Homemade mint liqueur using traditional technology
Homemade mint liqueur using traditional technology
One of the most aromatic alcoholic drinks. Homemade mint liqueur is more considered a ladies' alcohol, but almost all men also appreciated the unique catchy smell and mild taste. A beautiful option for dessert, tea or coffee. Another advantage is the usual recipe and available ingredients.
Any purchased or hand-picked mint leaves are suitable. The alcoholic base of mint liqueur can be vodka, ethyl alcohol diluted to 40-45, moonshine of the highest purity (without a nasty aroma) or cheap but natural cognac. Watery honey instead of sugar makes the taste softer.
Attention! You need twice as much lemon balm (lemon balm) as indicated in the recipe, since lemon balm is not as aromatic.
Ingredients:
- vodka (alcohol, moonshine) – 1 liter;
- ordinary mint – 30-40 grams dry or 5-6 new sprigs;
- sugar – 350 g or 200 g honey;
- water – 250 ml.
Mint liqueur recipe
1. Place mint leaves in a glass container. Pour in alcohol base and seal tightly.
2. Leave for 15 days in a dark place at room temperature. Shake once every 3-4 days. The liquid should turn green or slightly brown, the color depends on the variety and properties of mint.
3. Filter the finished mint infusion through cheesecloth or a kitchen sieve, lightly squeeze out the petals (no longer needed).
4. Mix water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring and skimming foam from the surface. Cool the finished syrup (foam no longer appears) to room temperature.
If honey is used, heat it no higher than 40°C to preserve its beneficial properties. Cook, stirring constantly until the honey is completely dissolved in the water.
5. Mix mint infusion with cool sweet (honey) syrup. Pour the purchased drink into bottles for storage. Close tightly.
6. Leave for 20-30 days in the refrigerator or basement to improve the taste. If sediment occurs, filter through cotton wool.
Attention! Over time, homemade mint liqueur may change color (from greenish to brown), this is normal and does not affect the taste.
When stored in a dark place, the shelf life is up to 2 years. Strength – 21-25 degrees.
Homemade mint liqueurs are drunk neat or used as a base alcohol in cocktails. For lovers of the second option, I offer the following recipes.
Cocktails with mint liqueur
1. Mint chocolate
A sweet, moderately strong cocktail.
- milk – 60 ml;
- mint liqueur – 20 ml;
- chocolate liqueur – 20 ml.
Preparation: Mix all ingredients in a glass. Garnish the purchased cocktail with a mint leaf.
2. Mint Breeze
A refreshing drink with a pleasant taste and memorable aroma.
- mint liqueur – 60 ml;
- champagne – 30 ml.
Preparation: Mix liqueur and well-chilled champagne in a glass in a 2:1 ratio. Pour the liqueur first, and then the champagne. Garnish with mint sprigs.
Mint liqueur: 5 recipes at home
Fans of mint liqueur, above all, appreciate this very specific drink for the illusion of freshness and coolness it creates in the summer heat.
They also make mint into tincture and syrup.
- 1 Tips before starting
- 2 Traditional mint liqueur
- 3 Regular mint liqueur
- 4 Mint-lemon liqueur
- 5 Mint liqueur-ratafia
- 6 Menthol liqueur
Tips before the start
It is best to use Peppermint or Garden (Spearmint).
The roots and trunks of the plant impart bitterness, so do not use these parts.
If you want the drink to not transform from greenish to brown for as long as possible, keep it in dark glass bottles.
Collect the freshest mint during the flowering period, away from roads, in ecologically clean places.
Traditional mint liqueur
Ingredients
Chopped fresh peppermint leaves - 2-4 tbsp. spoons
Preparation method
Wash and dry the mint tops, collected before flowering, and tear off the leaves and cut them.
Place the chopped leaves in a bottle of vodka, cap tightly and leave to infuse in the light.
Shake the contents of the bottle from time to time.
