Liqueurs Basics

Making your own liqueurs is the easiest way of turning a harvest into booze – at its most basic level you’re simply adding a flavouring to alcohol, sweetening with sugar… and waiting. You don’t even need to make the alcohol. Unfortunately, due to the initial outlay on spirits required, this is also likely to be the most expensive booze-making choice, but the final product will be cheaper than a bought liqueur, lasts forever and makes great presents.

Like many people, our first dabble in fusing spirits with food was sloe gin – something we still make every year, comparing one vintage to the next. Regular sloe gin makers will know that the older batches are always the best, a theme that is replicated through most of the recipes – as with a fine whisky, time gradually mellows the flavours, even when your storage vessel is made of glass rather than oak.