How to Make Blackberry Brandy (2024)

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Homemade infused liquors are delicious, fun and easy to make. Learn how to make blackberry brandy and you’re on your way to amazing craft co*cktails at home. It’s smooth, fruity, and as a bonus, it’s beautiful too. Plus you’ll know you made it with your own two hands. I mean, these are life skills worth learning!

How to Make Blackberry Brandy (1)

How to Make Blackberry Brandy:

Have you ever tried to infuse your own alcohol? Last year I made some raspberry and ginger vodkas that were really good. I decided to use the same technique to make blackberry brandy this summer. It’s a great way of capturing the flavors of summer berries so you can enjoy them all year long. Learn how to make blackberry brandy and you’re on your way to amazing drinks like the blackberry smash bourbon co*cktail!

Blackberry brandy is about as classic as you can get for a flavored liquor, it’s been around for centuries. Besides making co*cktails, you can sip it as an after dinner drink, or give it as a homemade gift.You can even use it for old school desserts like trifles and fruitcakes!

The Ingredients

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Brandy is a liquor but it’s actually distilled from wine. It’s been around since the 16th century when an enterprising ship captain figured out a way to ship (and sell) more wine, he took the water out of it! Genius. The result of this distilling was brandy. Since brandy is usually made from grapes, it takes to other fruity flavors really well too. Like these delicious blackberries!

When you’re shopping for brandy, you’ll notice the bottles have different lettered designations on them. The letters are a grading system that lets you know how long it’s been aged and what the quality is. I used a V.S.O.P. brandy which stands for “very superior old pale”. It’s in the middle of the quality range, between V.S. (very special), and X.O. (extra old). Since you’re going to infuse the brandy with the flavor of blackberries, you don’t need to buy a very expensive bottle.

Besides the brandy and the blackberries, you’ll also want to add a little sugar to your infusion.

Infusing the Brandy

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To start your blackberry brandy you’ll add the fresh blackberries and granulated sugar to your jar. I like to use quart sized mason jars for this. Use a wooden spoon or a muddler to mash the berries and sugar together. Just enough to release the blackberry flavor, you don’t have to completely pulverize them.

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Next you’ll pour in the brandy and stir it all up. Now starts the hardest part of learning how to make blackberry brandy – the waiting. Set the jar in a cool place, in your bar, in a cupboard or on your counter, for at least two weeks. I let mine infuse for about a month, but there’s no hard and fast rule for how long to let it sit. You could do weekly taste testings until it’s exactly the way you like it!

Once it’s ready, strain the blackberry brandy and store in a clean jar.

Homemade Blackberry Brandy

A little shot of blackberry brandy is a delicious after dinner drink. As a bonus, it’s also a beautiful dark red berry color. If you want to try it this way, it’s nice to chill it for a few hours before serving. Or juststore it in the fridge!

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If you’re looking for a drink idea, may I suggest this delicious blackberry smash bourbon co*cktail??

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If you liked learning how to make blackberry brandy, and are looking for another fun idea, try your hand at making infused raspberry or ginger vodka. A pretty jar of any of these handcrafted liquors in a basket with a few co*cktail glasses also makes a great gift!

Disclaimer: any links to products in this post may be affiliate links. This means I would get a small commission if the product was purchased. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. I only link to products I like and use myself, or are similar to what I use if the exact item isn’t available. Thank you!

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How to Make Blackberry Brandy

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  • Author: Kristine
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Homemade infused liquors are delicious, fun and easy to make. Learn how to make blackberry brandy and you’re on your way to amazing craft co*cktails at home! It’s smooth, fruity, and as a bonus, it’s beautiful too. Plus you’ll know you made it with your own two hands. I mean, these are life skills worth learning!

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 6 oz container of blackberries, about 1 1/2 cups
  • 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
  • 3 cups of brandy

Instructions

  1. Add the blackberries and sugar to a large, quart sized mason jar. Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, muddle the berries into the sugar until the berries are broken up and the sugar’s liquefied.
  2. Pour the brandy into the mason jar. Stir the ingredients together.
  3. Place the lid on the mason jar tightly and put the jar in a cool, dark cupboard or on a counter. Let the flavor infuse for at least two weeks, and up to 3 months. While the brandy is infusing, you can occasionally shake the jar gently.
  4. Strain the brandy and store in a clean jar in your liquor cabinet. You can also store it in the refrigerator if you like to drink your homemade blackberry brandy cold.