After 3 weeks, prepare sweet syrup.
Then, strain the mint tincture through cheesecloth into 4-5 layers and lightly squeeze the leaves.
Combine the strained tincture with syrup, pour into bottles and seal. Store the liqueur horizontally in a dark place.
Regular mint liqueur
If you want to make an unpretentious cooling drink that tastes slightly like toothpaste, this recipe is irreplaceable. With all this, instead of the suggested amount of sugar, you can consume 200-250 g of honey.
Ingredients
Fresh mint – 6 sprigs
Vodka or 45-proof alcohol – 1 l
Preparation method
Place the prepared leaves and inflorescences in a jar and fill with alcohol.
Keep the container tightly closed for 2 weeks in a warm, dark place, vigorously shaking it every 3-4 days.
After the specified period, boil ordinary syrup. When using honey, the water should not be boiled; Instead, you need to stir the honey so vigorously that it dissolves before the water temperature reaches 40 degrees.
While the syrup cools to room temperature, strain the alcohol infusion and lightly squeeze the vegetable cake into it.
Carefully mix the cooled syrup with alcohol, pour the drink into bottles and seal them hermetically.
Send the liqueur to the cellar or refrigerator for 20 days, then taste it.
Mint-lemon liqueur
As you can see, mint and lemon are simply made for each other.
Ingredients
Fresh Mint leaves (preferably Peppermint) – 100 g
Sugar – 400-500 g
Preparation method
Transfer the slightly mashed leaves into a jar.
Remove the peel from the lemon, separate the yellowish zest from it, and discard the snow-white zest.
Cut the lemon pulp into small pieces and add the zest to the jar with the leaves.
Keep the container tightly closed for 5 days in a warm, dark room.
After the specified period, cook regular syrup from sugar and water.
While the syrup cools to room temperature, filter the alcohol through thick cheesecloth and squeeze the cake into it.
Add syrup to the resulting liquid, mix, close the lid again and return to a black, warm space for another week.
Then, strain the drink again and bottle it.
Store liquor in the basement or refrigerator. With all this, it is better to give him another couple of weeks for fine-tuning.
Mint liqueur ratafia
Ratafia is not so much a drink as a separate category of especially strong alcohol, which also includes some liqueurs.
Ingredients
Dried mint – 40 g
Preparation method
Place the mint in a jar, fill it with alcohol and close tightly.
Leave the container in a dark, warm place for a week.
Boil regular syrup. If you are confused by the traditional 70-degree strength of the finished ratafia, the amount of water and sugar can be increased (very acceptable proportions: 1 kg of sugar and 1.25 liters of water per 1 liter of alcohol). With all this, you should be aware that the result will no longer be ratafia, but an ordinary liqueur with a slant towards spotykach.
As soon as the water and sugar boil, remove the foam from it and pour in the alcohol in a narrow stream, stirring the substance constantly.
Cool the result, filter and pour into a clean jar.
Place a tightly closed container in a cold, black space for another week.
Then, if desired, strain the drink again and bottle it.
Store liqueur in a cool, dark place. Start active tasting after 3-4 weeks.
Menthol liqueur
This recipe will amuse lovers of strong menthol candies. The main condition is the presence of a moonshine still in the house. In case of acute intolerance to cumin, the last one can be replaced with dried zest, cut from ¼ orange and ¼ lime.
Ingredients
Dried Peppermint leaves – 50 g
Vodka or 45-proof alcohol – 500 ml
Water for infusion – 150 ml
Water for distillation – 1 l
Preparation method
Place dried leaves, cumin/zest, alcohol and 150 ml of unboiled water in a jar.
Leave the tightly closed container in a warm, dark place for a week.
Then, carefully strain the liquid and squeeze the cake into it, after which you can throw away the last one.
Pour 50 ml of the purchased tincture into a small glass vessel, close it with a lid and place it in a black space.
Mix the bulk of the mint alcohol with unboiled water in a 1:1 ratio.
