Help me make my own framboise?

[Emily_R]

Hi all --

My friend recently got me a DIVINE bottle of raspberry liqueur from finger lakes distillery -- it is heaven -- the essence of raspberry and summer in a bottle. Website for the distillery says it is a mix of black and red raspberries in a grape-brandy base.

My husband and I live in the fingerlakes on about 5 acres, and we are going to have an enormous crop of raspberries (both black and red) this year. We thought it would be fun to try making this type of liqueur ourselves. Does anyone out there have any experience making raspberry liqueur? A recipe that you could share? Some of the recipes I've found online later have comments saying they turned out like cough syrup... This liqueur I was given is very thin -- while sweet, it doesn't have a syrupy consistency at all.

Many thanks in advance...

Emily

[CucinaDiva]

I wonder if the recipes you're finding are really like a Chambord-type. That's sweet and a bit syrupy.

Framboise is more like a raspberry eau de vie, I'd think, more fermented berries/juice than a liqueur. To do it the easier way, maybe wash and dry the berries, then mash them and just steep them in the grappa, or whatever alcohol you choose, to flavor it???

If you could take some early berries and do a small trial batch, you could see if that gives you the result you want.

You're really lucky to have access to all those wonderful berries!

[bostonapothecary]

Hi all --

My friend recently got me a DIVINE bottle of raspberry liqueur from finger lakes distillery -- it is heaven -- the essence of raspberry and summer in a bottle. Website for the distillery says it is a mix of black and red raspberries in a grape-brandy base.

My husband and I live in the fingerlakes on about 5 acres, and we are going to have an enormous crop of raspberries (both black and red) this year. We thought it would be fun to try making this type of liqueur ourselves. Does anyone out there have any experience making raspberry liqueur? A recipe that you could share? Some of the recipes I've found online later have comments saying they turned out like cough syrup... This liqueur I was given is very thin -- while sweet, it doesn't have a syrupy consistency at all.

Many thanks in advance...

Emily

i think what they are doing is simply juicing the raspberries, preserving the juice to the minimum of microbiological stability (probably 20% alc.), and adjusting sugar to a fun ethic.

so the problem is a multi variable equation with lots of room to just simply estimate.

they probably don't infuse the raspberries in alcohol. its not necessary. you don't need a solvent, you need a preservative. what you need to do is figure out how to juice the raspberries. i've never used my wine maker's basket press on raspberries, but it works great on strawberries. its amazing how clear the juice runs. for raspberries, because they break apart so easily, you might have to line the press with a cloth press bag. the press is better than a grinding juicer because the "press cake" (fruit solids) filters the juice really well and the process doesn't whip lots of oxygen in the juice.

now you need to figure out your sugar ethic. raspberries probably have from 70 to 100 grams of sugar per liter of juice. port is 100, sweet vermouth has 170 or so, chartreuse 200, cointreau 250, grenadine 350-400.

if you want to make a sipping liqueur i'd stick with 170-200 g/l because i bet the raspberries have a lot of acidity so you can't go as low as port. if you want to mix it all in 2:1:1 sours, i'd try to hit 300-350 g/l.

you could even split things up and make a sipping version and a cocktail version.

the sugar you add has a dissolved volume that needs to be considered.

then you have your spirit. the lower proof your spirit, the more water it has and therefore the less raspberry juice that will be in the liqueur. this means you probably want everclear so you can use as little as possible.

an estimated cocktail centric sugar level recipe would be as follows.

200 ml everclear

250 grams non aromatic white sugar (estimated dissolved volume 150ml)

650 or so ml raspberry juice (basket pressed!)

just stir to dissolve the sugar (definitely don't heat. it will spoil the color)

this will give you a sugar content in the 300's. and be preserved close to the minimum of stability.

[Lapin d'Argent]

So, for those of us who don't happen to have a wine maker's press, and would like to make the strawberry version, any suggestions? Do we really need some sort of press, or can we use a food processor and strain the juice? Or put it through a food mill, perhaps?

[Emily_R]

My guess is that hand smooshing (at least for delicate raspberries -- strawberries may require a potato masher?) and then draining in several layers of cheesecloth would work pretty well... I'm still trying to parse through bostonapothecary's post -- not understanding what the downsides to steeping the mashed berries in alcohol and then straining (compared to straining and just mixing the juice with the alcohol) are...

[bostonapothecary]

My guess is that hand smooshing (at least for delicate raspberries -- strawberries may require a potato masher?) and then draining in several layers of cheesecloth would work pretty well... I'm still trying to parse through bostonapothecary's post -- not understanding what the downsides to steeping the mashed berries in alcohol and then straining (compared to straining and just mixing the juice with the alcohol) are...

the downside to steeping in alcohol is just a lack of control. most of these modern liqueurs are fortified to near the minimum of stability so they can maximize aroma and not have an aggressive alcoholic hotness. i think they strive to be more like a dessert wine. it also helps if you want to have a precision sugar content.

so if you can quantify the numbers of where you want to end up. alcohol, sugar, aroma from juice content. (mimicking another product?) juicing first just helps parse out the problem so your numbers are easier to tackle.

if you have a surplus of fruit and aren't afraid of not maximizing your juice yield. the potato masher cheese cloth method sounds good.

[Emily_R]

Thanks Boston -- that helps me understand better. Agreed that the liqueur I love is indeed something like a desert wine. I'll take a look at its alcohol concentration and think of doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations in terms of adding raspberry juice...

[Lapin d'Argent]

I've added this to my list of projects for June....