It's no secret that almost any store-bought fruit and berry drink is made using artificial colors and flavors. It is quite obvious that such additives do not have the best effect on our health. This is why modern people so value natural products that are created with warmth and love at home. In this case we are talking about all kinds of tinctures and liqueurs, sometimes having a healing effect. Many of us have a rather vague idea about these drinks and do not dignify them special attention. And in vain, because the “potions”, which are quite simple to prepare, are characterized by an indescribable taste and delicious aroma. Let's talk about them in more detail and give a detailed answer to the question of how liqueur differs from tincture.

Definitions

Pouring

Pouring- sweet alcoholic drink, made from fruits and berries. Usually infused with vodka or ethyl alcohol. Several centuries ago, liqueurs were extremely popular in Rus' compared to the wine that is widespread today. And this is understandable, because the main ingredients for them were fruits and berries grown on their own farms. Whereas grapes in our country were found only in some areas. The raw materials for making liqueurs are berries available in the summer, such as currants, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. The best fruits to use are apples, pears, peaches, etc. It is worth noting that for liqueurs, only the fruit pulp containing juice is taken, from which the seeds and seeds are extracted. The peel is also of high value, because it contains tannins, coloring and aromatic substances.

Tincture

Tincture– an alcoholic drink made from berries, medicinal herbs, leaves, flowers, and roots. The basis for it can be vodka, alcohol, moonshine. Tinctures have a medicinal effect. During their preparation, the alcohol is saturated with aromatic substances, changing taste qualities drink As a rule, it is kept until completely dissolved. essential oils and biologically active ingredients. Time intervals directly depend on the type of raw materials used. Highlight simple tinctures, which are made from one fragrant ingredient, and prefabricated ones, which include a mixture of various seeds, roots, herbs, etc. Also, a drink of this type can be bitter, sweet or semi-sweet, depending on the strength of the ingredients it contains.

Comparison

Let's take a closer look at each of the drinks that interest us. The liqueurs are made exclusively from fruits and berries with the addition large quantity Sahara. This explains their richly sweet and often even cloying taste. The drink contains from 28 to 40% sugar. Its ripening period ranges from one month to six months. All this time, the “elixir” should be stored in a cool, dark place. The maximum strength of liqueurs is 18-20 degrees. They act as a more “challenging” alternative to wine and can be used as an aperitif. But most often the drink is consumed during home feasts at quite large quantities. Like any alcohol, it has a relaxing and cheerful effect. When preparing liqueurs, it is quite acceptable to deviate from the recipe, adjusting the amount of sugar, adding honey after fermentation, etc. Perhaps the most popular drink of this type in our country is made from cherries.

The main difference between liqueur and tincture is that the latter is made primarily from medicinal plants and has medicinal effect. It is usually used in minimum quantities, diluting with water if necessary. Compared to liqueur, the drink contains a small amount of sugar. In bitter liqueurs its concentration is no more than 2%, in sweet liqueurs it can reach up to 30. Strength healing elixir can be quite high, often reaching 40-45 degrees. The tinctures are aged for no more than one month at room temperature. Sometimes, for faster ripening, they are artificially heated by wrapping them in warm cloth. It is worth noting that when preparing the drink, you should strictly follow the recipe. After all, changing the proportions can lead to a loss of medicinal properties.

Let's summarize what is the difference between liqueur and tincture.

Table

Pouring	Tincture
Made from berries and fruits	The main components are medicinal plants
Sugar content reaches 28-40%	Sugar concentration does not exceed 30%
The maximum strength of the drink is 18-20 degrees	The percentage of alcohol content reaches 40-45 degrees
Has a fun and relaxing effect	Produces a healing effect
Consumed in large quantities	Minimum dosage, the drink can be diluted with water
Infuses from one month to six months	Aged no more than 30 days
Keeps in a cool place	Arrives warm
Deviations from the recipe are allowed	Requires strict adherence to proportions

People do not always correctly understand the difference between an infusion and a tincture or decoction. But to make the most of beneficial features medicinal plants, you need to know how to properly prepare medicinal preparations from them.