The result is distilled, selecting 30 ml of “heads” and 600 ml of “body”. The remaining raw materials can be distilled into a clean vessel in 50 ml portions and added to the main fraction. As soon as the distilled liquid begins to emit a nasty odor, it should be discarded as “tails”.
Add 150-200 ml of unboiled water to the purchased distillate.
In a small saucepan, boil saturated syrup from 100 ml of water and 300 g of sugar. Add sugar to water in small portions. Any subsequent portion must fall into the saucepan after the previous one has completely dissolved. If foam appears during the process, you must definitely remove it.
Add 150 ml of the purchased syrup to the distillate. The rest of the sweet solution can be used for some other purposes (making 150 ml of syrup from sugar and water in a ratio of 3:1 seems to us an impossible task; if you think differently, you can try and share your experience with us).
Tint the finished liqueur by adding the previously set aside 50 ml of tincture.
Pour the drink into bottles, carefully seal it and store it in the cellar or refrigerator. Serve no earlier than 2 weeks after bottling.
Is there an error or do you have anything to add?
Mint liqueur at home: how to create mint liqueur
Mint liqueur is a special drink. Mint imparts an incredible color of aroma, a taste that overshadows alcohol, and a refreshing menthol aftertaste that spreads warmth throughout the body.
Herbal mint liqueur is so hard to find in stores. But this is not important, because you can prepare a low-alcohol drink with your own hands. To do this, you don’t have to spend money on expensive ingredients or elite alcohol for the mint liqueur base.
Properties of liqueur
Mint liqueur has an emerald, transparent, snow-white or blue color, depending on the composition. A distinctive feature of the drink is its cooling effect in the summer and its warming effect in the cool weather. During the infusion period, mint transfers its beneficial substances to alcohol. Peppermint liqueur is a good antiseptic, strengthens the immune system, restores cholesterol (an organic compound, a natural fatty, lipophilic alcohol contained in the cell membranes of all living organisms except non-nuclear ones) in the blood (the internal environment of the human and animal body) , relieves tension, relieves heartburn and insomnia .
Contraindications for use are intolerance to alcohol or mint, pregnancy and lactation, diseases (disorders of normal functioning, performance) of the liver.
Mint liqueur alcohol content varies from 15–18% to 35% and higher.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
The main component of homemade mint liqueur is mint herb. It is permissible to use 2 types - Pepper or Garden (Spike). You can buy the freshest weed at the market or dried at the pharmacy. The perfect option is to collect raw materials without the help of others. It should be taken into account that the stems of the plant give off bitterness and are therefore unsuitable for liqueur. Therefore, the mint must be carefully sorted, leaving the leaves and inflorescences. Before use, fresh mint must be washed and dried.
Melissa is not the best substitute for mint. It doesn't give the liqueur the freshness it needs. If there is a need to use “lemon mint”, then you will have to add 2 times more of it than ordinary mint.
It is not recommended to take expensive alcohol such as cognac for the alcohol base. Mint “clogs” both taste and smell. Alcohol, moonshine or vodka are suitable options.
As for the additional components - spices, fruits - they must be fresh and of high quality. Water is consumed purified, spring or bottled.
Recipes without distillation
The abundance of recipes for mint liqueur at home is amazing. The drink is prepared with or without sugar, with additives or single-component. Anyone will find exactly the option that they like.
Basic
Traditional mint liqueur is easy to make. Instead of sugar, it is permissible to take honey.
Syrup from honey and water is prepared at a temperature of no more than 40°C until the bee product is completely dissolved.
Compound:
- 1 liter of vodka;
- 200 g honey or 350 g sugar;
- 250 ml water;
- 6 sprigs of fresh or 40 g of dried mint.
Working method:
- Wash the mint sprigs, dry them, tear off the leaves and inflorescences, and place them in a glass container.
- Pour in vodka. Close the lid and leave for 14 days in a dark place. Shake the liquid every other day.
