Q: I'm looking for a recipe for black currant cordial (syrup) to make hot black currant drinks in the fall/winter. I want to make use of the summer to make the cordial and store in the freezer or refrigerator for later use. Any suggestions or recipes?
The recipes I've found online were confusing. Half of the recipes listed lemon as an ingredient and the other half asked for cloves. To be honest when I've had hot black currant drink at the Iris Cafe in Brooklyn Heights and in desserts with black currant syrup, I didn't detect either lemon or cloves, though it doesn't mean either ingredient wasn't present.
Sent by Susan
Editor: Readers, any suggestions for Susan? I would probably start with Madalene's recipe — it does have a bit of lemon, which probably heightens the acidity and brightens the flavor.
• Home Made Blackcurrant Cordial at The British Larder
Related: What Can I Do With Red Currants?
(Image: Madalene of The British Larder)
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Cloves have a very distinct flavor so you would have noticed them. I would stay away from them because they just taste too much like Christmas to me but that's a personal preference.
Lemon is more of a flavor enhancer (similar to adding salt or vinegar) meant to add "brightness"/freshness to the syrup and keeping it from being too bitter. Plus, it helps keep the syrup fresher longer, so I would pick a recipe with lemon in it.
Sorry I don't have an actual recipe....
Hi Susan,
for your cordial, I would just use water, sugar and the black currants...
I think HHRI is totally right... I guess also that lemon would just keeping it fresh for a longer time and give it a fresh taste... Will you let infuse the berries and strain them after you've cooked them?
I would love to hear how your cordial turned out, I already had syrups with lemon balm and all kinds of fruit :) Do you want to share recipes?
Thank you in advance!!!
Greetings from Germany,
Linda
Thanks to you both for the comments.
Linda_U - I'll love to share recipes, though at this point I've been collecting them randomly. Now that I know to avoid the cordial recipes with cloves, I'm going to try and attempt making a black currant cordial next week. I guess I will post in this comment section the recipe I used and whether it worked or not. (Sorry, I'm relatively new to this website and I don't know if there's a way to forward recipes and comments directly to another op. Posting here seems to be the most logical.)
Hmm... Linda - I don't know if you saw, but the very kind and helpful people at theKitchn included a link to the recipe at the British Larder. Looking at it, it looks pretty similar to recipes with lemon I found online. I think I'm going to this recipe a try, though I think I may try and see what the neighborhood B&N has before I make the cordial.