Do you grow your own herbs and find you have more than you can use before they go to seed? Forget drying them or freezing them in ice cubes, try this ingenious way of preserving them… in alcohol!
Ingredients:
- 700ml Vodka
- 10g fresh spearmint
- 2g fresh tarragon
- 2g fresh thyme
- 3g fresh sage
- 2g fresh oregano
- 6g fresh basil
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 200g Granulated sugar
Slow Method:
- De-stem all the herbs, reserving the leaves and discarding the stems.
- Combine the leaves with the vodka in a blender. Blend on high for 1 minute.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.
- Put into a cool dark place and leave for 3 weeks.
- Shake the jar every day until the sugar has dissolved
- Strain into a clean bottle and test for taste. Add extra sugar if needed.
- Enjoy your Herb Liqueur
Fast Method:
- De-stem all the herbs, reserving the leaves and discarding the stems.
- Combine the leaves with the vodka in a blender. Blend on high for 1 minute.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.
- Put into a water bath at 65°C for 3 hours.
- Strain into a clean bottle and test for taste. Add extra sugar if needed.
- Enjoy your Herb Liqueur
Mark’s Top Tip: If you don’t have a blender, never mind, just cut the herbs very fine and mix with the Vodka, using a wooden spoon to grind the herbs together. You can use any mixture of herbs that you have to hand for this recipe and also any spirit will work just as well, just experiment!