rowan vodka

[grilled bear]

Hi everyone.

I'll be making this years batch of flavoured vodkas in next day or so, this year going for blackberry, lemon and lime and rowan. The last two I've never tried before so looking for a bit of advice. The lemon and lime one all the recipes online seem to just use the peel but I'm thing of adding the juice as well but can any one think of a reason why no one else seems to be doing this?

All the rowan vodka recipes I've seen all seem to be completely different unlike the usual +/- equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Some calling for half filling a bottle with berries and no sugar. I'm thinking of roughly following one recipe where the berries were part cooked in Kilner jars for 30 mins at 140 C to part cook the berries/steralise the jar. I think this might improve the flavour. I usually put a mug of fruit and about 3/4 mug sugar in a 70 cl bottle topped up with vodka. I've got Kilner jars this year so was going to increase amount of fruit to 1 1/2 mugs fruit and mug sugar to upscale to using a whole 70 cl bottle in the Kilner jar. So anyone got any advice on how much berries/sugar to use with 70 cl vodka.

Any advice appreciated

 

[British Red]

My advice is to add no sugar. Make the Rowan tincture first, strain it, then add the sugar a little at a time until you achieve a taste you like. The vodka acts as a solvent for the fruit flavours and a preservative in one. The sugar is just a flavour modifier, there is no need to add sugar at the beginning of the process.

 

[grilled bear]

Cheers british red, do you use that method for your other vodkas?

 

[British Red]

Yep vodkas, brandies, gins and whiskies. My neighbour helps with tasting as we get the sugar correct. Then we take him home in a wheelbarrow.

 

[grilled bear]

You use sugar direct or make a syrup? How much rowan berries do you normally use? Also any thoughts on adding the lemon and lime juice?