Sip on homemade fruit liqueur

Making herbal and fruit liqueurs is an adventure, and your homemade versions will be just as delicious as commercial brands. Here's your guest-pleasing guide.

Other alcoholic specialties, such as brandied fruit and rum pot (fruit preserved in rum), make a delicious accompaniment to roasts, or are enjoyed as one component of — or given a starring role in — dessert.

When making liqueurs or brandied fruit, you'll need fresh, high-quality ingredients and to keep your utensils and your prep area clean. Store liqueurs or brandied fruit in bottles or jars; rum pot ages nicely in a ceramic pot.

• The closures on containers deserve particular attention: they must be clean and close tightly.
• For steeping fruit liqueurs, you also need large canning jars with a wide neck and a capacity of at least two litres (two quarts).
• Filter liqueurs through tea or coffee filters, a thin linen cloth, a fine metal strainer or through a normal strainer lined with one to two paper towel sheets.
• Add sugar in the form of syrup, white or brown rock candy, crystalline sugar, granulated white sugar or honey. All these sugars will dissolve with time.
• Vodka is a good liquor for steeping a liqueur or for canning fruits. It has a fairly neutral taste, so it does a great job of releasing the aromas and flavours of the ingredients. Depending on its strength, you may choose to dilute it with water.
• Other liquors, such as fruit brandies, tequila, rum or brandy, can also be used.
• Fruits like sour cherries, currants and strawberries are particularly good for steeping in fruit liqueurs. But let your imagination run free: other berries, small yellow plums, papayas and lemon peels also make wonderful liqueurs.
• Always wash fruit, since you most often steep them with their peels intact.
• If a desired fruit is not in season, frozen fruit works equally well.

• Add the fruits to a large container along with about 300 millilitres (1 1/4 cups) of sugar per 500 grams (18 ounces) of fruit.
• Once the mixture draws out the juice, pour in the alcohol. Carefully stir the mixture; cover tightly.
• Let the contents steep in a sealed jar, then filter and bottle it.

• Use herbs or spices such as fennel, cloves, bloodroot, coriander, gentian root, peppermint, anise, ginger, cinnamon sticks, vermouth herb, caraway or dandelion, if you like things spicier.
• Pour about 500 millilitres (two cups) vodka over 50 to 100 grams (1 1/2 to 3 1/2 ounces) herbs or spices. Add sugar to taste. Let the contents steep in a sealed jar for two or three weeks, then filter and bottle it.

Variations for liqueurs

• Give your liqueur a delicious, nuanced taste with ingredients like vanilla and cinnamon sticks, citrus peels, a piece of ginger, cloves, cardamom or a few drops of bitter almond oil.
• If the liqueur needs to ferment, you can also add a little high-proof schnapps.
• If you want to adjust an excessively strong liqueur after it has steeped, add some fruit or a little sugar and let it steep again. It's best to add the sugar in the form of simple syrup (one part water to one part sugar, shaken in a bottle until sugar dissolves), rather than less soluble sugar granules.