Cordials

[darrenlm]

Ive been pondering beginning a cordial. Something raspberry or blueberry. Anyway as things panned out I ended up with a 8yr old port and some fresh ripe red raspberries. So I have a pint mason jar filled 3/4 with red raspberries and filled to the brim with the port, sealed and sitting in a dark cupboard. Anyone have any suggestions or things I should do so that this turns out like a raspberry flavored port?


Thanks.


(If this whole thing flops I couldnt care less. This is more of a tinkering experiment than anything else. Please comment)

 

[Hippie]

I make cordials by mixing 3 equal parts of vodka, fruit, and sugar and topping up quart mason jars with the mixture. I screw the lids down as tight as possible, put somewhere dark and cool, turn once a week, strain and bottle after 1 year. Good exercise in patience.

 

[PolishWineP]

I usually use vodka for that. Or cheaper scotch if I'm making Drambuie. I wouldn't use expensive port on it. But me, I'm cheap!

There's an excellent book out there for cordial, Cordials from Your Kitchen by Pattie Vargas & Rich Gulling. Storey Books Publishing. I've been using it for about 5 years now and love it! Storey Publishing has all sorts of great books and brochures (bulletins) on do-it-yourself stuff. Check them out at http://www.storey.com to see what they have!


You can also order it from Barnes&Noble.com. And I never age them for a year. A good month or two they they're usually quite good. They rarely last a year!Edited by: PolishWineP

 

[Curt]

Darren,


Interesting experiment you have going. Can't see any reason why it shouldn't end up being a raspberry flavored port if you wait long enough. The sugars and alcohol in the port should extract the flavors from the berries. You might want to eat one of the berries when it's all done to see if the juice has been replaced with alcohol. I am doing a blueberry/kiwi port and the fresh berries that I floated in there almost tore my head off when I ate one. I'll be adding a little more brandy to the mix to make it up.

 

[Waldo]

What recipe are you using for your port Curt?