[MR] Brewing question

[Alexandria Stratton]

Greetings!
First of all, a cordial is made with distilled spiced wine, aka brandy. Since the type of brandy that resembles the medieval version is not exactly cost effective, most folks use either white brandy or vodka (or other distilled spirits). It is important to know that most folks who swear they're doing it the period way are in fact using a very 21rst century approach. Thus, avoid the word 'cordial' and use 'liqueur' instead. Huge peeve of mine. 

Stepping off the soapbox, here's a very basic recipe:

1 cup fruit 
1 cup distilled liquor (generally white brandy--don't bother with expensive stuff because when you're done you won't know the difference)
Use a glass jar with a wide mouth. Large mason jars work great, or large pickle jars. Put the fruit & alcohol in the jar, put the lid on, and stick it in a cabinet. Forget about it for about 3-4 weeks.

Make a sugar syrup: 4 parts sugar to 1 part water. Heat the water in a saucepan and cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (thoroughly dissolved).  Let it cool to room temperature.

Strain off the fruit & reserve the alcohol (obviously). Measure your alcohol. Stir in exactly the same amount of the syrup (1:1 mixture). Stick it back in the jar & let it sit for about 3-4 months. Aging allows the sugar to blend with the alcohol thoroughly. You don't want to see any swirling  when you serve it. 

I have large stickers that I put on my jars, and I note everything that I do as I do it on the sticker. If something turns out really well, that way I know what I did. If something is really bad, I know what not to do next time. Letting it age is crucial. Something can taste one way and then 3 months later taste completely different. The longer you let it age, the better it is.

If you want to use nuts: you'll need to let it age at least a year. Nuts have oils in them that require more time for flavors to blend. 
Spices are somewhere in between. Use spices as though you're making tea, except the liquor is your water. 
I use coffee filters to do a lot of straining. Beware of pears and plums; they are mealy and will take forever to clarify, but they taste really yummy. They simply require more work.

Have fun with it!
 -- Ceara ní Néill
http://www.HouseBarra.com
Experience is what you get, when things go awry.





________________________________
From: M'lady Foxy <angellfoxx at yahoo.com>
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Sent: Fri, April 9, 2010 7:04:29 PM
Subject: [MR] Brewing question

Ok know this is dumb question but.... want to try my hand a making a cordial..can someone (prepares for flood of response) advise me of recipe and materials needed?