Select Page
The Witch's Library - Your Source for Pagan Information

Drink

Food | Drink | Baking | Waters | Other
Incense | Ink | Oils | Potions | Powders | Soap | Witch Bottles

On this page, you’ll find recipes for all kinds of things you can drink. From a simple herbal tea to brewing your own Mead.
Drink

Catnip Tea

Take 1 teaspoon dried herb or 2 teaspoons fresh herb (aboveground parts, in or out of flower) to 2 dl (1⁄2 pint) boiling water, let steep 5-10 minutes, strain out the plant parts, drink 1-2 cups as needed.

Rose Hip Tea

This tea is meant to inspire tenderness. Prepare 4 cups of Rose Hips tea following the directions on the package, but add 1⁄2 teaspoon of Catnip and 1⁄8 teaspoon of crushed Rosemary. Let the tea steep for 8 to 10 minutes, then strain it and serve unsweetened or with honey. Roses, long associated with love and beauty, and rosemary, which has been related to fidelity, are the key ingredients.

Ginger Ale

Mix 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of ground ginger and 2.5 dl (~8.45 fl. oz) of cold water. Every morning for a week you add 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of ginger. At the end of the week you sift off the water and save the sediment in a jar.

Heat 7.5 dl (~0.2 gallons) of water, 780 g (27.5 oz) sugar and the juice of 3 lemons until the sugar is dissolved. Add the sediment and enough water to make the amount about 1.19 gallons. Stir thoroughly and bottle. Note! Don't fill them all the way up because they can explode. Let them be for 3 weeks.

Nettle Beer

1 bucket of young nettle tops
90 g (~3.17 oz.) of sugar
36 l (9.5 gallons) of water
2 topped tbsp of ground ginger
2 flat tbsp of purified wine stones
30 g (1.1 oz) of fresh or 15 g (0.53 oz) of dry yeast

You need really big containers for this. Boil the nettles and ginger for 20 minutes. Strain the fluid over the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let it sit until the fluid is tepid, add the wine stone and stir. Let it get a bit colder and add the yeast. Don't stir after the yeast has been added.

Cover the container and let it sit over night. Remove the foam on the surface. Strain the liquid twice, bottle and put the cork on tightly. Let it sit for a day or two, but not too long. Pour carefully because of the sediment.

Dandelion Wine

A large container (not metal)
A small barrel
A siphon
Bottles
2.5 l (~0.66 gallons) of flowers (nothing green)
2.5 l (~0.66 gallons) of water
725 g (~1.6 lbs) of sugar
2 lemons/oranges + thinly grated peel
15 g (~0.53 oz.) of well pounded ginger root
15 g (~0.53 oz.) of fresh yeast

Soak the flowers for 24 hours under a lid. Stir now and then. Put it in a big cooking pot, add peel and ginger and let it boil for 30 minutes. Put the sugar in a big container, strain the liquid over it and let it dissolve. Let the liquid cool.

Taste the liquid and if it's needed you can add some of the fruit juice. Dissolve the yeast in some water and carefully stir it in. Stir carefully and cover with a piece of cloth. The liquid will ‘hiccup' for about 2 days. When there aren't any gas bubbles left you pour it in a small barrel.

Put the plug in lightly, after a couple of days you can push it in harder. Forget it for about 2 months. Bottle by means of a siphon. Put the caps on hard and leave for 6 months.

Elder Wine

1 kg (~2.2 lbs) of flowers
1 kg (~2.2 lbs) of sugar
4 l (~1.06 gallons) of water
28 g (~0.99 oz.) of yeast
The juice from 2 lemons/oranges
1 slice of toast

Boil the flowers for 20 minutes and strain carefully. Add sugar and fruit juice and let the sugar dissolve. Boil the liquid for another 20 minutes. Strain into another container and let the liquid cool. Spread the yeast over the slice of toast and let it float on top of the liquid. Cover and leave in a warm place for a day before you bottle.