- Filter the finished infusion of greenish (brownish) color. Squeeze the juice from the leaves.
- Prepare syrup from sugar and water. Boil the mixture, cook for 4 minutes, removing the foam. Remove from heat when foam finishes appearing on the surface. Cool.
- Combine the infusion and syrup.
- Pack the mint liqueur into bottles.
- Keep in the refrigerator for 25 days.
The drink comes out with a strength of about 23%. Stored in the cellar for up to 2 years.
With lemon
Mint and lemon are a perfect combination. You can get a good refreshing cocktail by mixing gas, water or tonic with lemon-mint liqueur.
For mint liqueur with lemon, you need both zest and pulp of citrus. But putting the fruit completely is not allowed. The snow-white layer must be removed.
Compound:
- 100 g peppermint;
- 1 liter of vodka;
- 3 lemons;
- 0.4 kg of sugar (less possible).
Working method:
- Wash the lemons well. Cut the zest into pieces. Remove the snow-white layer. Grind the pulp.
- Mash the mint leaves with your hands.
- Place food in a jar. Pour in alcohol.
- Infuse for 5 days in darkness.
- Strain the infusion, squeeze out the leaves and citrus.
- Add sweet sand and stir well.
- Leave for 7 days to infuse.
- Pour through the cotton filter again.
- Pack into bottles. To complete the taste, leave for finishing for another 15 days in a cold place.
Spiced
This recipe for mint liqueur at home with spicy notes in smell and taste and brown color can rightfully be called a man's drink.
Compound:
- 3 g juniper berries;
- 0.5 l of vodka;
- 15 g sugar;
- 1.5 g ground ginger;
- 5 g dill seeds;
- 10 g dried peppermint;
- 1 g cinnamon powder.
Working method:
- Place all ingredients, including sweet sand, in a glass container.
- Pour in alcohol. Close the lid. Mix by shaking the container.
- Soak for 14 days in darkness.
- Pour the infusion through cheesecloth and squeeze out the grounds.
- Filter the infusion again through a layer of cotton wool.
- Package.
You can taste the spicy mint liqueur right away. But aging will only improve the taste of the drink.
Ratafia
Homemade mint liqueur – Ratafia – is an ancient alcoholic drink. There are a huge number of its options. But they all have one thing in common - pure alcohol (90°) is used as the alcohol base, and sweet sugar syrup is added after making the tincture. Strength and sweetness can be adjusted according to preference.
Compound:
- 1 liter of alcohol;
- 35 g dried mint leaves;
- 0.2 l of water;
- 0.2 kg sugar.
Working method:
- Place mint in a glass container and pour in alcohol.
- Cork. Leave for 3 to 7 days.
- Filter the future liquor.
- Combine water and sugar in a saucepan. Boil the syrup, simmer for 2 minutes, skimming off the foam.
- Turn off the heat and immediately pour the infusion into the syrup in a narrow stream, stirring the total mass. At this step, you need to test the mixture to evaluate the strength and sweetness of the drink. As needed, dilute mint liqueur with additional syrup.
- Pour the liqueur into a bottle through a thick filter.
- Place the mixture in a warm place for another 7 days.
- Pour through the filter into a clean container.
- Leave the tincture for another 14 days in coolness and darkness.
To preserve the emerald color of Ratafia, it is better to store the drink in black glass containers.
Recipe with distillation
To make mint liqueur at home using this recipe, a moonshine still will be useful. The option is complex, but it produces a high-quality mint drink that is not inferior to sambuca and other elite types of alcohol.
- 50 g dried mint;
- 10 g cumin;
- 500 ml alcohol, 96%;
- 150 ml of water + about 0.6-0.7 l of water (to prepare for distillation) + 0.2 l of water (to dilute the distillate);
- 150 ml syrup for step 3 (150 g sugar + 50 g water);
If, instead of cumin, you take slightly dried zest with 1/4 of a lime and the same amount of orange zest, you will get the most tender taste.
