Evan wrote:

> This weekend my housemate and I are going to try some homemade
> liqueur-making. The stuff I'm starting with will be mostly citrus
> liqueurs or citrus-flavored (undiluted/unsweetend) vodkas.
>
> In addition to some clear vodka-based recipes cut with plenty of
> simple syrup, I want to try to make a more intense, Grand Marnier-like
>
> brandy-based liqueur.
>
> However, I know next to nothing about brandy. Obviously I don't want
> to spend top dollar for an experimental recipe, but I don't want to
> cut it too cheap either lest the product be doomed from the start.
> :-)
>
> So, what brandies would you suggest for an upstart homemade liqueur
> hobbyist?
>
> Thanks and cheers,
>
> E

You might want to do some research on "Ratafias"

Note: Often times in the U.S. "grain alcohol" is labled and sold as
"brandy" while in actuality real "brandy" is a twice distilled wine
whose alcohol content is increased through, iirc, fractional
distillation (pot still?). But by shopping around one can find a decent,
real "brandy" that is relatively inexpensive and can be used for the
following.

"Ratafias, or household liqueurs, which were very popular, are no longer
fashionable nowadays, which is very regrettable. Ratafias can be made
with all sorts of fruit.
Put the chosen fruit into a wide mouthed jar and cover with colourless
brandy. Cover the jar tightly and expose to the sun for 40 days.
Decant and add 1/2 pint, cooled, boiled sugar syrup to each 4 & 1/4
cups fruit juice. Filter and put into stoppered bottles."

also

Ratafia de merises
(wild cherry ratafia)

-------------------------

3 lbs. wild cherries

7 - 8 pints colourless brandy

2 lbs. sugar

Stem and stone the cherries. Pound half the stones, put them into a
wide mouthed jar and cover with brandy.

Put the cherries in another jar, cover with 7 pints brandy, close the
jar tightly and expose to the sun for 40 days.

Put the two infusions together and add the sugar. When the sugar has
dissolved, filter the liquid through filter paper then bottle.

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And for something a bit quicker

Liqueur de fraises et framboises preparee en quelques heures
(strawberry and raspberry liqueurs made in a few hours)

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1 & 1/2 pound strawberries
12 oz. ripe raspberries
1 lb. sugar
vanilla
a few coriander seeds
1 & 3/4 pint old Armagnac brandy
( a good cognac, the best being Grande Champagne (not to be
confused with the sparkling champagne wine) or a california brandy is an
acceptable substitute. California brandy is aged about for to six
years, in either new or used white oak barrels. Unlike the French
brandies, no old stocks from "good years" are kept on hand for blending
(or that so rarely as to make those that are very exspensive) dont let
this discourage you from tyring the American brandies, espiecially for
use in the "home made" liquors described here)

Wash the strawberries and put into a bowl with the raspberries.
Prepare a syrup with the sugar and boil it to 219 Degrees F. Add a
little vanilla flavouring and the coriander seeds. Cool and pour over
the fruit. Cover and leave to soak for 3 - 4 hours.
Put a double or triple piece of cheese cloth over a basin and pour the
fruit and syrup through and lit it drip very gently to get a clear
liquid. Mix the syrup with the brandy, then bottle.

Infusion of this kind made with syrup and good Armagnac can be made
quickly and will retain the flavour of the fruit.

-------------------------------------

If you have the time and circumstances, i.e. a wall near a pear, peach
or apple tree that a clear wine bottle can be affixed to so that a
budding branch may be inserted and the fruit let grow in side the
bottle. Then once the fruit has ripened, remove the bottle from the wall
where it has been securely affixed, rinse (some prefere to carefully
pour in boiling water to lightly poach the fruit, but this runs the risk
of cracking or breaking the bottle) then pour in a good clear brandy,
cork and set aside for a year.

Over time the fruit will deteriorate with out spoilage and the fruit
flavoured brandy will have to be rebottled.
--
JL