For the past couple of years I've been fooling around with liqueur making, especially herbal liqueurs. I love amaros, Italian bitter digestive cordials, so I've done some research and found a nice old recipe, most of which I could either grow or get my hands on somehow. I made it last year and followed the recipe but it came out sickeningly sweet so this year I used considerable restraint and made a much more palatable libation.

Liquore de erbe

200 ml alcohol 95%bv
500 ml water
400 g sugar
6 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
10 mint leaves
10 chamomile flowers
10 sweet basil leaves
10 lemon leaves
15 sage leaves
3 cloves
3 saffron filaments

Steep botanicals in alcohol for 20 days. Add sugar syrup. Strain. Age for 4 weeks before consuming. I made a simple syrup and added it to the brew one tablespoon at a time to the tune of six tablespoons per cup.

Also after reading through recipes of many herbal liqueurs made by monks over hundreds of years, I attempted to create my own recipe using mostly herbs grown in the 6/15 Green Community Herb Garden. After harvesting the herbs I chose a few things from my apothecary herb collection and began macerating. After falling in love with Chartreuse earlier in the year I made sure to include a lot of angelica, a principle ingredient in Chartreuese.

Sixfifteen Herb Garden Liqueur

oregano, nine inch stem

chamomile, 30 or so flowers
lemon balm, several handfuls
hyssop, two flowering stems
angelica, half stem
angelica root, one teaspoon
angelica seed, one teaspoon
mint, three large stems
coriander, two flowering tops
rosemary, 9 inch stem
basil, 15 leaves
sage, 4 seven inch stems
dried orange peel, one teaspoon
vanilla, half pod
saffron, five threads
cloves, nine cloves
calamus root, generous half teaspoon
wormwood, dried, three generous pinches
cinnamon, one small stick
orris root powder, half rounded teaspoon
mace, quarter teaspoon
lavender, eight stems
red clover, eight blossoms
yarrow flowers, one flower head

Steep all ingredients in vodka to cover for at least 30 days. Sweeten to taste with simple syrup and age two months.

Overall both liqueurs came out very good and quite palatable. I'll keep trying in the years to come but this holiday season I'll be very pleased to serve my guests a little cordial straight from my garden after a full meal.

Chocolate Mint and Peach Tea extract

Back in June I posted about my absolute obsession with tincturing and macerating. My garden was in full thrust and I was still heady from my recent trip to Mandy Aftel's natural perfume workshop in Berkeley. My mission, originally, was to take advantage of my garden to create some alcohol bases to make perfumes with. I ventured a little further afield and ended up tincturing dried jasmine blossoms and, most rewardingly, tea.

My biggest success was with an organic loose leaf peach flavored tea. It's difficult to find a fruity note in natural oils so originally I was simply looking for that. What I discovered was that the extracted liqueur was so much richer and more complex than I could have imagined. I dabbed it on my wrists constantly all summer long and inhaled deeply that sweet, smokey aroma reminiscent of hundreds of comforting afternoons with my hands wrapped around a warm cup.

My other big success in extract making was with the chocolate mint taking over my community garden plot. I knew from infusing it in vodka that the alcohol seemed to really extend the chocolate flavor, much more so than in a cup of herb tissane. I finely chopped up about a cup of mint and poured enough 190 proof vodka over it to cover and let it sit for a few days. After straining it I added another cup of chopped herb to make it double strength.

I quite naturally started to think about how to use the extracts in food. I think their flavors would lend themselves to some delicious desserts, most notably ice cream and sorbets. I started to experiment with using them in seltzer and, not surprisingly, they were delicious. Peach tea seltzer has now become a favorite of mine and I can't keep enough extract in the house. As the bubbly glass approaches your nose you can't help but be overwhelmed by it's gorgeous bouquet. About a half teaspoon to a teaspoon works nicely in a ten to twelve ounce glass of sparkling water. I'm spoiled now, I'll never again buy a lemon, lime or (horror of horrors) artificial black cherry flavored seltzer again.