1st step. Maceration:
- Mix mint, cumin, 150 ml of water and 0.5 liters of alcohol in a jar.
- Insist for a week.
- Then pour the infusion through the filter, squeezing out the raw materials, into a clean container.
- Separate 50 ml of water for coloring the liqueur at the last step.
2nd step. Forcing:
- Dilute the purchased infusion with pure water to a size of 1.3–1.5 liters.
- Pour into the apparatus and begin distillation.
- Select and drain the primary pasture (20 ml).
- After receiving about 0.6 liters of distillation, set aside the main container.
- Place a glass under the distillation.
- The “tail” can be added to the main fraction if it does not contain any unpleasant odors.
3rd step. Thinning and coloring:
- Dilute mint vodka (distillate) with 0.2 liters of water.
- Add 150 g of cold sweet syrup.
- Then you can leave the drink clear or add 50 ml of the infusion selected in the first step. Then the liqueur will turn out to be an emerald color.
- Let the mint liqueur sit for at least a week before drinking.
The longer the finished mint liqueur is infused, the more pleasant its taste will become.
Mint liqueur, made at home, is drunk without snacks in small sips from glasses with a volume of no more than 50 ml. But the generous emerald-colored drink can be consumed with ice cream, chocolate, and citrus fruits. Also, mint liqueur can be a wonderful base for light cocktails.
A unique emerald mint liqueur with a menthol aftertaste and a refreshing effect will become the trump card of the table and the main confirmation of the culinary capabilities of the owners. The drink is incomparable with store-bought analogues neither in taste nor in beneficial effects. The main thing is to use mint liqueur in small quantities.
Mint liqueur at home - recipes for vodka, alcohol, moonshine
Mint liqueur, prepared at home, is a purely ladies' drink, as it is of medium strength. The drink is pleasant to drink, endowed with a special subtle aroma and mild taste. In addition to the fact that liqueur is a beautiful addition to coffee and dessert, the drink is often used as a base for making cocktails.
The alcoholic base of the liqueur can be vodka, pure or diluted alcohol, or moonshine of good purity. Take any kind of mint - regular or pepper. Experts say that the home garden mint plant is more aromatic and richer, revealing its own taste in liqueur. Melissa is not suitable for tincture; it will not give the desired minty effect.
- 1 Mint liqueur at home - a regular recipe with vodka
- 2 Mint liqueur with alcohol
- 3 How to create mint lemon liqueur
- 4 Spicy mint tincture
- 5 An ancient recipe for mint liqueur with alcohol
- 6 Liqueur "Caprice"
- 7 Homemade mint liqueur with moonshine (video)
Mint liqueur at home - a regular recipe with vodka
Affectionate, moderately sweet, beautiful olive color. The refreshing drink is not bad in undiluted form, and it will also go well in cocktails.
- Mint – 15 gr.
- Vodka – 0.5 liters.
- Sweet sand – 150 gr.
- Water – 250 ml.
Rinse the mint sprigs and dry them a little, spreading them out in an even layer on a cardboard napkin. Weigh out the required amount in grams.
Cut the twigs into random sized pieces.
Place in a glass jar.
Pour in alcohol. Close the jar with a lid and shake the container a couple of times. Place it in a dark space for 10 days, for example, in a pantry. Once a day, take out the jars and shake.
After this time, cook the syrup. To do this, boil water and add sugar. Boil for approximately 5 minutes. Stir frequently to help the sweet crystals dissolve.
Pour the cooled syrup into the infused mint and vodka. Screw the lid on tightly. Shake the contents well (shake the jar).
Strain the liqueur, then bottle it. Be sure to refrigerate before serving.
Mint liqueur with alcohol
If you want to get a strong drink, make liqueur with alcohol. After infusion, the degrees can be adjusted by diluting the drink to a suitable strength.
