Homemade Christmas Love: Cordials!

Every year there are a few relatives who we know would appreciate nothing more than a little holiday "spirits".  And the pool of them grows as they begin to expect our homemade niceties. This year we have brewed up some batches of love we like to call Sugar Plum Cordial.

A cordial (or a liqueur, for you fancy kids) is essentially alcohol that is infused with fruit, herbs, or other yummy things with added sugar.  Cordials originated as medicine made in monasteries. They were believed to be good for the heart, useful for colds, and a general health tonic. Oddly, precious metals and stones were placed inside and herbs were added for taste. Little did they know, those silly herbs did lots more than they thought.

This liqueur is is an infusion of plums in vodka- similar to some plum wine- with an organic cane sugar. Then I added extracts of herbs I had infused in a similar way. Inside are vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. All the stuff Christmas is made of, if you ask me.

Our plums stayed in their vodka infusion for a long time, but you can make this infusion in 4-6 weeks. Toss plums (or any fruit-herb combo) into vodka with a generous amount of sugar. Shake her up and wait. You will see your alcohol become a beautiful red-purple color. When you smell plum instead of just alcohol, you can consider it a cordial. Sugar can be added later on if you prefer more once you taste it. If it's too strong, it's OK to add a little water.

I like to flavor mine in a festive way, so sugar plum seemed totally appropriate!

Happy drinking!