Redbud Liqueur

[Travis Jiorle]

Has anyone heard of making a floral-based liqueur from the flowers of the redbud tree? There are other floral-based liqueurs (violet and elderflower, just to name two), and the redbud's distinctive purple-pink flowers have other culinary uses (in salads, for example) — maybe redbud liqueur would taste good?

I'll have access to an Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) when it blooms in early spring. April is far away, but unless there's a compelling reason not to try, I think I'll macerate some of the flowers in grain alcohol, cut the result with water and simple syrup, then hope it doesn't taste awful.

-Travis

[eje]

I don't want to discourage you from trying this.

However, I believe most flower based liqueurs are distilled, rather than just infused.

The idea, I suppose, is to separate the scent and taste from the more pedestrian plant tastes and also to concentrate the perfumes.

I would suggest just making a syrup first. It's a lot cheaper and will give you something of an idea of the taste before you embark on liqueur making.

Just gather up a bunch of flowers, make a hot 2-1 simple syrup, dump the flowers in the syrup and steep for a few minutes.

Strain out the flowers, and see how it tastes. If you can't really taste the redbud flowers, the flavor will likely be too subtle for a liqueur.

[bostonapothecary]

are they the same as red pinks?

there is a classic "ratafia of red pinks"

some of that stuff is more perfumology than liqueur because if you don't distill you often pick up more bitter principles.... try the infusion in alcohol.... pony up the money and let us know how it turns out.... it could be horrible, it could be beautiful.... some flavors are more soluble in alchohol than in water.... sometines you get alot of bitter sometimes you don't.... make sure you journal the whole things.... if you have any questions about steeping times.... sugar content.... be sure to ask....

[Travis Jiorle]

Yes, I was worried a simple infusion might not be the best method, but of course I don't own distillation equipment.

As far as other florals go, St. Germain's website has this to say about its elderflower liqueur: "Traditional maceration processes yield little flavor from these tiny blossoms… It was necessary, then, to invent and perfect an entirely new method of persuading the elderflower to give up its prized essence…” Perhaps that’s a bit of hyperbole to help build a mystique, but it's doubtful they just let some flowers sit a jar of alcohol for a month.

And in an archived post on creme de violette, eGullet member trillium wrote of trying an infusion of violets, but a follow-up was never posted as far as I can find.

I think I'll try to make a batch of redbud syrup and a separate batch of redbud liqueur through simple maceration, just in case the flowers behave differently in the water than in the alcohol. I'm sure I'll need some advice on steeping times, sugar content, etc., but I imagine each flower has its own optimal recipe; what works for a violet may not work for a rose, which in turn differs from an elderflower, a redbud flower and so on.

By the way, a redbud flower and a red pink are two different flowers. The Eastern Redbud is small tree naturally occurring in southern Canada and the eastern half of the US. Its beautiful, bright, purply pink flowers in early spring make it popular as an ornamental in gardens, parks and yards. Here's a nice picture of one in bloom:

http://www.hoffmannurseryinc.com/images/Redbud.jpg

And a close-up of the flowers:

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/bi...ca4-fl10393.JPG

[eje]

Charles H. Baker Jr. has a recipe for "Rose Liqueur Brandy" in his "The Gentleman's Companion" or "Jigger, Beaker and Glass". I've never tried it; but, it is worth it to note that he both macerates the roses in alcohol, and then sweetens with a rose flavored syrup.

Take 8 big roses…separate the petals, discard dewdrops, and inferior petal specimens, and snip off yellow or white areas around the stamen region. Now put petals in a jar with 1 qt of really decent cognac poured over them.

  Be sure it is covered tightly, and agitate it with a gentle and considerate hand every week. After a month of this scented bath add a gomme syrup generated from the wedding of 3 cups of sugar with 2 cups of distilled water, and handled as follows. . . . Boil briskly for 20 minutes, skimming off scum, then put in the selected petals of 1 doz more red roses, dusted and tossed first with powdered sugar. Let the saucepan boil up again, then simmer gently for 1 hr tightly covered.

Now filter the 1st rose petal-brandy infusion from the jar, and rack it into a large sterile bottle. A filter paper is of course best here. Then add the rose petal syrup, likewise filtered through a tammy or several thicknesses of cloth, working it through with a spoon. Stir the final mixture, then let stand uncorked except for a bit of cloth over bottle neck for 12 hrs, then cork and seal with wax. . . Our experience has been that there is a very slight sediment which settles out of this blend, and if the bottles are once more filtered after a couple of weeks standing undisturbed, the result is all the heart could desire. . . Receipt for the Vicomte's Cocktail, made of this rose brandy, may be found on Page 135.

[bostonapothecary]

stock makes a "rosolio" and it looks nasty.... the scent of roses reminds me of retirement homes.... and strangely they are really in vogue these days as a mens fragrance....

rose syrup in milk is popular in india....

each flower is definitely unique.... i go through huge amounts of damiana flower tequila.... they definitely have unique properties....

[eje]

Oof, yes, I'm not a big fan of over use of rose flavor or scent. A little goes a long way.

I just thought it would be useful to put the recipe up, so perhaps Travis could adapt the method to redbud flowers. I have to admit I'm kind of curious what redbud taste/smell like.

Slightly off topic, one of my biggest pet peeves is Star-Gazer Lilies in restaurants. To me, they smell like death. They have such an overwhelmingly cloying scent, I can't believe anyone with a sense of smell would knowingly place them in a restaurant or bar. Are they covering up some worse smell?

[bostonapothecary]

Oof, yes, I'm not a big fan of over use of rose flavor or scent.  A little goes a long way.

I just thought it would be useful to put the recipe up, so perhaps Travis could adapt the method to redbud flowers.  I have to admit I'm kind of curious what redbud taste/smell like.

Slightly off topic, one of my biggest pet peeves is Star-Gazer Lilies in restaurants.  To me, they smell like death.  They have such an overwhelmingly cloying scent, I can't believe anyone with a sense of smell would knowingly place them in a restaurant or bar.  Are they covering up some worse smell?

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flowers are really cool in booze. i love hearing about the experimentation.

i just saw some elderflower tea at the coffee shop. i bought a pound of the flowers a while ago. i think i'm gonna play with them....

i'm gonna finally buy a bottle of st. germain. taste it. measure the brix.... i'm really curious to weather it has a particular PH as well. and then start sample infusions to see if the flowers will yield anything good through infusion.

hibiscus flowers 15 minutes in alcohol.

black tea 45 minutes.

damiana 4 hours.

hot cloves 1 hour.

chamomile 24 hours.

rooibos 24 hours.

we will see where elderflowers lie....

i remember reading the marolo's disgusting chamomile grappa steeped for months in the flowers.... and then they add cloying amounts of sugar.... it was probably overkill....

taste the sample every hour or so. and maybe add a little simple syrup to the taste because otherwise your flavors might be really dull and hard to gauge the success of....

if you really like your results you could match another products sugar ethic exactly but i personally like to peg nearly everything to sweet vermouth.... alpenz ethic seems to be even less sweet than that....

happy imbibing....