Tormentil Schnapps

Tormentil schnapps - based on fresh tormentil rootstocks (rhizomes) - has a magnificent red-brown colour and a delightful bitter and very aromatic and specific taste.

Enjoy on its own - or serve with more heavy food where you would normally serve beer.

Blends very well with thyme schnapps and ginger schnapps.

Suggestion: Combine equal parts thyme schnapps and ginger schnapps and half tormentil schnapps.

Leave it a couple of days to settle and allow the flavours to fully blend.

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

Tormentil

Potentilla erecta - (syn. Potentilla tormentilla)

The tormentil plant - also known as bloodroot - is a perennial herb with small, lemon yellow flowers with four petals. Other species of the genus Potentilla have five petals.

Tormentil has long, thin stems - creeping, ascending or erect if supported - and small, dark green leaves.

The rootstock (rhizome) is 3-8 centimeter long and 2-3 centimeter thick. It's brown or blackish on the outside. Inside it's red or red-brown. It has a strongly astringent taste and a specific aromatic scent.

Tormentil is very common here in Denmark, where it grows wild in moist acid soil in heaths, bogs, meadows, open woods, and shrubs. It can be difficult to find as it often hides underneath grass or other vegetation. But it's worth while.

More information about the tormentil plant

Recipe

Use fresh tormentil rootstocks (rhizomes).

You can dig them any time of the year. But the best time is from late autumn till early spring. That's when they are most aromatic.

Direction:

• Rinse the rootstocks thoroughly.
• Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel.
• Slice them thinly.
• Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Put 1 deciliter sliced rootstocks into the jar.
• Add 70 centiliter clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% (80 proof).
• Let steep 3-7 days in a dark place at room temperature,
  18-20°C (64-68°F).
• Shake lightly and taste it from time to time. It must not become too bitter and astringent.
• Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Store (age) for at least a couple of months in a dark place at room temperature before serving. The longer you store the better - up to five years. Taste it from time to time to find 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 tormentil schnapps at room temperature in suitable glasses. And remember to keep your schnapps bottle tightly closed and in a dark place before and between servings.








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