> Hello,
> I want to make an almond liqueur, mainly for savings. After considering
> the proper ingredients, does the cost make it more reasonable to get
> DiSaronno (about $22)?
Well, it all depends on what things cost in your neck of the woods.
Grocery pricing isn't consistent at all. And it also depends on how
much variation from the taste of true Amaretto you're willing to
tolerate. I've seen Amaretto recipes that are as simple as vodka,
almond extract and sugar syrup.
> Top Secret Recipes' web site says that this is a mock recipe for DiSaronno:
> 1/2 cup granulated sugar
> 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
> 3/4 cup very hot water
> 1/2 cup corn syrup
> 1 1/2 cups 80-proof vodka
> 1 tablespoon almond extract
> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Plausible. A little more involved than I'd have made, and probably a
lot sweeter. I find I like my liqueurs with half as much sugar as vodka
(by volume). This one has nearly as much sugar as vodka.
> Can I substitute granulated and brown sugar with pure maple syrup? If
> so, how much maple syrup?
I think we can assume that granulated and brown sugar are roughly
equivalent (you can substitute them 1:1). A book my girlfriend just dug
out for me says that you can substitute 3/4 cup real maple syrup for 1
cup granulated sugar. That should get you roughly equivalent sweetness.
And a note about substituting one sweetener for another - if you don't
compensate for the change in liquid volume, then you're altering the
proof of your liqueur. So if you use maple syrup instead of sugar, you
might want to add a little water to the maple syrup to bring the volume
to what you would have gotten if you'd dissolved the sugars in the
water. Something like an extra 1/3 cup would probably do the trick.
However, you're significantly changing the flavor. Amaretto has no
maple flavor to it, so if you're removing the molasses overtones that
brown sugar would provide and adding maple overtones instead, you're
making a different flavor.
> What is the best bargain vodka? Some people argue that cheap vodka can
> be just as good as some of the more expensive mid-priced ones. What is
> an economical vodka suitable for making this liqueur?
Don't go with bargain vodkas for homemade liqueurs. I've tried a number
of cheap vodkas, and always the vodka flavor came through and impacted
the taste of the liqueur. The cheapest vodka I've found that I like in
liqueurs is Smirnoff. But probably anything in the $14-$20 range (per
1.75L) would be fine. But cheap vodka has bitterness and off flavors
that cut right through the best liqueurs.
> Is it ok to add more vodka to increase the proof?
You'd be better off reducing the water/sugar to increase the proof. I
find that most liqueur recipes are happiest if you don't change the
ratio of flavors to vodka. But additional water (in the form of sugar
syrup or maple syrup as you suggest above) can be fiddled with happily.
If you add more vodka, add more of your flavor extracts. But that's
equivalent to making more liqueur and reducing the sugar syrup.
Oh, let me assume here that the recipe that wasn't included told you to
mix your sugars with the hot water and dissolve them before adding to
the vodka. The three basic parts of a liqueur are the alcohol, the
sugar-syrup, and the flavors. Your final proof is the amount of vodka
divided by the total volume of liquids (including vodka). So reducing
the sugar-syrup volume increases your proof. Increasing the vodka would
too, but would also dilute your flavors slightly. Generally there's
nothing you can do about the water contributed by your flavorings (if
you were making a fruit liqueur, for instance).
And remember that stronger booze is not always better booze. Increasing
the burn sensation of a liqueur by jacking up the proof will definitely
change how the liqueur is perceived in the mouth, and may drown out
other, subtle flavors.
So I'd say that you can definitely make liqueurs at home for less than
high-end commercial liqueurs might cost, but you won't get the flavors
right. I recommend making homemade liqueurs for the fun of it, but
low-end commercial liqueurs will still be cheaper, and probably taste no
worse than what you're making. From a strictly economic standpoint,
absent oppressive alcohol taxation, you're better off buying cheap
stuff. But outside of strict economics, it _is_ a lot of fun...
http://www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs.htm
Oh, and in general, my advice is to experiment. Make one just like the
original recipe, and make one with maple syrup, and make one with more
vodka, or reduced sugar, and so forth. They'll all be drinkable, but
you get to decide which one you like best. And you can always add other
ingredients if you think they're called for.
Gunther Anderson