Elder Champagne

2 big handfuls of flowers
1 lemon
2 tbsp of white wine vinegar
700 g (~1.54 lbs) of sugar
4 l (~1.06 gallons) of water

Mix lemon peel, lemon juice, flowers, sugar and vinegar. Stir, add the water and stir again. Cover and let it sit for a day. Strain the liquid twice and bottle. Put the caps on hard and let it sit dark pace for 3 weeks.

Parsley Wine

450 g (~0.99 lbs) of parsley
4 l (~1.06 gallons) of boiling water
28 g (~0.99 oz.) of scraped and chopped ginger
1.5 kg (~3.3 lbs) of sugar
2 lemons/oranges (juice and thin peel)
15 g (~0.53 oz.) of fresh yeast
1 slice of toast

Put the parsley in a big container and pour the boiling water over it. Cover and let it sit for 24 hours. Strain the liquid into a pot, add ginger and fruit peel and let it boil for 25 minutes. Put sugar and fruit juice in a big container, pour the liquid over it and let the sugar dissolve. Let the fluid cool and spread the yeast over the slice of toast. Let the toast float on the surface.

Cover and let it sit for 5 days (not too hot or dry). Strain and bottle. Put the caps on loosely. If there's no sign of the yeast ‘working' after a few days you can tighten the caps.

I've tested this, it's good and strong and tastes nothing like Parsley.

Ginger Whiskey

1 l (~0.26 gallons) of whisky
28 g (~0.99 oz) of well pounded ginger root
250 g (~8.8 oz) of seedless raisins
780 g (~1.72 lbs) of sugar
1-2 lemons (juice and very thin peel)

Mix it all in a vacuum bottle with a big opening. Shake the bottle well and put the top on. Shake every day for 2 weeks. Strain and bottle.

Marigold Wine

2.5 l (~0.66 gallons) of flowers
2 oranges (juice and thin peel)
1 lemon (juice and thin peel)
1.5 kg (~3.3 lbs) of sugar
4.5 l (~1.19 gallons) of water
15 g (~0.53 oz.) of fresh or 7.5 g (~0.26 oz) of dry yeast

Boil water and sugar. Put flowers, fruit peel and fruit juice in a big ceramic container and pour the sugar solution over. Let it cool and stir in the yeast. Cover and let it sit in a warm place for a week. Strain into another ceramic container and let it sit covered until the fermentation is finished (at least 1 month). Bottle and let them stand for at least a week.

Horehound Beer

60 g (~2.17 oz) of fresh finely chopped herb (leaves + stem). If you want to use dried herb, take less than half the amount.
30 g (~1.06 oz) of pounded fresh ginger root
The juice of 1 lemon
450 g (~0.99 lbs) of brown sugar
2 tbsp of fresh yeast
1 tsp of syrup / molasses
2 pinches of purified wine stone

Cover the herb and the ginger with water in a large pot and bring it to boil slowly. Let it boil evenly for 30 minutes while you from time to time press the content against the side to draw out the good. Take it off the heat, add the sugar and enough water to make it a total of 4 l (~1.06 gallons).

Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Let it sit for 10 minutes and then add lemon juice, syrup and wine stones. When the fluid is cold you add well crumbled yeast. Strain twice and bottle. Let the bottles stand in a dark place for 3 days before you put the caps on.

Meadowsweet Fizz

Equal parts of Meadowsweet, Agrimony and leaves from Wood Betony to a total weight of 75 g (~2.65 oz).
4.5 l (~1.19 gallons) of water
500 g (~1.1 lbs) of sugar

Bring the herbs to boil in the water. Strain the liquid over the sugar, and make sure the sugar dissolves. Let it cool and bottle. Don't fill them all the way up and put the caps on loosely. Let them stand for a week. Doesn't keep for very long.

Meadowsweet Syrup

50 bunches of freshly picked meadowsweet flowers
50 g (~1.8 oz.) of citric acid
1-2 sliced lemons
2 kg (~4.4 lbs) of granulated sugar
1.5 l (~3.2 pints) of water

Put the flowers in a big container (stainless steel or glass) together with the lemon slices. Boil syrup from sugar, water and citric acid. Pour the boiling syrup over the flowers. Leave it in a cool place for 2-5 days. Strain and fill onto clean bottles. Mix with 6 parts water before drinking. It can also be mixed with a really dry white wine to make a summer bowl.

