How to make Strawberry Vodka Liqueur

Last summer we went strawberry picking. I enjoyed it so much I ended up with far too many strawberries. Some we ate fresh, of course – with and without cream. I made a lot into strawberry jam (though it didn’t set so I have several jars of what I’m calling strawberry sauce for ice-cream!). And some went into strawberry ice-cream.

The rest I decided to make into strawberry vodka, having been inspired by friends’ efforts.

 

First, I weighed my hulled and chopped strawberries. I wanted something sweet and rich so I used an equal weight of fruit and sugar. You can use less, of course – as little as half weight of the fruit. My friend recommended using about 1.25 to 1.5 times spirit to weight of fruit. I chose vodka but you can use gin, if you prefer.

With my three ingredients measured out, I divided them between five jars (somwhat approximately, since the jars were different sizes), sealed them tightly and left them in the (dark, cool) larder for just over 6 months.

  

For the first few weeks, I shook and turned them once a week or so. After that, I left them untouched.

By the time I went back to them, the colour had leached out of the fruit and into the vodka. The liquid seemed much more viscous than the original vodka.

Pete had to help me open the jars; the lids on four of them were jammed on very tight indeed! I strained the contents through muslin straight into a large measuring jug, the easier to then bottle it.

 

I deliberately mixed the results of all five jars together as I figured some might be more or less sweet or more or less alcoholic, as I’d not shared the ingredients exactly according to the different jar sizes. I wanted a single finished liqueur.

The results are absolutely fantastic!

I’ve called it a strawberry vodka liqueur rather than just strawberry vodka because it’s really thick and syrupy, very rich and sweet and has a really strong flavour.

We poured it into some saved alcohol bottles to store.

I didn’t make much as I didn’t realise how fabulous it would be but my plan is to make lots more next strawberry season so that I can share it as gifts for friends.

P.S. The alcohol soaked fruit wasn’t wasted – we had it alongside some home-made lemon posset that evening!

Homemade Strawberry Vodka Liqueur

Strawberries, chopped, hulled and weighed
Sugar (same weight as strawberries)
Vodka (1.25 times weight/volume of strawberries)

  • Combine ingredients and seal into an airtight glass jar.
  • For the first few weeks, shake and turn regularly, to help the sugar dissolve and flavours mix.
  • Leave to mature for at least 3-4 months; the longer the better.
  • Strain through muslin for a clearer finished result.
  • Bottle and enjoy for as long as it lasts!

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22 Comments to "How to make Strawberry Vodka Liqueur"

  1. azélias kitchen

    heck right now I could use some…throat is sore..cough..cough…send me over some 😉

    I love mandarin liqueur…fruity so I expect this one to be fruity too?

    Reply
  2. Liz

    This looks wonderful ! I made sloe vodka with vanilla and cinnamon last autumn – never again! Cough mixture anyone?

    Reply
    Sandy

    Why on earth put cinammon in a sweet liqueur? Yuk!! Try sloe gin instead, it makes a delicious liqueur. Pretty much the same as the strawberry vodka, just gin, fruit and sugar – measurements available on the internet. Enjoy!!

    Reply
  3. Debs @ DKC

    Oh yes now we're drinking, sorry talking! This is definitely my kinda recipe.

    Will have to stock up on jars and strawberries when next available over here and get brewing LOL.

    Can't wait to try this. Unless of course you take pity on a sick women stuck in hospital STILL and send some to me for medicinal purposes LOL.

    Reply
  4. Kavey

    Azelia, I'm making some others tomorrow, or at least, starting them off. Am going to do a clementine one as it's my favourite of the orange family!

    Ruduss, thanks, it tastes good too!

    Liz, uugh, cinnamon can be so overpowering if too strong…

    Debs, ha, good try! I can just see the telling off I'd get sending alcohol to an inpatient in a hospital!!! Do have a go though!

    Reply
  5. azélias kitchen

    ooohh I had that thought this morning as soon as I posted to make some citrus ones and snap clementines are my favourite of the family, parents have trees in their garden!

    ok – if I'm better at the weekend I'll set to work..lovely!

    Reply
  6. celia

    Kavey, I didn't think it was possible to have too many homepicked strawberries! Having said that, your strawberry liqueur looks amazing – we made a plum brandy last year on similar lines.

    Reply
  7. Kavey

    Azelia, the clementine vodka is on the go, as is some coffee vodka as well!

    Helen, am not into whisky but that sounds different!

    Debs, it's so easy, don't even need that much organising!

    Celia, fair point but we had a lot more than just that single basket!!!

    Reply
  8. Kavey

    Amcoo, best of luck, hope it works as well for you!

    Grubworm, I'm wary of adding spices as I reckon they extract so well they can easily overwhelm the fruit and make things taste medicinal. Pear sounds amazing, and I adore pear. Another one to add to my list!

    Reply
  9. Billy

    I’m rather late to the party on this, but as an alternative to vodka try using bourbon – I made some strawberry ratafia (although I’m not sure how accurate calling it ratafia is) in a similar manner to above but using bourbon instead and it worked rather well. The fact that bourbon has its own sweetness means that you may not need as much sugar and adds a richness to the flavour you don’t get with vodka (which is excellent at extracting flavour but doesn’t add anything of its own).

    This reminds me, I should start working out what booze experiments to do this year…

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Aah, great idea, thanks for the tip, should definitely try this next time, we do have some bourbon in the house but not stuff I’d use for this, so maybe picking up a less expensive one first!!!

    Reply
  10. Lily

    I have lots of frozen strawberries would they be ok for making strawberry vodka?

    Reply
    kaveyeats

    Lily, I’d think so, I’ve never tried but I’d be comfortable about trying.

    Reply

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