Alcoholic beverages obtained by infusing an alcohol solution on berries, fruits, roots, spices, herbs are called tinctures. There are thousands of recipes for tinctures on berries, because any fruit can be infused on vodka, moonshine, sorting, alcohol, noble alcoholic beverages. In addition to the main raw materials and alcohol base, in the recipes for infusions, sugar, fructose, sugar syrup are used, as well as additional components that give the drink an original taste, rich color and pleasant aroma.
The essence of the infusion of a water-alcohol solution on berries is that the essential oils and bioactive components contained in the raw material pass into the liquid, enriching its composition. The cooking time depends on many factors. On average, homemade tinctures are kept under certain conditions from 3-7 weeks to 2-6 months before use.
Berry tincture: basic recipe
There are many classic, original and popularly loved recipes for homemade berry tinctures. They differ in the compositional set of ingredients, preparation technology, storage conditions for the finished product. Different recipes combine only basic rules, which must always be adhered to, regardless of the type of berry tincture.
First rule. You need to insist alcohol on berries in convenient wide transparent glass containers with a hermetically sealed lid. Select the volume in accordance with the amount of the prepared drink. Opening, shaking more often than necessary, stirring, transferring a container with tincture is impossible. Otherwise, the taste of the drink will deteriorate.
Second rule. At the time of infusion, alcohol should be kept in a room with an average temperature of 18-25? С. If the room is too warm, diffusion will accelerate, which does not always have a good effect on the taste characteristics of berry infusions.
Third rule. Exposure to light. If the drink is placed in a dark place, the color of the product at the outlet turns out to be rich. The tincture itself looks thicker in appearance. In principle, it is necessary to prepare alcoholic beverages of this category without access to light. But for some berries, you can make an exception and expose them during the period of infusion in the sun. The color of the drink will be “burnt out”, but this will not affect the taste in any way. Moreover, the aroma and aftertaste of the infusions will appear “smoked”. notes.
Fourth rule. It is possible to open a container with infusing alcohol on soft varieties of fresh berries no earlier than 2 weeks from the moment of laying. If the tincture is prepared at home on dried or hard fruits, it will take much longer to wait for preparation.
Fifth rule. After completing the infusion, the alcohol should be separated from the berries. In most recipes, this stage involves filtering the solution through a sieve and further filtering through cotton or gauze folded several times. Before filtering, the berries are allowed to "rest" minutes 20-30. It is possible to squeeze out the remaining liquid from all types of fruits, with the exception of those that have turned into porridge during processing.
Types of berry tinctures
To prepare berry tinctures at home, you can use various types of strong alcohol: cognac, gin, 
whiskey, rum, calvados, grappa, bourbon, etc. It is necessary to select berries for such drinks competently, in order to either interrupt the initial taste of alcohol, or to emphasize it.
Optimal combinations of strong noble alcohol and fruits:
- Gin + raspberries, currants (black, red).
- Bourbon and cognac + cherry, sweet cherry.
- Rum + raspberries, cherries.
- Calvados + plum.
- Scotch + dried apricots, apricot, peach.
In this regard, it is easiest to work with purified double-distilled moonshine, vodka, and alcohol. The original taste of alcohol in this case does not need to be hidden or emphasized? by the method of infusion, these alcoholic beverages are exclusively ennobled.
Depending on the manufacturing technology, the types of berry tinctures for alcohol are:
- Bitter. The alcoholic content of such drinks is 30-60%. Manufacturing method? infusion of alcohol on certain types of berries during the time period specified in the recipe.
- Spicy. Alcohol content 30-60%. Manufacturing method? infusion on berries with the addition of spices, herbs, peels, leaves or seeds of plants, followed by filtration and distillation in a still.
- Sweet. The alcohol capacity in such tinctures is only 18-25%, sugar content per 1 liter of liquid? 150-300 g. Manufacturing method? infusion with preliminary or subsequent addition of sugar, fructose or sugar syrup to the alcohol base.
The taste of the tincture also depends on the amount of raw materials used. The more berries you put in alcohol, the richer the taste of the tincture will be. In this case, the strength of the drink will decrease. The balance is recommended to be selected based on personal preference.
Top 10 most popular berry infusions
Cherry
Ingredients:
- Ripe cherries? 1 kg.
- Vodka (alcohol)? 0.5 l.
- Sugar? 800 BC
- Water? 300 ml.
The berries are sorted out, washed, tails and bones are removed. Placed in a clean 1 liter jar, cover with sugar to the top.
According to this recipe, the tincture must be cooked in the light, so the jar with the berry mass is covered with gauze and put on the windowsill for a period of 1 month.
The released juice is drained, the cherries are squeezed through cheesecloth. Pour sweet cherry juice into vodka, add water. Stir well and put the tincture in the refrigerator for storage.
