Sourcherry Liqueur -Ginjinha

Ginjinha is a famous Portuguese sourcherry(morello) infused liqueur a traditional drink in and around Lisbon.

It is typically served in small quantities in liqueur glasses with a cherry in it.

There are various recipes each a speciality of the family, with slight variations the one I use is a basic one and gives a full bodied rich liqueur very similar o the commercially available Ginginha, also using easily available ingredients and minimal efforts.

It hence makes beautiful homemade gifts and the satisfaction you get in making and labeling those self made bottles of red liquid gold is incomparable.

2 cups sour cherries, this can be a little hard to find ingredient , in that case substitute using not so ripe sweet cherries.

2 cups Sugar,

1.5cups Brandy or Grappa or Schnaps,

1cup red wine,

2 sticks cinnamon

2-3 cloves

Utensils:

1 glass jar with a tight fitting lid(mason jar)- 1 liter

1 mesh strainer

coffee filter or cheese cloth

sealable-corkfitted bottle/s to store the final product.

INGREDIENTS WORTH MENTIONING

A TAD BIT OF PATIENCE, EXCITEMENT AND FUN!

Begin by cleaning the utensils thoroughly and drying them. this is necessary to ensure a clean and long-lasting end product.

In a cooking pan pour in the sugar and the wine.

Warm it up till all of the sugar dissolves. This could be just before the boiling point.

Remove the pan from the heat source and let it cool.

In the meanwhile whilst the wine sirup is cooling down, clean and dry the cherries.

Remove stems but not the pits.If you have destined cherries it does,t matter.

In the dry jar put in the cinnamon stick, the cloves and the cherries.

Once the wine sirup cools down pour into the sirup the brandy/ grappa and stir to mix it up.

Pour this mixture into the jar and seal the lid.

Now comes the most boring part where you store the jar in a cool dark place fo a month.

Occasionally (every 4th day) give the jar a swirl to stir up the ingredients.

After about a month the cherries have infused into the liquid giving it a beautiful rich taste.

The liqueur is now ready.

Now strain this mixture thru a mesh strainer to remove the cherries and the the cinnamon/cloves.

Strain it a second time thru the coffee filter to leave behind a clear red liqueur.

Using the funnel, bottle this up in bottles with a cork or seal. Add in a few cherries in each of the bottles.

This beautiful rich bodied liqueur is ready to be served.

It can be served chill in summers or at room temperature near winter.

It has a very long shelf life of several years... .....that is if you do not finish it off ....

CHEEERS!!!!!!