Tonics made with your homemade dark berry syrups are extra special. Make a big batch of syrup if you have lots of berries (scale up recipe as needed) or a small half-batch as I did recently with my 2 cups of precious, hand picked black currants. Any edible dark berry will do: black or red currants, juneberries/serviceberries/(saskatoon berries if you’re in Canada), haskaps, chokecherries, cranberries, even frozen blackberries.
Bonus: make your own flavored vodka with the leftover pulp, how-to at end of recipe. Not for chokecherries as their seeds are toxic.
For tonic time, add a splash to mixed drinks using tonic or sparkling water (alcohol optional).
Black Currant Juice Concentrate for Tonics
makes 1–2 pints (keep refrigerated or frozen unless you are preserving with a home canning method); adapted from Outi Pulkkinen and Edible Bozeman Fall 2021; recipe can be halved
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 4 cups black currants or other edible berries stems and leaves removed as best you can
- 1 cup granulated sugar or honey
Instructions
-
Bring water to boil in a large stainless-steel pot. In a separate bowl, lightly crush the berries then add them to the boiling water. Boil the berries until they turn pale in color, about 10–15 minutes. Smush the berries against the sides of the pot a few times while boiling.
-
Have a second pot ready with a strainer and cheesecloth. Pour the boiled berry pulp through the cheesecloth and let it drain without squeezing for a clearer juice.
-
Once strained, bring the juice to boil and skim off any foam from the surface. Stir in the sugar or cool the juice slightly and stir in the honey instead. Pour into bottles while still hot and store in the refrigerator or freezer, making sure you leave room for expansion if you freeze.
Black Currant Flavored Vodka (do not use chokecherrry pulp in this manner as the seeds are toxic)
-
Cover the leftover pulp with vodka and a little sugar or honey to sweeten. Let steep for a week or so, shake to mix it up daily, strain the pulp out, and bottle.