Decoction, tea, infusion are water extracts from finished raw materials, differing in preparation technology, and tincture is an alcohol extract.

What is it made from?

If medicinal collection consists of wood, bark, hard fruits or seeds, then decoctions are prepared, but from thin, soft parts plants - infusions and teas. Extraction can be done not only with water. Sometimes traditional healers prepared decoctions using whey and milk. For headaches, a milk decoction of flax seed or dill with thyme was used as an essential remedy. For colds and chest pains, a decoction of wheatgrass root whey was taken.

For tea, grass, leaves, and flowers are used.

For tinctures, not only various parts of plants and their fruits can be used, but also other natural resources: mumiyo, insects and even snakes. The raw materials are infused, depending on the recipe, in various alcohol-containing liquids: alcohol, vodka, wine, cognac, etc.

Teas, infusions and decoctions

The simplest interpretation of the differences in technology will look like this: decoctions take longer to boil and infuse less, while infusions, on the contrary, are subjected to less heat treatment (or not at all) and infuse for a long time.

• Decoction - boil for a certain time and then infuse. Better preserved useful components when cooking not on open fire, but in a water bath.
• Infusion - pour liquid and infuse. There are cold and hot methods of infusion, depending on the temperature of the liquid in the recipe. For cold hood soft grass that easily releases healing substances into the water is suitable.
• Tea - infused hot water. Unlike infusion, tea has a lower concentration.

For infusions and decoctions, dishes made of earthenware, porcelain, stainless steel or enamel are used.

There are recipes that require the infusion to be boiled first. If the time of such heat treatment exceeds 15 minutes, then it is already a decoction.

In normal practice, decoctions and infusions are kept at a ratio of 1:10.

What our ancestors did

1. Medicinal herbs infused boiling water, steamed all night in the oven (now you can do it in the oven).
2. The herbs were brewed as tea and then steeped for 30 minutes.
3. The raw materials were filled with water. In a container of boiling water ( water bath) kept covered for 15 minutes, then infused for 45 minutes.

IN modern conditions do this: in the evening, the required volume of raw materials is placed in a thermos, poured with boiling water, closed, and left overnight. It is not recommended to keep the infusion in a thermos for more than a day.

Alcohol tincture

Tinctures with 70% alcohol are prepared in a ratio of 1:5, and with vodka - 1:10. Let it brew at room temperature for 7 - 14 days, filter and leave for several days in cool conditions (at a temperature not exceeding 8 ° C). Filtered.

A good tincture is transparent, with a slight smell and taste of the medicinal raw materials used for its manufacture.

If you have a little free time, then why not do something useful for yourself and your family: instead of the store-bought wine you usually buy for the holidays, prepare a bottle of sweets for future use? Or maybe it makes sense to start making this drink instead? And in general, what is the difference between liqueur and tincture and which of them is more useful (or less harmful)?

For Russian people, liqueur is more familiar. In earlier times, this alcoholic product could be found in almost any home. This - the drink is sweet, tastes pleasant, thick and even slightly stretchy.

He reminds a lot of people. At the same time, real liqueur costs a lot of money, but liqueur is always available: it is enough to have a small supply of sugar in the house and grow the most modest harvest of raspberries, currants or cherries in the garden. From these ingredients you can easily prepare the desired drink.

Tinctures

Most people associate the word “tincture” with medicine. In fact, this is true: often medicinal plants or their parts are doused with alcohol and after a few weeks they receive a remedy that can improve health. The tincture is used in small doses, since its main task is not to cheer and relax, but to heal.

Liqueurs and tinctures - what's the difference?

For both, fruits and berries can be used as raw materials. Both are alcoholic drinks. But there are also very significant differences between them.

To make it easier to understand them, let's look at the information in the table. It indicates the main features of drinks and the differences in their composition and production method.

