French Cherry Liqueur (Guignolet)
Sour cherry infused spirit is the base of every good Guignolet and you can make french cherry liqueur with ease at home now.
Servings: 2 bottles
Equipment
- 1 Gallon/ 4 liter Canning Glass Jar You can use jars with rubber gaskets or mason jars
- Fine-Mesh Strainer large
- Spoon
Ingredients
- 2.2 pounds Sour Cherries *See Notes
- 2¼ cup Spirit *See Notes
- 2¼ cup Sugar just regular sugar
- 1 quart Red Wine wine of your choice
Instructions
To Infuse
- Collect fresh cherries and wash them in clear water. Remove leaves, impurities, and the stems.
- Weigh your cherries. Do not pit the cherries!2.2 pounds Sour Cherries
- Place your clean cherries into your large canning jar.
- Top with the spirit and close the jar.2¼ cup Spirit
- Leave to macerate and infuse for 1 month. Keep in a dark place away from direct sunlight. We keep it on the floor in the basement.
One Month Later
- After 30 days, strain your cherries and collect the infused, now red, spirit. The cherries can be eaten or used in a cake, so don't waste them!
- Add to the strained cherry spirit all the sugar and the wine.2¼ cup Sugar, 1 quart Red Wine
- Combine well and make sure the sugar dissolves properly.
- Pour the Guignolet into clean bottles and close the bottles.
- Store away from direct sunlight. Use as a drink on its own or add to Cocktails.
Video
Notes
Guignolet is made with sour unpitted cherries and not with sweet cherries. Do not pit the cherries because the cherry pits add flavor to your French cherry liqueur.
For the spirit, the French use eau de vie, which is a transparent, almost tasteless double distilled spirit. You can also use vodka or neutral flavored Schnapps. Look out for the alcohol percentage. We use spirit in the 37%-42% range to make Guignolet.
In Anjou, where the Guignolet originated in France, they use Cabernet grape wines. We prefer lighter red wines, they don't need to be full-bodied.
Most wine bottles are 750 milliliters universally, and therefore, for this recipe you will need more than 1 bottle. BUT you can use one bottle only, and the cherry liqueur will turn out much stronger. Basically, more wine mellows it down.