Blackberry
Homemade blackberry tincture is prepared according to the following recipe:
- A glass of berries is sorted out, washed, poured into a clean jar.
- Fall asleep with sugar (2 tbsp. L.) And set aside for a while, so that the berries let the juice.
- Fresh mint leaves (2 pcs.) Are ground into a gruel.
- Remove the zest from one small lemon with a vegetable peeler or grater.
- Mint, zest are added to blackberries. Pour the mass with vodka (0.5 l).
- Infuse the drink in a dark warm room for 2 months.
The finished tincture is filtered, filtered, bottled.
Juniper
Ingredients:
- Juniper fruit? 10 pieces.
- Vodka? 0.5 l.
- Sugar? 1 tbsp. l.
- Water? 100 ml
- Spices, herbs (cumin, coriander)? optional.
Juniper berries are washed and crushed with a crush. Put it in a clean jar and fill it with vodka. Close with a nylon lid, kept in a dark place for 2-3 weeks.
Sugar syrup is added to the present drink. They insist for a few more days, filter.
Raspberry
According to the classic recipe for making raspberry tincture, you need to prepare:
- Ripe raspberries? 4 kg.
- Vodka (alcohol)? 1.25 l.
- Sugar? 300 BC
- Water? 3 tbsp.
Raspberries are sorted out, poured into a jar, poured with vodka. Close tightly with a lid, insist in a warm room for 3 days.
The infusion is filtered from the berries. Sugar syrup is boiled and cooled, combined with tincture. Defend for several hours, filter again, bottled.
Place in a dark place for 2 weeks. Filter before use.
Cranberry
The recipe for cranberry liqueur is one of the simplest. You need to take a glass of cranberries, knead it, add (by 
optional) a little sugar. Leave in this form for a day, then pour 0.5 liters of vodka into the berry gruel.
Stir the solution well, close the lid, transfer to a dark room for infusion for 1-2 weeks. Filter the finished drink and drink it right away.
Currant
- Ingredients:
- Black currant (berries)? 1 tbsp.
- Vodka? 0.5 l.
- Sugar? 0.5 tbsp.
- Water? 1 tbsp.
- Fresh currant leaves? 5-6 pcs.
The berries are washed, covered with sugar, water is added. They put it on fire. Warming slowly, bring the berry syrup to a boil. Remove from the stove, cool.
The infusion is poured into a jar, combined with vodka. Currant leaves are also thrown here.
Insist the drink in a warm, dark place for exactly 2 weeks. The solution is shaken daily. Before use, filter through cheesecloth, stand in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Alcohol tincture on gooseberries
Pour 2 kg of washed fresh gooseberries into a wine bottle with a hermetically sealed lid. Pour in 2 liters of vodka (alcohol).
Take several slices of black rye bread, spread on one side with any berry or fruit jam. Dry to a state of breadcrumbs in the oven.
Add the bread to the berry alcohol solution, mix. Close the container with a lid and take it to 
cold basement for 6 months. After the allotted time, the drink is filtered 2-3 times, filtered, bottled. Store the gooseberry tincture in the refrigerator.
Blueberry
Ingredients:
- Blueberry? 1 kg.
- Apple cider? 1 l.
- Sugar? 3 tbsp.
- Water? 1 l.
- Yeast? ? Art. l.
- Rosemary? 2 branches.
- Chopped ginger root? ? Art. l.
Boil water in a saucepan. Pour blueberries into boiling water. Cover the container with gauze and leave the broth to infuse for 4 days. After that, the infusion is filtered.
Sugar, yeast diluted in warm water, spices are introduced into the resulting blueberry juice. Insist in a warm place for 3 weeks. After the expiration of the prescribed period, the fermented drink is stirred and left alone for 3 days so that the sediment of the berry pulp and yeast sinks to the bottom.
The tincture is drained from the sediment, filtered, poured into a clean bottle. Insist in a dark cool room for 4 months. The finished wine drink is filtered and bottled. Store in a refrigerator or cellar.
Rowan
To prepare mountain ash tincture, you will need 1 kg of pure berries dried in the oven, 1 liter of vodka or alcohol, 20 g of vanilla sugar. Rowan is poured into a 3 liter jar, poured with vodka. Insist in the dark 
room at room temperature for 3-4 weeks.
When the drink is ready, it is filtered, vanilla sugar is added, and bottled.
Sea buckthorn
A kilogram of sea buckthorn fruits is sorted out, washed, dried. Twisted through a meat grinder or chopped with a blender, crush. Pour 0.5 vodka or alcohol diluted to 45 degrees. Insist in a tightly closed container for 1-2 months.
Filter the finished drink, squeeze the berries. If desired, you can sweeten the sea buckthorn tincture with fructose, honey, sugar.
