Maple schnapps

Maple schnapps - based on fresh maple flowers or flower buds - is a very elegant, almost wine like schnapps, with rich, round taste and flavours.

Very good as aperitif or after-dinner drink.

Normally a flavoured schnapps should be enjoyed at room temperature, but with maple schnapps you can enjoy it lightly chilled, 8-10°C (46-50°F).

Serve with light foods, desserts, cakes, cheese and cheesecakes.

Or try to add one or two drops to a glass of neutral white wine or dry sparkling wine. Wonderful on a warm summer day or before a meal.

Maple schnapps blends very well with pomegranate schnapps.

Or try to combine the schnapps with linden schnapps, rowan schnapps, rose schnapps - and dandelion root schnapps.

It makes a highly enjoyable and very harmonious schnapps blend.

Also, see how you can easily...
turn your maple schnapps into a liqueur.

Great maple

Great maple is also known as sycamore.

It's a beautiful, deciduous tree that grows to a hight of about 30 meters.

The tree has a wide-spreading crown, short trunk and smooth, grey-brown bark.

The palmately lobed leaves are sitting opposite to one another on long, red or reddish stems.

The leaves are dark green and shiny above and greyish below.

The flowers, which appear right after the leaves, are very small, yellow or greenish, and arranged in hanging clusters.

The fruit is a pair of connected, winged seeds. It's called samara or keys. Here in Denmark we call it a helicopter.

When ripe the wings divide, and the fruit spins its way down to the earth. With good winds it can fly over a long distance.

The wood from the great maple tree is widely used in hardwood flooring and furniture making, wood turning and wood carving, and in the making of musical instruments such as pianos, violins, and bassoons.

The juice, which is tapped from the trunk by piercing the bark, can be used for medicinal purposes and sugar making. Formerly the juice was used to make wine.

The great maple tree is very common here in Denmark, where it grows in nutrient-rich soil in gardens, parks, shrubs, hedgerows, beech woods, wood edges and along roadsides.

Grows wild in the southern part of Denmark, e.g. eastern part of South Jutland (Jylland), southern part of the island of Funen (Fyn) and on the islands of Als and Ærø. Also in the beech wood of Gjorslev on the peninsula of Stevns.

More information about the great maple tree (sycamore tree)

Recipe

Use fresh maple flowers or flower buds. Pick them just before bloom or right after.

Direction:

• If wet - dry the flowers or flower buds in the shadow on a piece of paper towel.

• Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Fill the jar with flowers or flower buds.
• Fill up with clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% alcohol content (80 proof).
• Let steep for 1-3 days in a dark place at room temperature,
  18-20°C (64-68°F).
• Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.
• Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Store (age) for a couple of days in a dark place at room temperature before serving. Can be stored for almost one year. After that the taste and flavours tend to fade out.

Note: If for some reason you are not satisfied with your infusion, there are ways to adjust both taste and flavours - click here to see how.

Serve your maple schnapps lightly chilled in suitable glasses. And remember to keep your schnapps bottle tightly closed and in a dark place before and between servings.