Red currant syrup is a specialty from Austria and Southern Germany. We prepare this syrup when red currants are ripe, which is from mid-June to mid-July.
Our technique is to not cook the berries. Instead, the red currants are left to infuse, which retains all delicate flavors, and the infusion is then bottled.
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TL;DR
We have been making Red Currant syrup in Austria for as long as we can remember.
My grandmother used to make it, our neighbors do, and so on. This red currant recipe is an authentic family recipe.
Red Currant berry bushes are commonly found in people's gardens in the Austrian alps.
The plus point of making my red currant cordial recipe is that there is NO COOKING!
We let the fresh fruits sit in sugar and citric acid, which helps the syrup to preserve longer (see further below for full instruction).
If you don't know what to make of your Red Currant harvest, then just make this red currant syrup, or our all-natural red currant jelly, it's the easiest and most effortless idea ever!
For more inspiration, see my Red Currant Recipe Collection.
Ingredients
- Red Currants — Freshly picked. Keep in mind, red currants are in season from mid-June to mid-July. We have never tried this recipe with frozen fruits (let me know if you do).
- Water — fresh and cool.
- Citric Acid — Helps in preserving. Look out for food grade citric acid.
- Sorbic Acid — Get only Food grade sorbic acid! This is needed to keep mold away, and sorbic acid a common food preservative all over the world (including the tightly controlled EU).
How to make your syrup?
Don't fret at the thought of preparing homemade no-cook syrup, it's not that difficult, and it won't take up much of your precious time.
You will need 30 minutes in total and 2 days + 5 hours waiting time to make this from scratch.
Here is the process in pictures with the recipe card below and the video.
Step 1
Pick your fruits fresh from your bush and collect them in a bucket. Remove all greens and leaves.
Rinse fruits in water (add a dash of vinegar to kill insects).
Weigh your fruits.
Step 2
Place your fruits into a large clean bucket.
Pour water and citric acid over the fresh berries and mix it all well.
Step 3
Close the bucket with the lid.
Leave to infuse for 2 days. Stir every day 1–2 times.
Step 4
After two days, stir in sugar and sorbic acid. Mix it all well, the sugar needs to be completely dissolved.
Leave to infuse for 5 more hours.
Step 5
Time to strain and bottle your syrup. Place strainer over funnel and keep funnel in your clean bottles.
Pour a ladle at a time, so that the infused syrup drops through the sieve and funnel into the bottle.
Repeat the process, fill up bottles and clear out the bucket.
Step 6
Close each bottle well with a bottle cap. Clean your bottles (they will be sticky) by taking them through running water.
Label and store bottles. (see storing instruction below recipe card) or use directly with water as a drink.
📖 Recipe
No-Cook Red Currant Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
For the Syrup:
- 4.4 Pounds Red Currants fresh, cleaned without leaves
- 10 Cups Water
- ¼ Cup Citric Acid
- 10 Cups Sugar *See Notes
- 1 Tablespoon Sorbic Acid
Instructions
To prep fresh berries
- Pick your fruits from the bush and remove all green parts, including leaves. Rinse berries in clear water. We normally add a dash of vinegar (white wine or distilled vinegar) so to get rid of insects.
- Weigh your berries.4.4 Pounds Red Currants
- Place your berries into a clean food grade bucket.
- Pour water over the berries and add all the citric acid. Mix it all well.10 Cups Water, ¼ Cup Citric Acid
- Close your bucket with a lid.
To infuse
- Leave to infuse for 2 days in total. Stir 1–2 times a day during the infusion period, and always close the bucket with the lid again so that no impurities get in.
- Two days later, the berries will have lost some of their gorgeous red colors. At this point, add in the sugar and the sorbic acid.10 Cups Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Sorbic Acid
- Mix the whole content well again so that the sugar is well dissolved.
- With the sugar and sorbic acid added to the redcurrants, leave to sit 5 hours.
Bottle syrup
- Prepare and place a sieve over your funnel and put the funnel into your first clean bottle opening.
