Homemade Milk Liquor

[jak1010]

I've heard about this for a while and wanted to try it years ago but with all the beer, wine and mead I brew it just never happened.

I put this together at the end of December 2013 and I'm very impressed. It's not really brewing since all you have to do is assemble the ingredients. I was skeptical at first but it turned out great.

I did the recipe below and for the fruit, I used 1 orange, 1/2 of a lemon and 1/2 of a lime. Now that it's done and I like it, I can't wait to try adding chocolate or brown sugar or other fruit additions.

Makes about 1 quart of liqueur

2 cups vodka
2 cups whole or 2% milk (non-UHT pasteurized for best results*)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 (or more) of lemon or other citrus, juice and rind**

Mix everything together in a clean glass container with a tight-sealing lid. Shake vigorously and store in a cool, dark place for 10 days. Give the container a few shakes every day.

After 10 days, the liqueur is ready. Strain through a double-layer of cheese cloth or a coffee filter to catch the milk solids and clarify the liqueur. More rounds of straining will result in a cleaner, clearer liqueur.

Transfer to a clean container and store for up to several months.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'm curious about this? What does it taste like?

 

[jak1010]

I'm a big fan of the sweeter sipping drinks like Grand Marnier, Irish Mist and Drambuie so this perfect for me. It's strong sweet and has a citrus flavor. It's delicious to me. Comes out yellowish and smooth.

 

[jak1010]

Do a quick Google search for "milk liqueur" and you'll see a few. I like the variation possibilities.

 

[nutty_gnome]

Seems like the milk is getting in the way of the works for a typical screwdriver cocktail - vodka, sugar and citrus. What does the milk offer here?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[jak1010]

I'm not certain but I can say that by following the entire recipe, I was able to take a dirt cheap bottle of vodka and turn it into the equivalent of a $25-$35 bottle of liqueur in just over 10 days.

 

[Paps]

If i recall correctly the acids found in the lemons is pout in milk as part of the cheese making process. Now i am aware that you aren't cooking this but do you get cheese like flavors?

 

[jak1010]

None that I can detect. To me, it tastes like an orange creamcicle. Has the consistency of a liqueur similar to Grand Marnier. I'm going to do another batch and use just oranges and pieces of milk chocolate. Trying for a Godiva like liqueur.

 

[PatrickSweetman]

We have a problem with terminology. According to Google, Americans call the sweetened liqueurs "cordials". And liquors, the subject of this forum, are things like whiskey, whisky, bourbon, and similar distilled spirits.

I would propose that we have separate forums to discuss distilled spirits such as Gin, Brandy, etc (which are all commercial) and cordials or liqueurs such as Irish Cream, Benedictine, etc, including home made liqueurs made from vodka or pure alcohol.

To non-Americans a cordial is a non-alcoholic fruit concentrate that is made into a fruit beverage by the addition of water.

Edit: sorting out all the trans-Atlantic spelling

 

[Asgard]

As a midwestern American, I can tell you that 'cordials' just isn't in the lexicon and we definitely call sweetened liquor 'liqueur'. But I'm always impressed by how much words like these vary by region.

 

[dinnerstick]

Hi I make a drink like the one you mention, it's called 'crema di limoncello', a milky version of the famous italian dessert liqueur. It's very popular, i always keep it on hand. here's the skinny
peel the outer rind off a few (5-6) lemons. use a vegetable peeler and avoid the white pith under the zesty outside, but don't worry about it too much. soak them in alcohol, i use 500 ml pure (95%) ethanol but you could also use vodka, use more.
after 3-4 days, strain off the peels. the alcohol should be bright yellow and smell amazingly lemony.
bring 1 liter whole milk and 1 kg white sugar to boil, add some vanilla extract or scrape out a vanilla bean. once it reaches a boil (watch carefully, and stir!) shut off heat and leave to cool. once cool combine the milk and the alcohol, and you're done. it's a pale opaque milky yellow, and it's delicious after dinner served chilled. you can reduce the sugar content, as it's quite sweet.

 

[jak1010]

Hi I make a drink like the one you mention, it's called 'crema di limoncello', a milky version of the famous italian dessert liqueur. It's very popular, i always keep it on hand. here's the skinny
peel the outer rind off a few (5-6) lemons. use a vegetable peeler and avoid the white pith under the zesty outside, but don't worry about it too much. soak them in alcohol, i use 500 ml pure (95%) ethanol but you could also use vodka, use more.
after 3-4 days, strain off the peels. the alcohol should be bright yellow and smell amazingly lemony.
bring 1 liter whole milk and 1 kg white sugar to boil, add some vanilla extract or scrape out a vanilla bean. once it reaches a boil (watch carefully, and stir!) shut off heat and leave to cool. once cool combine the milk and the alcohol, and you're done. it's a pale opaque milky yellow, and it's delicious after dinner served chilled. you can reduce the sugar content, as it's quite sweet.

Nice, I'll put this on my "try it next" list.

 

[TxBigHops]

I would propose that we have separate forums to discuss distilled spirits such as Gin, Brandy, etc (which are all commercial) and cordials or liqueurs such as Irish Cream, Benedictine, etc, including home made liqueurs made from vodka or pure alcohol.

You can't possibly be serious??? There are a total of 14 threads in this forum, and you want to break it into two separate forums? How about if you open a thread that doesn't interest you, you just move on to the next one.

 

[jak1010]

My last one was chocolate. I took 2 cups of cheap vodka, 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of whole milk and 1 bar of Hershey's chocolate. I also squeezed a bit of lemon juice (advice from a friend) to bring out the chocolate flavor. I put this in a container for 14 days, shaking it once or twice a day, and left it out at room temp the whole time. 2 weeks after I started it, it looked kinda funny and smelled great. I strained it through cheesecloth and added a splash of vanilla extract. Smells and tastes great. Amazing what you can get from a cheap bottle of vodka. Good stuff. Let me know if you try this or any other variation. Next is something with fruit and mint.

 

[indymedic]

I have a jar of this in my fridge it's about 5 months old. I take a swig every once in a while. Mine had lemons and oranges in it. As said before. It tastes kind of like a creamsicle. Very sweet and kind of syrup like. I found it a pain in the ass to strain/filter the final product which it part of the reason I have not made any more. It was very cheap to make though. I would recommend trying it out once though for everyone.