How to Make Homemade Liquors or homemade brandy. This homemade fruit brandy recipe is so easy & makes excellent gifts for the holidays or any occasion.
It’s now September, can you believe that? That means the holidays are literally around the corner. I can’t keep up. However- I am doing little things like planning ahead on some things. I decided that I would start now & share with you all How to Make Homemade Liquors or sometimes called sipping brandy in a few of our favorite flavors. These make great gifts & I usually also use them in holiday recipes.
How to Make Homemade Sipping Brandy
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You will love just how simple this is to do. But you have to start now so they are ready in time for the holidays. It should be ready to strain & bottle just in time for the gift giving season. People are always so impressed when they find out its homemade liquor, which is why it makes a wonderful hostess gift for all those holiday parties or for handing out to the neighbors or co-workers.
How to Make Homemade Liquors
You can see I just used some painters tape on the top & wrote the date & a reminder of when the jar should be upright. This helps to remember if you have turned them each day or not- unless you forget for a couple days 🙂 Keep in cool, dark place & just turn, turn, turn. You are just a couple months away from your own homemade fruit liquors. I put these together the night before I took the pictures. As you can see the sugar had almost completely dissolved & the liquid had started turning color already. I’m really going to love watching this process over the next couple months. I have between now & then to find some really pretty bottles for the finished product & I’m so excited.
If you make this recipe- please leave a link or tag me on Instagram @KleinworthCo
Looking for more of our favorite homemade liquors?
How to Make Homemade Liquors
Ingredients
- One - 2 pt jar per flavor
- 2-1/2 cups fruit of choice or enough to fill the jar
- *note- if making apricot brandy you can add the apricots whole- do not pit or skin
- 12 tbsp granulated sugar
- Vodka least expensive- plastic bottle to fill
Instructions
- Sterilize your jars & allow to cool
- Fill with your fruit to the neck of the jar
- Add sugar
- Pour in your vodka- to the neck of the jar
- Put on lid making sure your seal is tight.
- Add a strip of tape & write the date on it
- Store on the counter - does not have to be a particularly sunny or dark place
- Flip every day for 3 months - once the fruit shrinks & is floating in the liquid it's okay to just give it a good shake everyday
- When the 3 months is up- strain out the fruit pieces through a colander
- To make the brandy more clear- strain again though a coffee filter.
- Transfer to air tight decorative bottles if giving as a gift.
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Kim Cunningham says
This is really cool! Would definitely make a neat gift!
Mike says
Your recipe is for Liquors and brandy. Your recipe calls for Vodka. Do you substitute with brandy if you are making brandy? You are only infusing flavor in to ready made products, right.
Gina Kleinworth says
Hi Mike – yes you can substitute with brandy for this if you like. But the definition of brandy is “the distilled alcohol extracted from any fruit-based mash. A good deal of the world’s brandy is actually made from grapes and the word “brandy” derives from the Middle Dutch “Brantwijn” or “Burned [i.e.: distilled] Wine.” Which is why we use vodka & combine it with the fruit & make “brandy” for this recipe.
Kayla @ Home Coming blog says
MMMMMmmm. These look SO good. Great idea. I’m hosting a throw pillow giveaway that you should enter! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/09/pillow-covers-giveaway.html
Ashley says
What an awesome idea!! I think Im going to try this out! Thank you 🙂
Gina Kleinworth says
Glad you like it Ashley- hope you give it a try.
joybee83 says
Lovely. My sister did something similar with blueberries. I’ve been planning on trying coffee flavored rum. This just confirms I have to try this. Saw on Show Stopper Saturday.
Gina Kleinworth says
Oh I sure hope you do. Makes for lovely gifts.
ce.leb says
ohh, that looks delicious.. how much vodka did you use? i ended up using 2 pt vodka for a 4 pt jar…
Gina Kleinworth says
It really depends on the fruit that you add to the jar first- I just filled my 2pt jar with the fruit & sugar & then added the vodka until it covered the fruit – I didn’t measure the vodka. I’m sure if I had measured it out it would be different for each one being that the fruits have different volumes.
Cassidy says
LOVE THIS. Please come link up with me 🙂 cass-eats.blogspot.com
Betsy @ AnnaNimmity says
This is so pretty! What a fun idea!
wendi says
When you say flip over you mean upside down. Back and forth? Sorry to sound like a dumm
Gina Kleinworth says
Yes Wendi- right side up one day & upside down the next.
karen says
These look like so much fun to prepare as gifts for the holidays. I am not sure what pt means, those look like quart jars? Not pints.
Gina Kleinworth says
Thanks Karen- they are 2 pint jars- which is the same as 1 quart. The box labeled them as 2 pint & I was adding things by the 1/2 pint so that was why I marked it as such.
How long will this liquor last?Bette Englehart says
How long will this liquor last?
Gina Kleinworth says
Hi there – it really depends on how it is stored. They CAN last indefinitely. Just keep them out of direct sunlight and regular liquors will last a good long time and even improve some with age.
Clare says
Do you use fresh fruits or frozen?
Gina Kleinworth says
Either one will do.
Trisha says
Can you use any kind of fruit? Pineapple?
Gina Kleinworth says
Hi Trisha,
Yes, you can use any kind of fruit, including pineapple. But as I mentioned in the recipe, if you are making apricot brandy you can add the apricots whole & you do not have to pit or skin them.