Criteria	Pouring	Tincture
Mode of production	Often by fermentation. Or they use this method: decant the syrup obtained from sugar and raw materials and add alcohol or vodka.	By long-term (up to 1 month) infusion on an alcohol basis.
Amount of sugar	The liqueurs are sweet - they contain from 28 to 40 g of sugar per liter.	Rarely distinguished by sweetness. The most pleasant tincture for those with a sweet tooth will have a maximum of 30 g of sugars per liter, no more. More often, tinctures are bitter, bitterish-tart.
For what purpose are they preparing?	For holidays and feasts.	For healing, strengthening the immune system, relieving fatigue, invigorating
Raw materials used	Fruits or berries.	Large number of components: fruits; berries; roots; seeds; grains; leaves; stems; whole spices.
Fortress	From 18 to 20%	From 30 to 45%. Tinctures are drunk in small quantities, since they are quite concentrated and contain a lot of alcohol.
Method of use	IN pure form. Often in the form of additives in: coffee; confectionery.	In its purest form. Sometimes many types of herbs and other medicinal plants are mixed and balms are made, which should also be drunk separately, a teaspoon at a time.

If sugar is one of the main ingredients in liqueur, then in tincture it is necessary only to soften the taste and make the tincture easier to take.

There is another interesting one distinctive feature: liqueurs contain more extras active substances, which are generally beneficial for the body, but may not have the best effect on a weakened person. This:

• amino acids;
• glutamine;
• glutamic acid.

Extractive substances can cause slight relaxation and drowsiness, which is why, after treating ourselves to a liqueur, we often feel the urge to take a nap.

During the preparation process, liqueurs are kept in a cool place, and tinctures are kept in a warm and somewhat dark place.

How is liqueur different from wine?

Here, with the differences, the situation is quite clear: if for the production of liqueur we can take any fruits and berries, in particular:

• apples;
• plum;
• pears;
• peaches;
• apricots;
• raspberries,

then for wine they traditionally take only grapes or wine materials, that is, the cake remaining after processing the berries. prepared using yeast, but they are not necessary for making liqueur.

Important difference - sugar content and strength. If liqueur - by all means sweet drink, then the wine can be dry or semi-dry, there can only be sugar in it minimum required. Sugar is used as a preservative in liqueur, and sulfur dioxide is used in wine.

As for the strength, the liqueur in this case holds the palm: the wine can be very weak, for example, 11 degrees.

Difference between liqueur and liqueur

Both are well worthy of definition." divine nectar" Do you doubt what you should treat your guests to, because you want to choose the best for your loved ones? Let's look at these drinks in more detail then.

We already know about the liqueur that this magnificent elixir:

• contains up to 40 g of sugar per 1 liter;
• not too strong - up to 20 0;
• can be prepared from different fruits, both by fermentation and settling with the addition of sugar syrup.

Liqueur is produced only in one way - by maceration method, that is, infusion. In addition to the main composition of fruits, the liqueur can be made more piquant by adding herbs and spices.

Liqueur is for those who prefer strong alcohol: it can contain up to 50% alcohol. There is also a lot of sugar in it: up to 60%.

Thus, if among your guests there are more young girls, then offer them a drink. If older ladies prevail, then liqueur is more suitable. Older women often prefer stronger drinks. If you are expecting men of any age over 18, then put vodka or brandy on the table: representatives of the stronger sex are often indifferent to sweets.

Before you get started self-production alcohol, decide what exactly you need. Do you want to organize holidays and family gatherings more often? Make liqueurs, liqueurs or Home wine. Do you need to recuperate or heal? Learn recipes for the most effective tinctures that suit your case.

Liqueur and tincture are very popular alcoholic drinks, which are often prepared at home from their own harvest. However, these are very related drinks, and sometimes it is difficult to immediately determine what exactly is in front of you. So let's compare them, get to know them better and find the differences.

The tincture is often made with herbs, but can also be fruit. Its fundamental feature is fresh or dried fruits, berries or herbs are immediately filled with alcohol or vodka and infused for 7 to 45 days. At the end of cooking they sometimes add sugar syrup. Please note that the fermentation process is completely absent.