- With a ladle, take out the infusion and pour it through the sieve and funnel into the bottle.
- Repeat the process, empty your bucket and fill up all your clean bottles. Press the berries through the sieve to take out and collect all the infused syrup. Discard the berry mash.
- Close your bottles with a clean bottle cap. Clean the bottles under running water to get rid of all stickiness. Dry them with a kitchen towel and label with name and date.
- Store bottles in a cool and dry place on a shelf. I don't recommend keeping them on the floor in your cellar due to temperature differences.
Notes
Equipment
- 1 Large Bucket with a Lid food grade (buckets for fermentation are ok too)
- 1 Fine-Mesh Strainer large
- 8 16 oz or 500 ml Glass Bottles with a Cap clean *see Notes
- 8 labels
Nutrition
Uses
We pour about 1–2 tablespoons of redcurrant syrup into a glass and top it up with fresh cool tap water. You can add ice cubes too.
It's a refreshing, inexpensive summer drink in Europe and the syrup makes the water appear pink, which is aesthetically pleasing.
You can create cocktails and mocktails with this syrup. For example, instead of elderflower syrup, use this red currant syrup with gin. See my elderflower gin cocktail.
Besides, the syrup makes a great unique gift for your family, friends, and neighbors.
In Europe, Red Currant syrup is considered a specialty and a small bottle is usually priced at about €10 in the local farmers market.
Storing
Keep closed bottles on a shelf in a dark place away from sunlight, humidity, and heat.
If you followed all the instructions and worked with clean utensils in a clean kitchen, your red currant syrup would last for up to 12 months.
Once you open a bottle, store in your fridge until you are done with it. Try to finish it within 2 weeks.
If you notice that your red currant syrup is getting cloudy and slimy after a few months, discard it immediately, as it has expired. This can happen if you live in a tropical climate.
Redcurrant syrup is typically prepared by the end of June or beginning of July, and we tend to finish them all by the end of the summer. However, we prepare a lot, so drinking red currant cordial in winter has become a norm.
I recommend that you label your bottles with name and date. You will thank yourself in the future.
Helene, I would never have thought to make my own cordial. This looks so colourful and refreshing. This year our 2 redcurrant bushes let us down. Perhaps they're just getting old but let's hope in the meantime that they'll provide fruit for next year since I'd love to try this!
I am expanding my bushes with pruning my main bush. It is said that we should prune our bushes to help them yield more in the coming years. Last year I had a great crop and this year slowed down a bit. I will prune my bushes this fall again and start new plants. it takes three years for a new bush to produce . I have a two year old bush with a small crop but next year is the year to see how well it will produce. Keep pruning your bush each fall to help it produce more for you. Gill T for trying to help.
Helen, we both love red currants and your syrup looks gorgeous!
J+C
Cordials are very common in Sri Lanka, but I have never tried to make one at home. This looks amazing. The color is really beautiful.
now that looks refreshing and sweet and just beautiful.
Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous - the red currant syrup is such a pretty color!
Fascinated by such exotic berries. The color of the cordial looks so beautiful and I look forward to taste redcurrants some day 🙂
Helene, I have not seen red currants for years! Yours looks so good! Yum. Very refreshing.
What a gorgeous post Helene! I love the picture of the red current and the syrup they make it very lovely. What a beautiful color! I do love making syrup out of fresh fruit, especially wild fruit. I'd love to find some red currents around here!
Those red currants look like little ruby jewels! Stunning! And what a beautiful syrup - I would love to have some of that in my house!
What gorgeous color the syrup has! And you're right that this is an easy recipe. Now I need to find some red currants! Thanks for this.
What a wonderful idea to use red currants, which, as you already know, I also love and I have grown eating them straight from the bush 🙂 In my family red currant jelly is the most popular way to preserve them, but the syrup is definitely a fantastic thing too. I love tanginess in fruits and find it a pity that so many people turn their backs to tangy fruits... Acidity is the sign they are very healthy too!
Refreshing and divine! That redcurrant picture is lovely.
Cheers,
Rosa