Homemade Cordials: Your Key to Party Success
As we move into spring and summer, along come the parties and feasts—and thus your chance to surprise and delight your family and friends with the herbal deliciousness and digestive effectiveness of your homemade cordials. There is nothing that signifies a celebration quite like topping off a meal with a round of your own handcrafted herbal liquor.
Once people taste your gorgeous herbal concoction, they will be begging you to keep bringing them to future gatherings. It helps to find some beautiful cordial glasses as they can add a lot to the ambiance of the experience. I confess, I have an entire shelf of this delicate glassware for all kinds of occasions!
The one thing about this tasty botanical preparation you should keep in mind is that it takes a month to infuse, so it requires a little planning if you want to have some on hand.
Time requirements aside, I truly love a good cordial, which is why I dedicated an entire chapter of my book, The Herbal Kitchen, to these special sippable creations. My 3-Seed Cordial is one of the most popular recipes from this section, and with good reason. It supports digestion and settles the stomach after a big meal, making it a perfect accompaniment for an after-dinner toast at potlucks and holiday gatherings. Celery seed, coriander, and fennel seeds all have carminative properties that help you more easily digest your food.
People are first struck by the cordial’s delicious flavor, but they soon realize they also like how it makes them feel. Digestion takes a lot of work. When you get some help from the carminative herbs, you don’t have to use all your vitality to process that big dinner, so you feel more settled and less weighed-down. This is one of the great gifts that the digestive support herbs offer us!
3-Seed Digestive Cordial Recipe
Yield: about 2 cups.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp. organic fennel seed
- 2 tsp. organic coriander seed
- 1 tsp. organic celery seed
- 1 cup brandy
- Raw, local honey to taste (up to 1 cup)
Directions
- Coarsely grind fennel, coriander, and celery seeds in a mortar and pestle
- Transfer ground herbs into a glass jar with lid
- Pour brandy over herbs to cover. Secure lid and shake well.
- Place jar in a cool, dark area and let herbs infuse in brandy for 4 weeks, shaking often.
- Strain herbs from brandy using a funnel with strainer and cotton muslin cloth, remembering to press down on the seeds to release as much liquid as possible.
- Add honey to liquid and shake well until incorporated.
- Store in jar in a dark cupboard.
- Shake well before drinking
- Pour 1/2 oz. into beautiful cordial glass and enjoy as an after-dinner drink
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