Meadowsweet Liqueur

Mix diluted meadowsweet syrup with an equal amount of 40-45 % alcohol. This makes a fresh, yellow summer liqueur.

Meadowsweet Tea

1 tsp of dried flowers or a bunch of fresh ones
5 dl (~1.06 pints) of boiling water

Let it steep for 5-10 minutes. Tastes and smells of honey and almonds.

Wild Strawberry Cream

6 cl (~2 fl oz) of Wild Strawberry
4 cl (~1.35 fl oz) of unwhipped whipping cream

Shake/mix it over ice and strain it into a tall glass with stem (white wine glass), garnish with lemon balm and a strawberry (w/ stalk) pushed down on the edge.

As an ‘after dinner drink' it's served in a tumbler over crushed ice or over regular ice cubes, but it should be shaken or mixed first to get a foam lid on the drink. Also here is lemon balm recommended, or a four-leaf clover if you're so that you have one handy.

May Bowl

1 handful of Sweet Woodruff
1⁄4 pint (~1.4 dl) of water
1 pint (~5.7 dl) of white wine
2 pints (~1.1 l) champagne or sparkling wine

Let the woodruff soak in the water for two hours. Strain the leaves off and mix the water with the wine and the champagne. Serve in glasses that you decorate with woodruff flowers. Because of the cumarine content, which can be very harmful, this shouldn't be drunk often.

Mead

In the old days the mead was strained through rye. This gave a hallucinogenic effect because Ergot was growing on the rye. I think it's best to pass on that if you don't want to risk a visit to the hospital.

There are two ways of sterilizing the tools. One is to use a bottle cleaner for wine making. (It's probably also the safest way), the other is to make a mix of 75 % water and 25 % bleach. But if you use this method you have to make sure you rinse extremely carefully.

To make mead cheaply and simply you need:
A big kettle
A gallon bottle that has been used for cider or vinegar
4-5 inches of plastic tube
A balloon
A pack of wine yeast (not bread yeast)
Wine bottles
Corks
Something to put the corks on with
1,135 kg (2.5 lbs) of honey

Sterilize everything!!!

First you have to prepare the mixture that will be fermented. Take the kettle and add the honey and enough water to fill the rest of the pint bottle. Bring it to boil slowly. If you want to avoid foam you have to remove it while it's boiling. You don't need to boil it. Just get it up to the boiling point. When you feel that it's finished, let it cool so it doesn't melt the tube. Use the tube to move the mixture over to the pint bottle. Put a cork in it and let it cool over night.

When the mixture has cooled down to room temperature you have to dissolve the yeast. Put it in a small cup of finger warm water. Let it soak for about 10 minute and dissolve. Pour it in the bottle and stir it in.

Cover the top of the bottle with the balloon. When it's filled up a bit (after about an hour), prick some holes in it so the gas gets out. After a while you may have to make more holes since they may be clogged with foam.

After about two weeks the fermentation decreases and the balloon loosens. When it's stayed loose for a couple of days and the liquid is clear, the fermentation is finished. Now you sterilize the wine bottles and the tube. Fill the mead into the bottles. Stop before you get lower than an inch from the bottom so that you don't get any yeast in the bottles. Wait at least 6 months. It can take years before it's really good.

The amounts of all the ingredients are adjusted according to the amount of mead wanted. Everything but the yeast, where a pack is enough for 1-5 gallons (~4-20 liters).

Sulfide tablets can be added a day before tapping. This kills any remaining yeast. It may give an aftertaste and it's generally better to wait a bit longer until you're sure that the fermentation is over.

Light Mead

1.14 l (1.136 l / 1quart) of water, preferably spring water
1 cup of honey
1 sliced lemon
1⁄2 tsp of nutmeg

Boil all the ingredients together in a pot that isn't made of metal. While it boils you scrape off the foam that rises to the surface. When there's no more foam rising, add the following:

A pinch of salt
The juice from 1⁄2 a lemon

Strain and cool. Drink in stead of alcoholic mead during a Simple Feast.

