There are young nettles wherever we look at the moment, here in our part of the UK. I’m not sure when it crossed my mind to try and make a liqueur from them, but the seed got planted so I decided to give it a go.
A liqueur is simply a sweetened alcoholic beverage made from a distilled spirit such as vodka that has been flavored.
Fruit, cream, herbs, spices, flowers or nuts are the traditional choices, but you will also find some more imaginative creations on the internet including various candy concoctions such as Skittle Vodka.
Our Nettle Liqueur is definitely a more earthy affair than that, but is equally simple to make, and really tastes rather good.
To make I collected approximately 40 nettle tops, which I washed and dried in a salad spinner, and then popped in a jar with the zest of 2 lemons.
I then topped up the jar with a litre of vodka and left it in a dark place for 48 hour to steep.
Liqueurs can take anything for a couple of days, to a couple of months to take on the flavour of the added ingredients, with herbs and flowers often not taking very long at all, so do check your infusion periodically, and expect a certain amount of trial and error.
Over the 48 hours our infusion got progressively darker, and to be honest I expected it to taste pretty disgusting when I tried it, but in fact it tastes really rather good.
It has a pleasant earthy taste, and you definitely know its nettle based, with a taste reminiscent of the Nettle Cordial we made last year.
After straining we sweetened our Nettle Liqueur with a little sugar syrup, and bottled it.
We are storing it in a dark cool place and will be testing it regularly to see how it matures over time.
For more Stinging Nettle recipe inspiration check out our amazing Nettle Fruit Leather and our Delicious and Healthy Stinging Nettle Crisps.
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12 comments
Does this remove the “stinging” oil from the leaves?
Thanks
Yes Michelle. Once the leaves have steeped for a while they lose their sting – the same with cooking :)
Hi just made this with lots of sugar, lots of nettles, fresh peppermint, fresh spearmint, a fresh bay leaf, and a few not many mugwort leaves. I then used a couple of lavender leaves. Let it infuse a couple of days, but then got worried about the lavender overpowering it, so strained out the leaves and introduced juyst new nettles. Now after a week, tis the nicest tasting liqueur with the smoothest finish ive ever tasted. Its majestic.
Wow, that sounds amazing Jonathan – thanks so much for coming back and letting us know how you got on :)
I am intrigued! Is there a reason you wash and dry the nettles?
To be honest Tiffany I always like to wash nettles so that I check over what I have picked thoroughly to ensure no other stray plants have been grabbed at the same time as I don’t tend to look too closely while I am picking them. Since you are adding them to spirit there is no real need to be concerned about bacteria on the leaves, so it really is a matter of personal choice :)
What an interesting concoction! Lately I’ve given up on alcoholic refreshments, but hubby and my friends haven’t! I’ll definitely give this a try once I find a place with some nettle. Looking forward to doing some foraging this weekend (depending on the rain). :)
The Nettle cordial is really lovely if you fancy trying a non alcoholic concoction Gina, It has a wonderful flavour!
This is so cool! I would love to try and make some liqueur but I’m not a drinker. But it would be fun just to try making different types from plants just to see how they taste.
I love trying out different concoctions Linda – a couple of them have been fairly disgusting, my biggest failures have been a rhubarb and cardamon one, and one made with lichen – but at least now I know!
The nettle leaves look like mint. Wonder if they’re from the same family? Hmm, would be fun to try some of that sweet wine!
They are a member of the mint family Florence – well spotted :)