Make this homemade Christmas Liquor with apples, oranges, cinnamon and more! It's the perfect little gift for your relatives or co-workers.
A few years ago, my boyfriend and I started the tradition of making a homemade Christmas Liquor, my relatives loved it so we simply kept making one year after year. I love that it is so easy to make and it is such a cute little gift, especially if the alcohol is filled in little bottles. We store the alcohol for about 1 month before we remove the fruits and spices and fill them in individual bottles.
So November is the perfect time to start with the Christmas Liquor. Of course you start even earlier and let the fruits soak for months, but I've found 1 month to be a good time. The base for this Christmas Liquor is Korn, which is a distilled beverage made from rye with an ABV of 38% but if you don't have Korn, Vodka works too.
In this years Homemade Christmas Liquor are orange peels (make sure it's from an organic orange!), an apple, cinnamon sticks, cloves and xylitol (which helps extract the flavor off the fruits and into the alcohol). Instead of the xylitol you could also use granulated white sugar or coconut sugar. But I like to use xylitol, which is also called birch sugar because it's supposed to be healthier (not that it matters in the alcohol..but...you know :)).
I always store the jar of alcohol in the bedroom, because it's usually darker and not so warm. Just let it sit for a month and give a quick stir once or twice in between. Below, I have a pro tip for you to prevent the orange peel to float on the surface.
Homemade Christmas Liquor - the perfect gift
Ingredients
- 4 cups / 1 litre of clear alcohol (I used Korn which is a distilled beverage made from rye with an 38 ABV (alcohol by volume) but vodka works too)*
- peels from two organic oranges
- 1 apple
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup white sugar
Instructions
- Wash and peel the oranges. Wash and cut the apple in slices and remove the stem.
- Pour the alcohol in a large enough jar, add the orange peel, apple slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and sugar. Give a quick stir.
- Place a clean shot glass on top to prevent the orange peels from floating on the surface. Everything should be covered by alcohol to prevent mold.
- Store the Christmas Liquor for about 1 month in a dark place, give it a quick mix once or twice.
- After a month you can pour it through a strainer and fill it into individual small bottles and you have the perfect gift ready!
Notes
Nutrition
Pro tip: Place a shot glass on top to prevent the orange peel and apple slices from floating on the surface.
Should you decide to give this Homemade Christmas Liquor a try I'd love to hear how it went! Write me a comment or post a picture on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I'll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
Strength and Sunshine says
I love finding new little DIY gifts like this!!
Bianca says
Glad you like it! I've found edible or in this case, drinkable, gifts to be best for people who I don't see that often and I wouldn't know what to buy them anyhow :)
Alice @ Aliciouslog says
...and just as I was contemplating on what to give my colleagues for Christmas this year, you post came along. In past years, I made red wine liqueur (with "real" spirit - Weingeist), ginger body scrub and cake-in-a-jar but for this year I was totally void of ideas. Thanks for your inspiration, I have a good plan for next weekend now :)
Bianca says
oh my goodness... Ginger Body Scrub sounds awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing your homemade gift ideas! Red wine liqueur sounds really good too and the cake-in-a-jar as well :D I love all these ideas!
Natalie says
Wow you have Christmas covered! Homemade gifts are more fun and cheaper, and once you know your relatives love it it's so much easier than having to come up with something different for everyone every year. This is a great idea, and the presentation is awesome!
Bianca says
At least for a large part, I still have to get some presents but this christmas liquor definitely takes off some pressure. :) I usually use different base alcohols or different amounts of fruits and spices, so they always turn out a bit different. And I totally agree - once one has found something that makes everyone happy, why not reuse the idea every year. And alcohol definitely makes my family and relatives happy :D hahaha. Thank you so much, Natalie!
Lipstick Holistic says
Definitely making this! Do you chill it and drink it as is, or do you have any favorite mixers?
Bianca says
Yay! I never chill it. Sometimes I drink it as it is but mixing it with apple juice and sparkling water or into punch (especially some with apples and oranges) is really good too.
JoJo says
So, do you think that this would work equally well with Gin instead of Vodka or Korn? Or, do you think different ingredients would work better? I know that slow berries work with Gin but believe it is now too late to pick these. Thanks.
Bianca says
I've made so many infused alcohols over the years and gin works definitely too! You can just use gin instead of the korn or you can make entirely different infused drinks. Just some inspirations, which I've already made and turned out great: Lime + Mint, Raspberry + Mint, Orange + Cinnamon, Orange + Rosemary, Cucumber + Basil,... Have fun experimenting! :)
Gemma says
Hi, I love the sound of the raspberry & mint vodka. Can I ask how much mint & how many raspberries would you use? And would the method still be the same?
Thanks
Bianca says
Hi! I'd recommend per 4 cups of vodka (or gin), 1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries (for a nicer color!), 1 cup of fresh mint, 1/4 cup of white sugar. Hope you enjoy! :)
JoJo says
Thanks for your quick reply Bianca. I shall give it a bash and will definitely have fun with my experiments
Amy Dyes says
I am so happy I came across this on Reddit! Thank you for the recipe! I was wondering if you have tried using whiskey in any of your recipes? And if I start this week, does it have to be an exact month before serving?
Bianca says
Hi Amy, thank you so much & I'm glad you like the idea! I haven't used whiskey for it yet, because whiskey has a really strong taste on its own and I always use clear alcohols so that they get a nice color from the fruits & spices. You don't have to let it sit for a month, if you start in a couple of days you can still give it away for christmas. You can see that the alcohol takes up some color after 2-3 days already and after a week you already have a slight orange, cinnamon and christmasy taste. The longer you store it, the more intense the taste will be.
Amy Dyes says
Awesome!! Thanks for the reply! I'm loving your blog!
Bianca says
awww, thank you so much, Amy! That's really sweet! I hope your christmas liquor turns out great :)
Kyra says
I love making homemade flavoured liquor but haven't made any for a while! Such a great idea for a Christmas present - I love the flavours you've used too, very Christmassy :D
Heather says
Do you add anything to the individual bottles like cinnamon sticks or fruit and hope much do you give pretty person
Bianca says
Yep, I added a cinnamon stick and a few cloves to each bottle. Looks much nicer that way :)
Francesca says
Hello lovely Bianca! Thank you so much for being part of my "20 gifts you can make this holiday season" roundup
Happy holidays! ♥
ps: your pictures are so gorgeous!
Bianca says
Thank you so much for including me, Francesca! :) I love, love, love your blog! So beautiful :)
Tammy Gipson says
Hi there - how many gifts will one batch make? What type of bottles do you use to gift it?
Bianca says
I use small glass bottles that hold about 5-6 ounces (160ml) just like these. You can add a cinnamon stick to each bottle to make them look pretty. Using these glass bottles, the batch would make 6-7 bottles.
Colter says
Do you mix this concoction with something, or drink it straight?
Bianca says
As an Austrian (who is good at doing shots) I drink it straight. But feel free to mix it with orange juice, apple juice, or any other fruity juice!