Birch bud schnapps

[jimbo75]

Also known as silmuviina I believe.
I have decanted my first batch from a couple of weeks ago. I can genuinely say, it really is rather nice!
I'm lucky enough to have a mature birch tree in our garden, so I will probably make this every year or so.

Here's link for the recipe...
http://mammituokkonen.blogspot.com/2010/05/birch-bud-schnapps-silmuviina.html

 

[Janne]

Aaahhhh....
A Finno Scandinavian traditional and medicinal drink!

Cures the Winter Melancholy!

 

[jimbo75]

Aaahhhh....
A Finno Scandinavian traditional and medicinal drink!

Cures the Winter Melancholy!

It's a gorgeous colour also. Like brandy almost.

 

[Janne]

Adding the sugar is a Finnish habit. They even add sugar into the plain Vodka. Koskenkorva is Finlandia with added sugar.

Next bottle, get the outermost, soft, brand new pine shoots and do the same.

Btw, thank you for the link, as that site has many exotic, delish Finnish receipes!

 

[Woody girl]

Missed the sap so will have a go at this. Looks great. Can't wait to taste this! Just off to get some birch buds right now.

 

[Janne]

Take enough for a refreshing infusion/tisane!

Remember, do not take too many buds off each branch, the tree needs to have leaves on the branches for them to survive.

 

[Woody girl]

Take enough for a refreshing infusion/tisane!

Remember, do not take too many buds off each branch, the tree needs to have leaves on the branches for them to survive.

Yes Janne, I have 5 trees to pick from all large and thriving. As a fairly experienced and serial forager for the past 18 yrs I think I got it sorted . Actually I found one of my favorite birch trees is not in bud yet so maybe if I can get down to it pdq I might still get some birch sap. The buds are now marinating themselves in a nice vodka bath in an ikea jar... looking good! Only trouble is I've now got to go buy another bottle of vodka to be ready for the beech leaves and my signature beech leaf noyaux.

 

[Janne]

Sorry to have assumed........

Now you need to explain....
Beech leaf noyaux?

I learned the ‘ selective picking’ the hard way.
In Sweden, we had a beautiful hanging birch. I harvested newly erupted leafs, and the flowers so hard that I killed a few branches.

 

[Woody girl]

That's fine Janne. . Made me smile a bit well Janne you are once again encouraging me to digress from the thread a bit but actually it's not too far off.
BEECH LEAF NOYAUX .
This is made in a very similar way to the above but using young beech leaves. The recipe can be found in food for free by Mr maby. It's a lovely drink but warning can be lethal if made like I make it
There are just a few very subtle tweeks that I have made over the years to make it as strong as I can. And no I'm not telling as it's nothing that any fairly competent drink forager can't work out themselves.! I do love to give a nip to unsuspecting friends. Nobody can guess what it is, and usualy end up wide eyed and clutching their chest as it goes down. Wicked fun!

 

[Woody girl]

Take enough for a refreshing infusion/tisane!

Remember, do not take too many buds off each branch, the tree needs to have leaves on the branches for them to survive.

Actually a very good point and reminder to those who are new to this sort of thing.

 

[Janne]

Must be all that goodness that makes it strong.

We had ( have?) a lot of people that did not touch alcohol because some Scandinavian Christian sects/churches/ offshoots forbade alcohol imbibing, but they all accepted that medication could be alcohol based.

Alcohol is an excellent extraction medium.

This was before todays medication existed. As we know, many plants contain mildly effective agents.

Birch leaf extracts promote kidney function
Birch pollen is mildly anti prostatitis.

On my recent trip I saw an inreased number of various flavoured Gin at the Heathrow Taxfree.

Better to make your own. Simple.
But then you will not have that fancy expensive looking bottle if course...


When you buy your vodka for flavoring, do you buy the cheapest you can find?
That is what we have always done in Sweden.

When we lived in UK, I flavoured lot of Lidl’s cheapest.......

 

[Woody girl]

If you want a fancy bottle go for a walk on recycling eve or early morning when people put their cans and bottles out for recycling. I have coined loads of fancy bottles and loads of tin cans for various projects. Last week I was hunting out plastic milk bottles and cola bottles to make cloches for my beans. Other people's rubbish is my joy in life.!

 

[jimbo75]

I suspect these ladies with all their alcohol expertise, could drink me under the table...?

 

[Woody girl]

Actually wierd as it may seem I rarely drink. ... unless a bottle of southern comfort comes my way. I do enjoy making my brews though.
Beware the old hag in the woods picking strange things and brewing potions! Cackle Cackle!
So far I have Raspberry vodka. Lemoncello . Damson gin. Cherry brandy. Beech leaf noyaux. Sloe gin. And some unsuccessful cider that became vinegar. can't win them all.

 

[Janne]

I suspect these ladies with all their alcohol expertise, could drink me under the table...?

I am a guy. Janne is the ‘friendly’ name for Jan.

But yes, many Scandinavian ladies could drink you under the table. Ladies of my generation, around 60 and older.
The younger people are brought up on fancy mixed drinks with fancy names, wine and poison like B. Breezer....

 

[Janne]

Homemade cider vinegar must be very good!

I do not drink much these days either. Had a ‘moment’ 3 years ago.
The ‘moment’ was that one of my best friends almost died from a burst bloodvessel in his esophagus.
Undiagnosed severe liver cirrhosis.

 

[Woody girl]

Home made vinegar good? Well it is so sharp I swear it could strip paint! I'm using it for cleaning rather than ingestion. Brings the chrome taps up a treat and it makes a lovely window cleaner. I'm not joking it realy cleans things beautifully. And it's supposed to be a good hair conditioner too. Havnt tried that yet but well may do when mine runs out.

 

[Janne]

Dilute it before using.
Your vinegar is the Real Deal.
The commercially made, be it Natural, Organic or any other names they print to increase sales, are dilted to achieve a harmless, even strength.

A good, homemade Vodka is around 70%. That is how people enjoyed it before commercialisation in the 1800’

I do not recommend anybody drinks that strong stuff though.

There was a time when all imported Alcohol ( whisky and so on) were 47% in Sweden.
Dropped to 43% in the 1960’
Then 40% in the 70’ I remember.

But we could buy 35% Vodka too!

Times befor standardisation and general boredom!

 

[jimbo75]

I am a guy. Janne is the ‘friendly’ name for Jan.

But yes, many Scandinavian ladies could drink you under the table. Ladies of my generation, around 60 and older.
The younger people are brought up on fancy mixed drinks with fancy names, wine and poison like B. Breezer....

I’m a total lightweight nowadays. I remember trying to ‘keep up’ with various Danes, swedes, and Germans in my younger days... it was tough.