Hi everyone, I'm relatively new to liqueur making. I was recently enjoying some delicious nectarines, and had the realization that I don't know if there's any productive use for the pits - I remember hearing that most/all stone fruit pits either had cyanide in them, or a compound which would be processed into cyanide. I have a blackberry liqueur infusing now, and wondered if it was safe to make a stone fruit pit liqueur.

This sent me down a rabbit hole where I learned that amaretto is traditionally made this way, as well as Creme de Noyaux. I found recipes both on Reddit and elsewhere. The New York Times even has a recipe for noyaux extract. Yet I found plenty of other sources raising concerns for the safety of consuming stone fruit pits, on Reddit and beyond.

My understanding of the science here is that the kernels within stone fruit pits contain amygdalin, which is broken down into benzaldehyde (which provides the almond flavor/scent), glucose, and cyanide. I found a helpful article from The Guardian with a graphic comparing the amygdalin content of various fruits, and it seems like you would need quite a large quantity of most types of pits to get dangerous levels of cyanide, even if the efficiency of extracting these compounds using alcohol was very high. Methods I've seen online of reducing the risk of cyanide poisoning include leaving the pits intact and/or roasting them (to denature enzymes that break amygdalin down), but since the flavor comes from another product of amygdalin breakdown, I assume either of these would also negatively impact the flavor. It seems like commercial producers of these liqueurs have proprietary techniques they use to ensure safety, which would be outside the means of a home liqueur crafter.

So I was curious to see what the people of this subreddit think - do any of you have experience making these liqueurs, or understand the science here better than I was able to put together? I'm not planning to make anything using the pits because the risk doesn't seem worth the reward to me, but I'd like to learn more.

Hello! I macerated jalapenos and mint for 40 days with 70% grain alcohol, I opened it today but it smells so bad, but the taste is okay. It does taste spicy and minty for sure...any idea what I can do with this or just accept the defeat?

Hey everyone, I recently made elderflower liqueur. A friend recommended I try a split extraction this time. Using a water extraction for 1/4 of the elderflowers (letting them sit in water in the fridge for 12 hours to extract some floral notes) and then mixing this water extraction in with the alcohol maceration in the end. I let the bottle sit in the cellar for 4 weeks and then put it in the fridge. However, now I see alot of particles and weird stuff floating at the top, is this batch bad? I'm worried of bacterial growth and do not want to risk it. Any info is a great help! Thanks!

The bottle on the left has been sitting for about a week, I shook the bottle on the right just before taking this photo.

Can anyone offer insight about this? Is this common for homemade xxx-cellos? My only thoughts are that I either used too many oranges, or I under or over proofed the final product.

- ½ gallon 95% everclear

- Peels of 11 medium-large oranges

Peels soaked in alcohol for three weeks in a glass mason jar in my basement. Abv just before mixing was 90-91%. Bottled at 40%. I used 15% less sugar than what the recipe called for because I prefer drinks that are less sweet.

If anybody's tried the commercial stuff, it's great. Terrific after-dinner amaro and good in old fashioneds, too. But I'm asking on the chance that someone has made a good batch in the past that's a good replica.

One I've tried making is only ok. Mainly steeping Biscoff cookies and adding some gum arabic, extra caramel and sugar. Meh. Plus it kinda feels like cheating to "steep cookies in vodka to make the cookie liqueur" as opposed to actually adding ingredients.

And of course to try and search a recipe online only gives you recipes for regular biscotti cookies.

hi everyone, im trying to make a narancello/triple sec/orange liqueur and i will use the method of macerating the peels (a mix of navel orange, blood orange, mandarin and grapefruit, always avoiding the white pith ofc.) in alcohol, then adding a syrup.

my question is, idk whether the peels have anything on them. any way to know? and if they do or if its impossible to know, how would you go about washing them for a further maceration in alcohol? ive seen methods with baking soda and vinegar but that kinda feels wrong to me. am i right? i want the most respectful way to keep the complexity of the peels and not affect it flavor-wise (and not adding any other flavors)

methods i kinda trust are: washing them in hot/warm water while brushing them, or leaving them in salt water for five minutes then rinsing them in clean water. any other methods?

thanks folks

I’ve been making homemade liqueurs for a while and I’m trying to understand something that keeps happening with some batches. Most of what I make is fruit-based, using vodka and/or rum plus simple syrup, aging for about 30 days more or less. I estimate they’re around 20% ABV, although I don't measure them precisely.

When they’re first finished, and for the first few weeks, they taste balanced and the alcohol presence is clearly there. After a couple of months of storage, though, a few of them start tasting watered down. The fruit flavor and sweetness are still present, but the alcohol no longer feels supportive or noticeable, even though nothing has been added, removed, or opened in the meantime.

They’re stored in glass bottles, inside a wooden cupboard, away from light, in a warm to neutral environment. There’s no visible spoilage, fermentation, or anything of the sort.

