There is so much that we grow that we make into drinks. Lets share ideas, success and the not so successful

64 Members
Join Us!

You need to be a member of ooooby3 to add comments!

Join ooooby3

Comments are closed.

Comments

  • just made a batch of rhubarb and ginger cordial which I'll put into a water bath. Hubby not fussed about cordials so get to drink it all myself - have a few bottles of elderflower cordial stashed away already.
  • Can anyone tell me what direction do you plant a grape vine? Is it north to South or East to West?

  • I have just opened and scoffed the first of the Rhubarb Fizz i made last month. OMG! It was soooooooo good! And so easy to make- I am going to make another batch today. Rhubarb grows all year round.

  • Hi All

     

    I'm looking for a Kombucha mother - does anyone have a pup that they want to get rid of?

    I'm in Bombay, so would love to pick up from somewhere in South Auckland

    Cheers

     


    T

  •  I have the background gurgle of 17 L of Quince wine noisily expelling CO2as I write. Its also a pleasant quincy fruity aroma. We will be distilling it in about 10 days to make Quince Brandy. I think we will get about 3 L. To make some delicious Quince Liquer I will slow roast Quinces in honey for about 4 hours and put them into 1.5 L of the Quince Brandy. I let it sit for a month then strain it through a coffee filter. If I put it in the back of my cupboard and forget about it for a year - it appears as a deep magenta red in a beautiful bottle a little poured over ice it makes an elegant aperitif very like Dubonnet. For more distiling ideas check our UTUBE Channel - Alembics NZ

  • Thanks for all the advice Sharon and Moggy.  I added more sugar last night and initially it had an effect and it started bubbling away, but this only lasted a couple of hours and nothing is happening now. It's stuck  I'm thinking I'm going to try to restart it by making another yeast starter mix.  I think my first diagnosis might be correct (vinegar fly). I know all the grapes were ripe cos I picked them myself and I checked virtually each bunch (it was a race to ripen them before the first frost).  The yeast was good because I started it before I mixed it in and I followed the exact  process as the first batch I made 3 days earlier.  That batch tastes great and is bubbling away happily.  I'm disappointed cos this was my first attempt at making wine with grapes after having made lots of successful wine with other fruits, flowers and vegetables.  I understood that grape wine was meant to be easier than making wine from other stuff.

    Maybe it'll be my first batch of home made vinegar or maybe I'll try the herbs or the flavourings.  

  • Try it before dismissing it. They have an unexpected effect on wine.

  • Rather than using bought flavourings, herbs are good to add to improve flavour, I have a book which only has recipes for wines with herbs. My favourite is plum and rosemary, it neither tastes like plum nor rosemary but a little like ginger wine.

  • I decided to put it into the demijohn anyway and see how it goes.  First impressions - sour taste, bubbling very slow - totally different to the first batch that was so active it bubbled out of the airlock when I first put in the demijohn (what a mess that was, it splattered the kitchen from ceiling to floor with purple grape must!!). I'm hoping the bubbles will speed up otherwise I'll have to add some more sugar cos I think it must have used all the sugar up.

    Apple wine, hmm, sounds like a great idea.

  • I find wine is always a bit of hit and miss with me, I can follow the same recipe twice and get completely different results 

    I have apple wine on the go at the moment, it was meant to be cider, but it tastes nothing like cider and is strong enough to be wine, so I will just pretend it is meant to be apple wine. :)

This reply was deleted.

Rhubarb Cordial

Not so much a recipe, more a method:) Chop as many stalks of rhubarb as available and barely cover with water. Add a generous knob of sliced fresh ginger and finely grated orange or lemon zest, simmer until the rhubarb is totally soft, the longer the better. Strain the pulp through a large sieve lined with muslin (or a jelly bag). Allow to drip several hours. Measure the liquid, return to a clean pot and add between 300-500 gr sugar per litre of liquid. Bring to the boil and when the sugar…

Read more…
5 Replies

Rhubarb Fizz

I had heard about this drink but never thought to make it until recently. It is delicious.Non alcaholic, fizzy, tart yet sweet, very thirst quenching.    4 cups chopped raw rhubarb 4 cups white sugar 1/2 cup white or wine vinegar( I used Wine vinegar) 1 lemon. 4 1/2 litres water.   Scrub the lemon, chop up and add to rhubarb in a bucket. Add sugar and vinegar and water. Stir well, cover. Let stand for 48 hours, stirring occasionally to disperse the sugar Strain and bottle. Use screw caps and…

Read more…
0 Replies

Mead

If any one happens to also be a beekeeper, I can recommend mead as a simple to prepare drink. I have a demi-john of it bubbling away at the moment.   Basic receipe is:   2 kg of honey to approx 5 litres of water, dissolve, cool and then add yeast.  It will then need to be transfered to a new demi-john every month or so to get the sediment down, and then bottled. It does improve with age. (if you let it).    This batch is flavoured with some hops to reduce the sweet tastes, but it is…

Read more…
2 Replies

Apple Cider Recipe

This is from the NZ Gardener Mag 1.5 kg cooking apples 5.7 litres cooled boiled water 1kg white sugar 3 Lemons Joyce and grated zest Place apples in plastic bags and freeze for 3 days Remove from freezer and let thaw for a couple of hours, until you can chop them into pieces. I chop and add to blender with a little water, peel pips and all. Put the pulp in a 10 litre plastic bucket, I use a couple of Milton Tabs to clean the bucket first. Add the cold boiled water. Cover with tea towel or…

Read more…
1 Reply