Fruit Punch with wine

1 whole bottle of wine (red or white)
1 small can of pineapple rings
1 pack of whole frozen strawberries
1-2 large bottles of Sprite or similar
Ice cubes (can be frozen grapes or similar)

Pour wine and pineapple juice in a large bowl. Cut the pineapple into small pieces, add these with strawberries and Sprite. Taste and more sugar if you think it's needed. Put in the ice cubes and serve immediately with for example a soup ladle.

Mulled Wine

(12 glasses)

1⁄2 - 1 bottle of unseasoned liquor
1 bottle of wine (red or white)
5 peeled cardamom kernels
5 whole cloves
1 piece of cinnamon stick
1 Seville orange peel
1 piece of ginger (whole)
2-3 dl (~6.76 - ~10.14 fl oz) of sugar

When serving
1-2 dl (~3.38 - ~6.76 fl oz) of blanched almonds
2-3 dl (~6.76 - ~10.14 fl oz) of raisins

Mix all the ingredients in a pot or a glögg-pan. If you do this in good time the spices are able to give a strong and rich taste. Heat it slowly, don't let it boil. Serve it hot in glasses with handles or with a napkin around them. Each and everyone adds almonds and raisins to their own taste, because of this you should have spoons in the table as well.

Eva's Eggnog

1⁄4 l (~8.45 fl oz) of whipping cream
1⁄4 l (~8.45 fl oz) of milk
350 g (~0.77 lbs) of sugar
1⁄4 l (~8.45 fl oz) of liquor
4 egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla sugar

Mix cream, milk and sugar. Whip the egg yolks with the vanilla-flavored sugar, mix it into the rest, and add liquor. Put it in the refrigerator.

Apple Cider

About 35 kg (~77 lbs) of apples
About 3.5 kg (~7.7 lbs) of sugar
Water
A 20 - 25 liter (~5.3 - ~6.6 gallons) demijohn
Sulfur tablets

All apples, tools etc. have to be properly cleaned. To make about 20 liters (~5.3 gallons) of cider you need about 35 kg (~77 lbs) of apples. Juicy apples are used. For example aroma or gravenstein. The apples are mashed, pressed and the juice is strained through a cloth. Some of the dregs can come along. You can possibly add some water to fill it up.

Everything is poured into a demijohn and a fermentation lock is put in. This is placed in a warm place, about 18 - 20 oC or 64 – 68 F. When the natural fermentation starts you remove some of the liquid and stir in the sugar. Pour it back in and put it away to ferment for about 6 - 7 months in a warm place. Taste now and then to see if it needs more sugar. When the fermentation slows down and the taste is good, you stop the fermentation with sulfur. Follow the directions on the pack. Then after a couple of weeks you change it over to another container.

This can be done several times. Then you put it in a cool place for storage. Keep an eye on it and sampling is allowed. Up to a year of aging is only good. The cider can be bottled or tapped straight from the can.

Samhain Absinth

Take 2 pints of your best port wine and add 2 tsp of these:
Wormwood, dried apple / mint leaves, dried pumpkin flowers.

Let it sit for about a week. Strain through muslin and bottle. Garnish with cloves and raisins before serving.

Midwinter Mulsa

Take 2 quarts of your favorite white wine and add about 15 g (~0.53 oz) of each of these:
Crushed Juniper berries, Intermediate Wintergreen, Elder flowers.

Let it sit for 6 hours. Strain and chill before serving. Garnish with a pine twig or serve hot with a cinnamon stick.

May Mead for Beltane

Take 1 gallon of your favorite white wine and add about 15 g (~0.53 oz) of each of these:
Heather flowers, Meadowsweet, Woodruff leaves.

Let sit for about 6 hours. Filter and chill before serving.

Midsummer Ale

Ta 1 gallon of your favorite red wine and add about 15 g (~0.53 oz) of each of these:
Fresh oak leaves, chamomile, red rose petals.

Let sit for about 24 hours. Add 9 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Filter and chill before serving.