The result is a clear, colored drink with a strength of 35–55% alcohol, and sometimes more. Depending on the sugar content of the final product (from fruit or sugar syrup), the tincture can be bitter (up to 2% sugar), semi-sweet or sweet (up to 30% sugar).

Bitters are usually prepared from medicinal herbs and drink little by little for treatment. They are often made very strong and used as pharmaceuticals - by dripping a little into water. In addition to herbal options, this type includes, for example, well-known tinctures of rowan or sea buckthorn berries. Another distinctive feature is that the preparation of the tincture often involves a whole bouquet of different herbs and spices.

Sweet liqueurs are close to balms; they are served at the table, but they are also drunk little by little. Among them, a popular tincture of tea rose petals.

Liqueurs are a sweet alcoholic drink with a strength of 12–25% alcohol. This term is used for 3 types of drinks:

1. Berries or fruits covered with sugar ferment naturally (warm, without adding yeast) for 1 to 6 months, depending on the type of fruit. The resulting drink is a close relative of wine, differing only in that any fruits and berries can be used, not just grapes.

Stone fruits ferment the longest - plums, apricots, cherries, etc. In 3 months, they will have time to ferment dense pome fruits - pears, apples, etc. The fastest, in 4 weeks, soft, juicy pome berries – wild strawberries, strawberries, raspberries – will ferment.

This liqueur turns out to be very rich and aromatic, including in color, but not very strong - up to 18 - 20% maximum. Sugar in it can be up to 40%, but not less than 28%.

1. Fresh berries and fruits are poured with vodka or diluted alcohol and infused in a warm, dark place for about 2 months, then filtered and sugar syrup is added. This option is closer to tincture, because. does not involve fermentation, but the resulting drink is less strong than tincture (no more than 25% alcohol), because the alcohol is diluted with juice fresh berries or fruit. Also, this liqueur is much sweeter than the tincture, and therefore they drink it simply at the table, and not as a medicine.
2. This recipe combines the features of the previous two. The jar is filled one third with fresh fruits or berries (seedless, hard ones - cut) and covered with sugar. After a week of natural fermentation, water is added (the same volume as was occupied fresh fruits) and add more sugar. When fermentation is complete (after about 2 - 3 weeks), the drink is filtered and fixed with vodka (0.5 liters per 2 liters of fermented liquid).

The resulting drink is slightly less rich than in the first recipe, but closer to wine than the second option. It is quite sweet, 30 - 40% sugar, but not too strong - up to 20% alcohol. Another point is that the recipe is much more economical in terms of fruit than the first. This great drink for a festive or even everyday table.

Conclusion

The tincture is much stronger (from 35% alcohol), often medicinal (herbal), does not undergo a fermentation process, is less sweet (up to 30% sugars) or without sugar at all, and is consumed little by little.

The liqueur is prepared only from fruits or berries, mainly by fermenting them, contains 12 - 25% alcohol and at least 28% sugar, is more saturated fruity flavors and aromas, drunk like wine, with food or dessert.

Liqueurs and tinctures are alcoholic drinks that have different strengths and are made both at home and industrially at distilleries. In the culinary tradition, liqueurs, for the production of which fruits or berries are used, are served to the table. Tinctures, for the production of which medicinal plants are used, are in most cases used as medicine.

Pouring and tincture? features of difference

Liqueurs are sweet alcoholic drinks. The strength of the product can vary from 18 to 20 degrees with sugar content from 28 to 40%. To make such homemade alcohol Alcohol-based juices and infusions made from fresh berries and fruits are used. Very often, sugar syrup and citric acid are involved in the drink recipe.

In accordance with the recipe according to which the liqueur is made, the time required for the final infusion of the product can last from 1 to 6 months. Depending on the material used to produce liqueur, drinks differ in terms of ripeness: late, medium and early ripening.

Late-ripening, in most cases, are made on the basis of fruits that have long term storage Such liqueurs, for the production of which the fruits of apples, pears, quinces or rowan berries were used, can ripen from 3 months to six months.

