Maraschino (alcoholic beverage)

This is an instructional post about making an alcoholic beverage called "Maraschino". An old cookbook handed down to me by one of my elder relatives had this recipe in it.

It's fairly easy, it just takes a little time. I like gin, but this makes a lot, and I planned on giving some of it away to my friends, not all of whom like gin. Doing some research, I found that vodka can easily be used as a substitute in a recipe like this, so that's what I did. Feel free to use gin, vodka, or experiment with something else. I also know that rock candy is usually just sugar evaporated in a water solution until it collects and hardens to form crystals. I don't have time to make that, and buying it would be expensive, so I used regular granulated white sugar and skipped that step.

After you've decided which type of alcohol you'll be using, gather your ingredients and materials.

You'll need:

• 3 pounds (1.36 kg) of sugar
• 1 gallon (3.79 liters) of gin or vodka
• 12 oranges
• 5 lemons
• 1 food safe container with a lid that will hold all of this. I used a 5 gallon food safe bucket.

Dissolve the sugar in the alcohol. Wash and peel the oranges and lemons and put the peels in with the sugar/alcohol solution. When you peel, you'll get some white, or pith. Try to keep that at a minimum because the pith is does add a bitter flavor. You can see here that I have some pith, but not a lot.

Stir everything together then cover the container. Come back and stir it again every day, making sure you've stirred it at least once a day for 4 days. On the 5th day, scoop the peels out, then filter it by pouring it through a strainer or cheese cloth. You can strain it into another large container, or a bowl. Use a funnel in a bottle, or canning jar, and ladle your filtered product into the bottle or jar, sealing it for future use. Here's a picture of what one of the full bottles looked like when I was done.

There are several ways to enjoy this drink. First, you can chill it and have a shot of it straight, or on ice. Because it's so sweet, you can mix it with seltzer water or club soda, or use it in a component in any other drink that would call for a citrus flavor.

My next try will be with lime peels and cherries to see if I can make a potent cherry limeade.

I hope you've enjoyed this recipe and will give it a try. Let me know if you do!