Goat Willow Schnapps

Use the yellow and silky soft male flowers (catkins) from the Goat Willow tree, also known as feline Willow (Salix caprea). They are best for schnapps making - but you get fine schnappses indeed using the male catkins from other species. Try to experiment, or try to blend two or three different willow schnappses. There are many possibilities. Pick the catkins right after bloom in the early spring.

Put 1 deciliter catkins in a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
Add 3 deciliter colourless, non-flavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).
Let steep for 2-3 days in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20oC (64-68oF).
Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.
Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.
Store for 2-3 months before serving - in a dark place at room temperature. Taste it from time to time.

If necessary, dilute your schnapps with the same type of vodka you used as base. Leave it a couple of days to settle. Serve your willow schnapps at room temperature - in suitable crystal stemware or glasses.

Crowberry Schnapps

Use fresh, wild and fully ripe crowberries. It doesn't matter if they are small, dry and shrivelled as they can be after a long and dry summer. You can just crush them before steeping. But remember - steeping time is then a little shorter. So taste it from time to time.
It's very important that you leave the berries to dry for a couple of days in order to get rid of some small ticks which taste extremely awful. The ticks will just leave their "home" once you start drying the berries.

Rinse the crowberries carefully. Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel.
If your berries are frozen - defrost them in the vodka. Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid. Fill the jar with berries.

Fill up with colourless, non-flavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).
Steep for 1-3 months or longer - in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20oC (64-68oF). Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.

Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid. You can serve your crowberry schnapps after it has settled for a couple of days. Or - you can store (age) it for 4-6 months in a dark place at room temperature before serving. The flavours will change completely during storage. For the better according to some people. But it's a matter of taste. Some prefer the young, fruity taste - while others prefer their Crowberry schnapps after some storage, when it has a much stronger aroma and taste of berries.

If necessary, dilute your schnapps with the same type of vodka you used as base. Leave it a couple of days to settle. Serve your crowberry schnapps at room temperature - in suitable glasses.

Crowberry juice

3 l (~0.79 gallons) of Crowberries
2 l (~0.53 gallons) of water
1 pack of citric acid
sugar (1⁄2 - 1 kg per l of juice/1.1-2.2 lbs pr 2.1 pints of juice )

Crush the berries, and mix with water and citric acid. Leave the mixture in a cool place for 24 hours. Strain, and add sugar.

Borage-Flavored Lemonade

1⁄4 cup of lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons of sugar
3-4 medium-sized borage leaves
2 cups water

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend for approximately 30 seconds. Strain into a tall glass, and garnish with borage flowers.

Daisy Wine

1 gallon freshly picked daisies (Ox eye or Shasta daisies, L. superbum)
1 pint golden raisins finely chopped
2 peeled lemons, thinly sliced
1 peeled orange, thinly sliced
2 lbs 3 ozs finely granulated sugar
7 1⁄2 pts water
1⁄4 tsp tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Hock or Champagne wine yeast

Pick the flower heads only, without stems, after morning dew has evaporated. Wash and place in primary. Pour water, hot or cold, over flowers and cover primary. Let stand for two days, then strain off and retain liquid, squeezing the blossoms to get maximum flavor. Discard flowers and add remaining ingredients, stirring well to dissolve sugar completely. Recover and set aside for two weeks, stirring daily. Strain liquid into secondary, discarding citrus and raisins. Fit airlock and set aside until fermentation ceases and wine clears. Rack, top up and refit airlock. After one month, rack again. After additional month, rack into bottles and enjoy immediately. This wine will keep well, but will not retain its bouquet more than a year.

Rowan schnapps

Use fresh and fully ripe rowan berries. Pick them right after the first frost, but before the birds eat them. Put them in the freezer for a couple of days. Or pick them when they are fully ripe but BEFORE the frost and freeze them for a week or more. Frost makes rowan berries milder and sweeter.

Rinse the berries carefully and remove all stems. Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel. Freeze them for a week or more. Put 80 centiliters (1.7 pints) of frozen berries in a clean glass jar with tight fitting lid. Cover the berries with approx. 35 centiliters (0.74 pints) of colourless, non-flavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof). Steep for 1-4 weeks or more in a dark place at room temperature, 18-20oC (64-68oF). Shake lightly and taste it from time to time. Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.

