Ingredients
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4,5 liters of 96% alcohol
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3 kg of sugar
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3,2 liters of water
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1 kg of juniper berries
Directions
The most exciting liqueur that you can prepare at home is the juniper berry liqueur. If you happen to make a picnic in the mountains, from August to October, you will find the juniper berries at the right level of ripeness. This liqueur is typical of the Aosta Valley, but the reason is quite obvious: they have tons of juniper, being a plant that prefers the mountain.
Of course, you can also take them dried, but the flavor is more intense if you take the juniper berries directly from the plants. So if you want to prepare this fantastic liqueur, know that the harvesting period starts in August until October. But be careful, the harvest of juniper berries is not so painless. The spikes surrounding the fruits are pungent, so you better bring an umbrella with you, open it under the plant and then you can gently shake them, without breaking the plants, please!
As practical tip for making homemade liqueurs, we recommend you to buy 96-degree alcohol, the only one capable of extracting all the aromatic power of juniper berries and any other flavoring, for that matter. For the rest, the procedure is always the same, left to macerate and then add homemade sugar syrup and water to tune the alcohol content.
Ingredients and doses for making juniper berry liqueur
- 4.5 liters of alcohol at 96°
- 3 kg of sugar
- 3,2 liters of water
- 1 kg of juniper berries
How to make juniper berry liqueur
Take a bowl, a jar or an amphora that you can close tightly and place the juniper berries in it, after having washed them, and add the alcohol. Crush with a ladle or bare hands if you feel savage, stir and leave to soak for 30 days. Remember to shake the magic concoction with a hard shaking every day.
After 40 days, boil water and sugar together and stir until you get a sticky syrup. You don’t have to spend more than 6 minutes. While waiting for the syrup to cool, filter the liqueur with a fine chinoise to eliminate any foreign body and berries, then add the syrup.
Stir, close and rest for another 20 days, then you can bottle your juniper berry liqueur.