Liqueurs, for the production of which the fruits of cherries, plums and currants or lingonberries were used, with a shelf life of two weeks at a temperature of 0 degrees, are considered mid-season. Such homemade liqueurs should mature from 1.5 to 2.5 months.

To prepare early ripening homemade liqueurs, are berries that have a short shelf life used? from 3 to 5 days at temperatures close to 0 degrees (raspberries or strawberries). Such liqueurs will be ready in 1 month.

The tincture, presented in the form alcoholic drink, is made by infusing any alcohol? vodka, moonshine or wine on various berries or fruits, spices or healing herbs. The essence of the process of making homemade tinctures is the transfer of essential oils and biologically active substances from fresh or dried fruits and plants in the alcohol liquid on the basis of which the product is made.

The time it takes to do homemade tincture, can range from 14 days to 1.5 months. If necessary, the period of production of the tincture can be reduced to one? two weeks by heating the liquid to a temperature of 50? 55 degrees. For the most part, tinctures are strong drinks. The strength of such alcohol can reach 45 degrees. Are tinctures less sweet than liqueurs? The percentage of sugar in the drink does not exceed 30%.

Homemade liqueurs and liqueurs

The basis for preparing homemade liqueurs can be vodka, moonshine or diluted drinking
alcohol? The alcohol strength should be 40 degrees. In order to make a liqueur at home, you need to fill the bottle with the selected berries or fruits up to the neck and pour the entire mass strong alcohol. Periodically, twice? three times a week, the vessel with the entire mass must be shaken.

After the process of ripening a homemade alcoholic product is completed, and this depends on the material on which the infusion takes place, the liquid is filtered through a filter, and additional sugar syrup is added to it. The liqueur is stored in a tightly closed container, in a dark and cool place.

Liqueurs, which are drinks based on fruits and berries, are a stronger product than liqueurs. Fortress homemade liqueur can range from 15 to 75 degrees, and the volume of sugar content in the liquid is from 25 to 60%.

The process of making liqueurs at home is similar to the production of liqueurs, but the alcohol that will be needed to produce this product must be stronger? at least 50 degrees.

Pineapple liqueur

Pineapple liqueur, like rum, is considered a classic alcoholic product of the Central and South America. Preparing such alcohol at home is not expensive from a financial point of view, and the product made independently is quite close in quality to its industrial counterpart, not differing much from samples of expensive products supplied.

Ingredients:

Preparation of liqueur

1. Chop the pineapples.
2. Prepare syrup from water and sugar.
3. Mix the cooled syrup with alcohol.
4. Pour a mixture of alcohol and sugar over the crushed pineapple and close the vessel with the resulting mass.

The time it takes to mature homemade pineapple-based liqueur is 3 to 4 weeks. After the product has infused, the liquid must be filtered and bottled.

Rose petal tincture

This recipe is considered a “classic”. To prepare the tincture you only need quality products: tea rose petals without visible signs of spoilage and high-quality alcohol without a heavy odor.

Ingredients:

• vodka? 0.5 l;
• tea rose petals? 50 g;
• sugar? 50 ? 90 g;
• water? 50 ? 60 ml;
• lemon acid? 2 years

Preparing the tincture

A tincture made this way homemade recipe and in simple conditions, can be stored for up to 5 years and has a strength of 32-34 g.

Apple juice

A simple recipe for rustic liqueur, accessible to everyone and in any conditions.

Ingredients:

• sweet and sour apples? 2 kg
• vodka (moonshine)? 0.5 l;
• sugar? 300 g;
• water? 100 ml.

Preparing the liqueur

1. Cut the washed apples into slices and place them on a plate in the sun? at 8? 10 hours (or dry for 3 - 4 hours on low heat in the oven).
2. Place the dried fruit slices into a jar, fill with alcohol, close and place in a warm place without access to light for 2 months with periodic (2 - 3 times a week) shaking of the contents of the jar.
3. At the end of the infusion period, drain the liquid through the filter.
4. Prepare a syrup based on water and sugar, cool and mix with alcoholic liquid.
5. Pour into bottles and store in conditions that do not allow light to enter the product.