- Alcohol 90% – 1 liter.
- Water – 1 liter.
- Mint – 45 leaves.
- Sugar – 2-4 cups.
- Remove mint leaves from the branches, wash, dry slightly, and place in a jar.
- Fill with alcohol, send to a black, cold space. Insist for at least a week.
- Strain well through a sieve or double gauze.
- Make syrup from water and sugar. Make sure that the sugar is one hundred percent dissolved. If desired, the amount of sugar can be increased, but not more than twice. Remove from the burner and cool the syrup.
- Pour into the mint infusion and stir. Place on the refrigerator shelf for several hours. Then pour into bottles. The liqueur is ready to drink immediately, but if you let it mature for 1-1.5 months, its taste will be richer. Dilute the finished liqueur to your liking.
How to Create Mint Lemon Liqueur
Lemon successfully mixes with mint, which is fully applied in this recipe. Remember Mojito? Dilute our liqueur with gas and water and throw in a lot of ice, and the famous drink is in front of you. By the way, on my website there is a recipe for making a gooseberry mojito , come in if you are intrigued.
- Vodka – 1 liter.
- Peppermint - a bunch (approximately 100 leaves).
- Lemon – 3 pcs. average size.
- Sweet sand - 2 cups.
- Zest the lemons and remove the seeds. Finely chop into pieces.
- Wash the leaves of the plant and dry. Remember a little with your hands.
- Add lemon peel and stir. Send it to the jar.
- Fill with alcohol, hide in a black space for 4-6 days.
- Strain and squeeze out the pulp.
- Pour sugar into the mint tincture and mix thoroughly.
- Send him back to the hidden space for another week.
- Filter the liquor and take the first sample.
Spicy mint tincture
It is believed that mint liqueur is a ladies' drink. I offer an option for the powerful half.
- Vodka – 0.5 liters.
- Sugar – 15 gr.
- Dried peppermint – 10 gr.
- Juniper berries – 3 gr.
- Dill seeds – 5 gr.
- Ground ginger – 1.5 gr.
- Ground cinnamon – 1 gr.
- Place all the listed ingredients in a jar and fill with vodka.
- Close the container and place it in darkness for 2 weeks.
- Filter thoroughly, passing through a double layer of gauze, squeeze out the grounds. You can try the liqueur right away, but experienced producers say that the longer it sits, the better the taste of the drink.
An ancient recipe for mint liqueur with alcohol
If you find the freshest herbs, it is better to take them, since the ancient recipes indicate specifically plants. If they are not available, substitution of dried powdered seasonings is allowed.
- Sweet syrup – 750 ml. water for 1.5 kg. Sahara.
- Alcohol 85% – 1.5 liters.
- Water – 1.2 liters.
- Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon - a pinch of 1 g.
- Peppermint – 2 gr.
- Cardamom – 20 gr.
- Arnica flowers – 3 gr.
- Sage - a pinch.
- Calamus – 5 gr.
- Finely chop the herbs, put them in a jar, pour in alcohol. Close the lid tightly, leave for 2 days, then filter.
- Prepare syrup from the indicated amount of water and sweets. Pour into a jar. Add water, stir and let sit for another week.
Liqueur "Caprice"
- For syrup, take: 2 liters of water + 4 kg of sugar.
- Peppermint – 25 gr.
- Alcohol 85% - 4 liters.
- Water – 2 liters.
- Melissa – 25 gr.
- Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon - 2 g each.
- Arnica flowers – 8 gr.
- Cardamom – 50 gr.
- Chop the plants and add alcohol. Keep it in a hidden place for 2 days.
- Strain the infusion and squeeze well.
- Boil the syrup, cool, pour into the infusion. Pour water and chat. Let it sit for a few more days and try.
Homemade mint liqueur with moonshine (video)
Well-purified moonshine can be a worthy substitute for alcohol or vodka. I suggest you get acquainted with the author's recipe for making the drink.