Store (age) for at least 2 months in a dark place at room temperature before serving. If necessary, dilute your schnapps with the same type of vodka you used as base. Leave it a couple of days to settle. Serve your rowan schnapps at room temperature - in suitable glasses.

Bergamott Tea

Bergamot tea was used by the Indians to ward off colds and a soar throat. Six leaves are allowed to steep in a cup of boiled water for 15 minutes to make an antiseptic tea. The leaves, stems and flowers can be brewed to soothe a sore throat.

A mixed summer cup

Make a strongish lemon verbena (Aloysia tryphvylla) or lemon balm (Melissa) tea to which some mint and bergamot (Monarda didyma) sprigs have been added in moderation as undertones. Float borage (Borago officinalis) flowers on top. Serve chilled with ice cubes made of lemon tea into which borage flowers have been frozen. If serving to a large party, make a giant ice cube from lemon tea in a ring mold and float this in the punch bowl. This is spectacular as well as effective. Making ice cubes from lemon tea avoids a nasty wateriness when they melt. You can add ginger beer, lemonade, or a spiking of vodka to the herb tea, just as an experiment. Add honey or sugar to taste. You will need less sweetener if your drink includes lemonade. For added interest, lightly bleat an egg white and dip your glass rims in it and then into white sugar. Let this dry well before using it.

Perfect Mint Tea

If you can find a mint with the name 'Moroccan mint', is the best. If not, you use curly mint or peppermint. Pour boiling water on a handful of leaves, to which you've added a few shoots of lemon balm. Chill the tea and add honey or sugar to taste. This teen can also be mixed with regular tea in equal parts with a good result.

A glass of mint tea, hot or cold, is extremely good for restless stomachs, and general nausea, and calms the digestion after a big meal.

Nettle Tea

1 tsp of dried nettle
2 1⁄2 dl (~0.53 pints) of water
Pour the boiling water over the herbs, let it steep for 10 minutes and strain. Drink 2 - 3 cups a day.

Enbärsdricka (Swedish Juniper drink)

This is the real thing. Boil 1 liter (~2.1 pints) of juniper berries in 10 liters (~2.64 gallons) of water for about an hour. Strain and add 3 dl (~10.1 fl oz) of brown sugar or syrup. When it's almost lukewarm, add 1 pack of yeast (50 g/~1.76 oz) and maybe 1 dl (~3.38 fl oz) of hops. Let it ferment in a covered bucket for two to three days. Bottle and put the corks on loosely. Store in a cool place.

Enbärsdricka (non-alcoholic version)

3/4 dl (~2.54 fl oz) of dried Juniper berries
1 l (~2.1 pints) of water
Lemon

Crush the dried berries and pour the water over them. Let it be for 10 minutes and then strain the berries off through a fine siv (or a coffee filter) so that all the particles are gone. Put it in the fridge and let it get rally cold. Serve with thin Lemon slices and ice.

Jasmine Martini

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 strips orange zest
1 handful pesticide-free jasmine flowers, plus more for garnish
1⁄2 cup vodka
1⁄4 cup Grand Marnier
1 lemon, juiced

Combine the sugar, water, and lemon zest in a pot over medium heat. Gently simmer for 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved, swirling the pot over the heat now and then - do not allow to boil or get dark. Put the jasmine in a mason jar or glass container and pour the sugar syrup on top; steep for 1 to 2 hours to infuse the jasmine flavor into the syrup. In a martini shaker filled with ice, combine the vodka, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, and 4 tablespoons of the jasmine syrup. Shake until frothy and pour into chilled martini glasses. Float a jasmine flower in each glass for great presentation.

Liquorice Tea

To make a tea from Licorice Root, mix 1 to 1.5 grams (about one-half teaspoonful) of crushed root in cold water and bring to a boil (or pour the boiling water over the Licorice). Steep for 10 to 15 minutes and strain. For a tea from Licorice Extract, pour 1 cup of boiling water over 1 teaspoon of juice. Steep for 5 minutes. Drink 1 cup after each meal.

