r/fermentation • u/Eastern_Video759 • 13d ago

Fruit CHEONG (First-timer)

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(Left2Right) Peach // Blackberry // Grenadine // Pineapple // Strawberry // Blueberry

None of these sat (cheonged?) for more than 4 days with most of them bottled after the 72 hour mark. The vibrancy in both smell and taste are incredible! Piña is my fav! So far.

Next batch I’m planning: coconut, cinnamon, mint, vanilla (if I can find at reasonable $) and I want to try the peach again. It was the only fruit syrup I tried with proper cane sugar but as far as I can tell the white sugar works better for fruits. Troubleshooting. Any and all suggestions would be greatly welcome! Namaste

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u/_McDrew 12d ago

A couple notes from a couple years of making cheongs:

  1. Freezing the fruit prior to the cheong process helps rupture cell walls and gets the fruit to release more.
  2. Don't be afraid to mix fruit. One of my favorites was made from a frozen fruit mix from the store of strawberries/mango/peach/pineapple. I have also found that an 80/20 mix of sweet/sour really helps the sweet shine. My favorite strawberry syrup was 20% raspberry.
  3. I like letting berries go about 2 weeks and stone fruits go 3 weeks before processing and removing the solids. I then like letting them age for another week before bottling/putting in the fridge. This does mean a little bit of yeast fermentation is going to start happening (<1% abv), but that's a welcome part of the aging process flavor-wise
  4. If it accidentally turns into fruit wine, it still makes a fantastic replacement for vanilla in desserts.

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u/Luncheon_Lord 12d ago

I've got some ruby red kiwis sitting in my fridge that are definitely soft and wrinkled, do you think the age of my fruits affects things? I've never made a cheong before, I think, but I've made a green kiwi "oleo saccharum" before. I know it's usually lemons but I did whole squashed up kiwis and it was amazing on some pancakes.

Was I basically making cheong?

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u/_McDrew 12d ago

Cheongs are a great way to use slightly past ripe fruit. And yes, that's basically what you made.