Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages usually 30% of alcohol by volume. They are sweet in nature with a variety of flavours.
Ethanol is an alcohol being used for consumption. It has excellent extracting capabilities from organic compounds such as fruits and herbs, which is what we are after.
The color, flavor and aroma will come from the type of fruit used . To make things interesting and certainly more robust, combination of two or more fruits will produce some interesting liqueurs to say the least. If we incorporate some of your favorite cooking extracts to this equation the possibilities are endless.
All of the liqueurs, whether natural or extract, have several main ingredients; the alcohol, sugar and some type of flavour.
Cherry Liqueur: this is the all time favourite, so we will use it as the main example.
Take 1 kg (approx. 2 lb.) of whole sour cherries, remove the stems, and wash them (fresh, pitted cherries are excellent as well). Organic cherries would be the best choice, however if none are available, make sure that you thoroughly wash the fruit.
The majority of orchards use pesticides during the growing season. Pesticides, being organic compounds, will end up in the liqueur unless you get rid of them.
Place the fruit in a sealable container, 1 gal. jar will suffice, and pour 1 kg (approx. 2 lb.) of white granulated sugar over the cherries.
Pour Vodka, 40% by vol., so that fruit is approx.