Homemade Verbena Liquor Recipe
Verbena is a plant that I enjoy all year round, whether as a herbal tea or as an infusion in desserts such as panna cotta, but today I suggest you try an easy homemade Verbena Liquor recipe!
I love the freshness of this plant, just walking past a pretty bouquet or verbena plant gives off its delicious fresh scent. It is an aromatic plant that you can very well plant in your garden or even in a pot on a balcony. It is quite robust and will give you pretty leaves to dry for your winter infusions or a few handfuls to make a small vial of this pretty green liquor which will be delicious in summer and winter with a small ice cube inside. 😉
It’s a bit of an anti-waste recipe, especially at the end of summer if your verbena is full of pretty green leaves. Be careful when you cut your verbena because it dries quite quickly (after about a day it will already have clearly changed its appearance). You can obviously use dried leaves but I definitely recommend fresh leaves which provide a fresher and herbaceous taste.
This recipe for verbena liquor is very simple, you will only need 3 ingredients + water, and arm yourself with a little patience since you will have to let the leaves macerate for about 1 month.
In fact, it’s exactly the same principle as for a homemade limoncello. And I also used the same technique in particular to calculate the degree of alcohol that I wanted to obtain in the end, i.e. around thirty degrees.
Homemade Verbena Liquor Recipe
What ingredients do you need to make your homemade verbena liquor?
- verbena leaves (fairly fresh but dry can work too, your liquor will be more brown than green but good too, I recommend fresh leaves…)
- Alcohol at 95° or brandy at 40° or even fruit alcohol (Please note, no modified alcohol found in pharmacies, this is unsuitable for consumption!).
- sugar
- water
Ingredients details and instructions are available further down the page, in the recipe card.
On the same principle as in this recipe, you can use other herbs to make other liquors. It works very well for example with mint or basil, but also with thyme or rosemary.
Concerning the color of the liquor: Note, however, that if you use an alcohol other than 95° alcohol, it is possible that your liquor will have a less green and more brown color. This does not pose a problem for consumption.
Another cause that could give your liquor a browner color is exposure to the sun.
If you want a nice green liquor, I recommend using 95° alcohol (you can find it in Italy for example) and storing your liquor away from light.
How to dilute alcohol?
For 1 liter of pure alcohol (95°), there are generally 2 liters of water depending on your tastes.
Be careful, 1 liter of water for 1 liter of 95° alcohol will give you a 47° liquor.
For my part, I like it around 32°, which is why I use 2 parts of water for one part of 96° alcohol.
If you use fruit alcohol, so 40% or 45% alcohol, you don’t need to dilute it as much in water because you don’t need to make it much less strong. You will need a smaller amount of water to dissolve the sugar, which does not dissolve in alcohol on its own.
I recommend 40 cl of water maximum for 1 liter of 45° alcohol.
I have provided you with a dilution table to guide you according to the final degree of alcohol you wish to obtain.
Alcohol Dilution Table – Wetting Table
| Type of Alcohol | Amount of alcohol | Quantity of Water | Final degree |
| 96° | 0,5 l | 1,2 l | 28° |
| 96° | 0,5 l | 1 l | 32° |
| 96° | 0,5 l | 0,75 l | 38° |
| 45° | 1 l | 0,6 l | 28° |
| 45° | 1 l | 0,4 l | 32° |
| 45° | 1 l | 0,20 l | 38° |
How much sugar to use?
Just like water, the amount of sugar depends on the alcohol you use.
Depending on my tastes, I recommend 400 to 450 g of sugar for 1 liter of 95° alcohol and only 250 g for 1 liter of 45° alcohol.
But for my part, I always tend not to add too much sugar.
How to store your liquor?
Once your alcohol is prepared, store the bottle in a cool place, or even in the freezer. The liquor is best enjoyed cold and it will not freeze thanks to its alcohol concentration.
How to taste this verbena liquor?
It is simply drunk as a digestive at the end of a good meal, with or without ice cubes, but it can also be used as a dessert, in a cake or even to dip biscuits in a syrup, like in a tiramisu for example. Verbena goes very well with fruits, especially peaches or nectarines. It can also be washed down with a good sorbet.
It will also be an original ingredient in a cocktail, for example with lemon juice and ginger beer or in Mojito instead of rum, or with peach juice and sparkling water, and even with a few drops in a Gin and tonic…
Homemade Verbena Liquor Recipe
Equipment
- 1 glass container (bottle or jar) that closes tightly
Ingredients
- 0.5 liter 96° alcohol or 1 liter of 45° alcohol
- 2 handfuls fresh verbena leaves (about 10 g)
- 200 g sugar
- 1 liter water or 0.4 liter with 45° alcohol
Instructions
- Remove the verbena leaves from their stems and wash them.Dry them gently and place them in a glass bottle that seals tightly.
- Add the alcohol and mix.Close the bottle and store in a dry place away from light for 20 to 30 days.Stir approximately every 5 days.
- Then filter your mixture to remove the leaves.You will get a pretty green liquid, as if the alcohol had stolen all the color from the leaves.
- In a saucepan, pour the water and sugar then bring the mixture to the boil. Let it cool then pour your filtered alcohol over it.
- Put your liquor back in closed bottles then store it in a cool, dry place away from light for about 10 days.
- And there you have it! You can taste it!For my part, I then keep it cool, or even in the freezer.
Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health it must be consumed in moderation!