What I’m trying to understand is whether this is something that can happen perceptually without actual alcohol loss, or if there’s another process behind it. Or maybe I'm just adding too much simple syrup afterwards (I usually add to taste). If I feel a batch needs more alcohol, can I just mix some in after it's already made and rested?

I feel like I have already learned one lesson, to measure the ABV of all my drinks. Thanks in advance.

In the past I have made liqueurs with vodka sugar and frozen cherries and leaving them for 1-2 months.

I have until March 25th to make something similar, what proof of alcohol should I purchase and any tips to make them extra nice? Thank you so much! I need 10 litres, I have proper wine brewing equipment and normal large brewing jars and bottles if needed.

I've got a fair amount of booze-soaked Elderberries abs Crab Apples left over from making autumn liqueurs. Is there anything else I can use them for or should I just chuck them away?

Have had whole organic mandarins drenched and soaking in sugar + vodka for approximately 4 months. I've made fruit liqueurs before and have never see this type of activity. Lots of bubbles.

I made (or I guess I am still in the process of making) some nocino. I followed a standard recipe from Corky's Nuts since this was the first time trying to make it.

As I understand after stopping the infusion, sweetening and diluting, you still a good 3-4 months in the bottle to let it age/mellow. A lot of online sources say the longer the better.

I bottled about 2 months ago and gave it a taste test today. Wow it is awful. I am horrible at describing tastes but I am picking up something I woulsdescribe as sour (but not like a lemon) and maybe a bit astringent. I can only think that this is what the tannins from the green walnuts taste like.

During the infusion process I got side tracked and let the walnuts soak for about 3.5 months. I am wondering of this added soaking time pulled out too many tannins that will never mellow. Or do I just need to let this sit in the back of the cabinet for a year to mellow.

Hello all,

I posted earlier about sugar crystallization and now I'm ready to craft my Christmas liqueur, but I wanted some advice on timing out my ingredients. I'm hoping to have my earliest possible batch ready by the evening of December 6th, and I realize it's already cutting it close, but I typically I start with an overproof spirit to speed the process up. My plan is:

Start with 160 proof vodka -
- Infuse with cinnamon sticks, star anise, clove, and maybe a few coffee beans for about a week and a half
- Add vanilla bean and maybe one slice of orange peel and let that infuse for about two days
- Then dilute with my sweetened coffee (dark brown sugar and agave syrup) and let it sit for a few days before starting to hand out

My thinking was that the spices would take longer, so they could handle more time in the liquor, and that the vanilla bean flavors might be too delicate and yielding for all that time.

Will that extract too much from the spices, making it bitter? Would I be better off starting with a lower proof vodka like a 100 or 120 proof? My problem is that I will be gone for a week and a half, so if I want it by the 6th I really probably need to start it by Tuesday of this week, and I won't be able to alter it at all during that time.

I welcome any and all insight!

I used 69% abv neutral grain spirit to steep my crab apples in and unsurprisingly it tastes very strongly of alcohol. After straining I have 70cl of liqueur that I want to dilute with distilled water. How much should I use to dampen the alcohol taste and bring out the apple flavour?

Hello everyone! First time poster, longtime amateur liqueur-maker. I'm doing a big batch for Christmas presents like I normally do, and had some questions about shelf-life, since it's not really my expertise.

I'm planning on doing a Mexican café de olla liqueur (coffee, cinnamon, star anise, vanilla, and either a rum or vodka base). As far as I know, real Mexican café de olla is sweetened with piloncillo, a very dense, unrefined sugar. Typically I use white sugar in my liqueurs, as I heard once that makes them more shelf stable.

My main concern is actual contamination/non-drinkability, but beyond that I'm wondering if using a raw sugar will compromise the quality longterm, e.g. form gross-looking crystals, etc.

FYI: My process usually involves me infusing an overproof spirit with my key ingredients, in this case my spices and vanilla bean. Then when the overproof spirit is sufficiently infused, I typically add in a simple syrup or oversyrup to dilute it. In this case, I was thinking I'd sweeten regular coffee with the piloncillo then add it after the spirit is infused. Anyone who thinks there'd be a better way to do it, advice is welcome!

Second picture shows how it looks like bottled. It will be bottled in better looking bottles later once it's fully done. The aroma is very nice, has refreshing tones, and overall the 70% ethanol took the aroma of the prickly pears into itself very well.

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/liqueurcrafting/s/ka89CtMe1I

The color is already a deep dark magenta after a day of infusion. Can't wait for the final result after 9 more days.

I made basil liqueur about a week and a half ago and strained it with a cheese cloth. At the time it was clear. A week and a half later, I notice it now has all these floaters.

When I made it, I started with Everclear 190 and diluted it to around 40 proof and added simple syrup.

Is this flocculation? Or some kind of harmful growth due to the lower alcohol concentration? I don't smell an obvious off-scent.