Making Your Own Cordial

While it's not legal to distill liquor or make your own vodka from potatoes, it is legal to blend fruit with vodka or gin to create a cordial or liqueur. You can't sell what you make, but there's nothing stopping you and your date from getting a little buzzed on your homemade hootch. Plus you get two extra dates out of this: one to strain and bottle, and one to sip the spoils.

Making your own liqueur or cordial is simple and inexpensive. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two. You can use blackberries, raspberries or just about any other kind of fruit you can get your hands on. A couple of weeks after throwing the concoction together, your homemade rocket fuel will be ready for sipping or putting on ice cream. You can also give it to friends as a neat gift. We can't make enough of it around here. The hills are full of blackberries which make a seriously mean cordial.

COST

Allow $7 to $25, which includes the cost of the alcohol that you use as the base, and the fruit. RECIPES AND AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE

It's the mother of all cordial-making websites—read all you can on the brief but informative www.guntheranderson.com/liqueurs.htm. There are helpful tips on everything from bottling and corking to some very thoughtful and well-planned liqueur recipes.

The internet is a great resource for recipes. Try doing a search under "cordial recipes" or "making liqueur." The library may have recipe books as well.

TONI'S MOM'S RECIPE FOR BLACKBERRY CORDIAL

The woman who gave Toni's mom this recipe lived to be about 200 years old, and attributed her longevity to this libation.

Use a one-gallon glass container with a lid. Fill it half full with whole berries. Add 2 lbs. of sugar cubes. Mix with the berries. Top it off with seriously cheap vodka.

Let it set for 6 to 8 weeks. During the first ten days, swirl it a few times each day without taking the lid off. After that, swirl it once a week. When it's done, strain the mixture through cheese cloth, squeezing the juice out of the berries. You don't want the seeds or skins in the cordial.

RASPBERRY CORDIAL

Place the following ingredients into a large glass jar with a lid:

• 2 cups of crushed raspberries (about 1 qt. whole berries)
• 3 cups of vodka
• 1.5 cups of simple syrup, made by combining 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar (save what's left over)
• 2 cups of vodka (mix in, cover the jar tightly and steep for one week)

After one week, strain the mixture through a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Add one more cup of vodka and the leftover simple syrup. Pour into a bottle and cap the mixture. Allow it to sit at least two more weeks before drinking. The longer it sits, the better.

DRIED FRUIT LIQUEUR

Place the following ingredients into a large glass jar with a lid:

• 1 lb. dried fruit (apricots or peaches)
• 3/4 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup brandy
• 2 cups sugar

Stir until well blended. Cover tightly and let stand at room temperature for at least one week, swirling occasionally. Allow the mixture to sit for 3 to 4 weeks before drinking. While the liqueur will last indefinitely, the fruit should be removed after 4 weeks. You can eat the fruit. It's almost as good as the liqueur.