and strain the sludge in a smaller metal strainer

after that I ran the strained sludge through the Brita Filter, this seemed to help quite a bit in speeding up the process, I did have to run it through several times and did have to eventually rinse the filter.

I then ran the sludge part through paper coffee filters to get a very nice clear product.

Added 1 cup sugar syrup (1 cup sugar to 1/2 cup water, makes 1 cup syrup)
Added 1 cup vodka

Bottled (tastes fabulous! Jerry will love this)

2/27/11
This recipe turned out amazing. Gave some to my son-in-law for Christmas, he told me he had force himself not to drink it too fast. I will definitely make this again.

Homemade Drambuie

Drambuie ingredients

Saffron ¾ tsp
Cinnamon ½ tsp (used ½ cinnamon stick)
Scotch whiskey .750
Heather honey 1 Cup or 1 ½ c
Cloves 1/5 tsp (I used 8 whole cloves)
Angelica 2 tsp
Lemon zest 2 two inch strips
Fennel 1/4 tsp
Mace 1/5 tsp

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a tightly covered container.
2. Shake several times for the first 24 hours.
3. After 24 hours, remove lemon zest.
4. Cover and let stand for 2 weeks in a cool, dark place shaking gently every other day.
5. Strain through a sieve to remove the angelica and fennel seeds.
6. cover and let stand in a cool dark place for several months (preferably 6 months).
7. Pour clear liquid into carafe for drinking enjoyment.
8. Cloudy dregs may be saved for cooking.

I am looking forward to trying my Drambuie next to the real thing to see how it measures up.

Homemade Tuaca

After tasting Tuaca for the first time I was thrilled to find this recipe on the Livin' la Vida Roko blog site, thanks to them. I haven't finished it yet, but so far it smells just like the real thing. I have a bottle so I plan on comparing it when it's finished. I did use one more vanilla bean, it might be too much but I will see how it works.

Homemade Tuaca

3 cups brandy
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise
Zest of 3 tangerines
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 grapefruit
1 3 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 cup simple syrup

Pour the brandy into a clean container and add vanilla beans and zests. Let sit 1 week, then add cinnamon stick and simple syrup. After 1 more week of infusing, strain out all ingredients, reserving the vanilla beans. Drop the beans into a clean bottle, then fill with the brandy mixture. (See simple syrup recipe)

2/27/11 - Came out fabulous tasting.