Ginger Liqueur Recipe

Yield: Roughly 500 ml concentrate, enough to make 2 liters of finished liqueur.

Liqueurs are surprisingly easy to create. They are essentially just some fruit or vegetable extract plus sugar and alcohol.

Ingredients

• 250 g fresh ginger root
• 1 liter unflavored vodka or white rum
• 500 ml granulated sugar

Equipment

• Blender
• Large mixing bowl
• 2 large Mason jars
• Disposable gloves
• Coffee filters

Step 1 - Create a ginger extract

1. Break up the ginger root as much as you can by hand.
2. Cut off any dead or ugly parts.
3. Scrub off the surface and any remaining dirty parts with the rough side of a kitchen sponge. Don't worry about getting every speck as the alcohol will sterilize it.
4. Chop the remainder into chunks and put them in a blender.
5. Add the alcohol and blend them into a thick mash. Do not blend any longer than needed to produce a mash. To get it to blend, you may want to do this in 2 or 3 batches or to stop and stir a few times or add a little more alcohol if those things aren't enough. Just try to use the least amount of alcohol that will do the job.
6. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
7. Wearing disposable gloves, squeeze the pulp for a few minutes, then remove as much of the pulp as you can by hand.
8. Pour the mixture into a mason jar and let the ginger starch settle to the bottom overnight.
9. carefully pour off the clear liquid through a coffee filter into another mason jar.
10. You may want to repeat this step a couple times depending upon how clear a result you want. A bit of milkiness is fine and largely unavoidable. Congratulations, you now have a ginger extract!

Step 2 - Create a ginger liqueur concentrate

Note how much extract you ended up with and add the same amount of sugar. Do not heat it up as it will disolve on it's own. You can shake it occasionally. It should all disolve overnight. You now have a ginger liqueur concentrate! This concentrate can be used in many ways, such as drizzling onto ice cream or added to drinks. A tiny bit goes a very long way.

Step 3 - Create the final ginger liqueur

To produce the final drinkable liqueur, simply mix one part ginger liqueur concentrate with 2 to 4 parts alcohol depending upon your taste. You can convert it all immediately, make small batches as needed, or just mix up one cordial glass at a time at whatever concentration you prefer at the moment. Fill attractive clear bottles to make excellent gifts.

This is just a basic ginger liqueur that I developed on my own, and the same approach can be used with other things. Experiment with other proportions or additives that interest you. Maybe add some lemon extract, mint, or clove. Get creative and enjoy your very own refreshing ginger liqueur!