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How to Make Blackberry Brandy (2024)

FAQs

What is blackberry brandy made of? ›

Blackberry Brandy is a satisfying, easy project made with seasonal, foraged fruit. The spirit is flavoured with blackberries and sweetened with sugar to make a delicious, liqueur-like drink. Swap the brandy for gin, vodka, whisky, or dark rum if you prefer.

What is the ratio of fruit to water for brandy? ›

One part fruit juice to two parts water and 2.5- 3 pounds of cane sugar per gallon of mash. Select only good, ripe fruit. Cut out any soft spots, and don't use any with mold on it. The more ripe and better tasting the fruit, the better the wine, the better the brandy.

Should blackberry brandy be refrigerated? ›

Strain the brandy and store in a clean jar in your liquor cabinet. You can also store it in the refrigerator if you like to drink your homemade blackberry brandy cold.

Can you drink blackberry brandy straight? ›

Place in a cool dark place for one to two months, shaking occasionally. Strain through a very fine strainer and then transfer brandy to a decorative bottle. Enjoy straight up, on the rocks, over fresh berries or as a syrup added to carbonated water.

What alcohol can be made from blackberries? ›

You can make a top notch fruity booze by steeping blackberries in almost any spirit – gin, vodka, rum, whisky, horilka* will all do the trick – but the consensus among blackberry imbibers is that brandy works best. For every 70cl bottle of brandy you'll need about 320g of blackberries and 160g of sugar.

What is the process of making brandy? ›

Brandy is distilled from the base wine in two phases. First, a large part of water and solids is removed from the base, obtaining so-called "low wine", a concentrated wine with 28–30% ABV. In the second stage, low wine is distilled into brandy.

What is the best mix for brandy? ›

Here are some brandy mixed drinks to consider:
  • Brandy Sour: Cognac, lemon juice, sugar syrup, bitters, and pasteurized egg whites.
  • Brandy Highball: Cognac, ginger syrup, and sparkling fruit juice.
  • Brandy Sidecar: Cognac, triple sec, and lemon juice.
  • Metropolitan Brandy: Brandy, sweet vermouth, simple syrup, and bitters.

What kind of yeast for fruit brandy? ›

FD-3 is suitable for any kind of fruit distillate, and is excellent for traditional European-style fruit or grape brandies, schnapps, and slivovitz. Enological strains from Vason are an excellent addition to the fruit distiller's toolkit when working with many kinds of fruit, and wine grapes in particular.

Is blackberry brandy good? ›

Heart Healthy

Enjoying a glass of blackberry brandy is good for your heart. The alcohol in the brandy has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system, according to M.

Is blackberry brandy good for sleep? ›

Again in moderate amounts, blackberry brandy helps you to relax. Duh. Blackberry brandy can help with sleep issues. That's why it's often served after dinner; in olden days people believed it helped them prepare for sleep.

Does fruit brandy go bad? ›

Its high alcohol level keeps bacteria from growing in the liquor and protects its integrity when stored in a cool and dark environment. Open brandy won't go bad but it will lose its potency and flavor complexity within 6 months to 2 years of the seal being broken.

Is blackberry brandy the same as liqueur? ›

While grapes are the most common, any fruit will do, and blackberry brandy is one of the most popular flavored brandies. In today's market, however, most blackberry brandy is sweetened, so it's very similar to blackberry liqueur, and the two can be used interchangeably in many drink recipes.

What is blackberry liqueur made of? ›

Shake together the water, vodka and sugar to dissolve sugar. Gently mix together with the blackberries, taking care not to cut or crush the berries. Leave to infuse about 10-12 days until the berries have lost most of their color. Pour thru a fine strainer and discard the berries.

Is blackberry brandy good for you? ›

One of the health benefits of blackberry brandy is the antioxidant activity. Blackberry brandy contains vitamin C that is a by-product from the copper used in the distillation process. One shot, or 30 mls, provides around 90mg of vitamin C, according to Dr.

What fruit is brandy made from? ›

Brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, meaning "burned wine." Brandy is a type of liquor made from fermented fruit juice, typically fermented grape juice. Brandy can also be made from apricots, apples, and cherries.

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