Absinthe

30 g (1.06 oz) of wormwood
8.5 g (0.299 oz) of hyssop
1.8 g (0.0635 oz) of calamus
6.0 g (0.21 oz) of lemon balm
30.0 g (1.06 oz) of anise seed
25.0 g (0.88 oz) of fennel seed
10.0 g (0.35 oz) of star anise
3.2 g (0.11 oz) of coriander seed

Put the dry herbs in a large jar. Dampen slightly. Add 0,8 liters (1.7 pints) of 85-95 percent alcohol. Wine spirits make a better product than pure grain alcohol. Let steep for several days - aweek is better - shaking occasionabsinthey. Then add 0.6 liters (1.27 pints) of water and let the whole macerate for another day. Decant off the liquid squeezing as much from the mass of herb as possible. Wet theherbs with some vodka and squeeze again. Recipe should yield a little over a liter and a half (3.17 pints) of green liquor. It must then be distilled. Color the distillate by adding:

4.2 g (0.15 oz) of mint
1.1 g (0.039 oz) of lemon balm
3 g (0.1 oz) of wormwood
1 g (0.035 oz) of lemon peel
4.2 g (0.15 oz) of liquorice root

Apple Wine

21 kg apples (no problem if the are spotted or damaged)
24 litres of water
1 bag of strong wine yeast
7 kg of sugar

Wash and quarter the apples. Place them in a sterilised container and pour the boiling water over them. Let it cool. Add the yeast to some tepid water and let it sit for 15 minutes. Add it to the apples. Stir and cover with a towel, then place it in a warm room, like your bathroom.

Use your hand to stir and crush the fruit 1-2 times a day for four days.

Use a cloth to separate the fruit from the fluid, then add the fluid to a clean container. Add half the sugar to 4.5 litres of boiling water and let it dissolve and cool. Then add this to the fluid. Add a lid and a fermentation lock to the container. For the first few days, the fermentation will be vigorous, it will then slow down.

After two weeks, add the remaining sugar in the same way. Shake 2-3 times a week.

Rack the wine to a clean container, leaving the sediment. Add 1 gram of sulphur per litre of wine and one bag of fermentation stopper. Shake the carbon monoxide out.

Wait five days, then add clearing if necessary and place it high. Wait a week for the wine to clear, then rack to a clean container and add extra sugar, if needed. Bottle and let the bottles stand without top for 30 minutes. Mature in a cool, dark place for 3 months.

My Apple Cider

Rinse and quarter 12.5 kg of apples (spots and damage is not a problem)
Add 12-13 litres of boiling water
Add 2.5 tsp of ascorbic acid

Stir every day for a week. Separate the fruit from the liquid. Add 36 dl of sugar and warm carefully, so that the sugar dissolves. Add 5 tbsp of citric acid. Mature for 6 months. When I made it, it fermented vigorously. After 6 months, it was lovely and strong, and had so much carbon monoxide that it was hazardous to open the bottles.

Dandelion Coffee

Clean the roots thoroughly.
Cut the roots into smaller pieces and grind them in a mixer.
Spread the ground dandelion roots evenly onto baking sheets.
Roast the roots at 120 C/250 F for 2 hours or until they're thoroughly dry and has taken the color of coffee.
Stir as they roast to make them roast evenly.
Grind the roasted dandelion roots in a coffee grinder or food processor, and then brew your dandelion coffee just as you would any other coffee.

Birch Sap Wine

9 liters of Birch sap
6 lemons
0.5 kg raisins
3g yeast nutrients
2.5 kg of sugar
wine yeast

Drain the sap of large birch trees just before the leaves begin to appear. Drill a hole about 40 cm above the ground and insert a tube that is the same size as the hole, and allow up to five liters to flow down into a bottle. Remember to plug the hole so the tree does not die.

Chop the raisins and boil them in three liters of sap for three minutes.

Then add the rest of the sap, sugar, lemon juice, yeast nutrients and yeast.

Strain the raisins after seven days and let the fermentation finished in the usual way.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This