How to Make a Delightful Rosehip Liqueur

What are Rosehips?

Rosehip berries are the beautiful red fruit of the rose (Rosa) bush. All roses and their fruit are edible, although flavour varies depending on the variety. We are fortunate in that we have lots of wild dog rose bushes growing in the hedgerows around our house and they have an excellent flavour.

Roses and their rosehip berries have been used as food, medicine and in cosmetics for millennia. The ancient Greeks and Romans highly prized them for their health benefits.

Packed full of vitamin C and Iron, syrup made from these fruits has a long history of being used here in the UK to prevent colds, particularly in children. Raw rosehip syrup is a no-cook rosehip syrup recipe that uses sugar to draw the juice from the fruit resulting in a thick, delicious syrup. They also taste fantastic combined with crab apples to make a Jelly.

I cant promise that our rosehip liqueur will stop you catching a cold, but since it tastes delicious, it’ll certainly cheer you up if you do have one.

Rosehips are traditionally harvested after the first frosts, which is said to soften them and improve their flavour.

Just as I do when making Sloe Gin, I like to store mine in the freezer before using. You can read all the advantages of doing so in our best reasons for freezing foraged fruit post.

What you Need to Make Rosehip Liqueur.

• Enough rosehips to half fill a litre glass jar. I like to top and tail mine and freeze them first

• Zest of 1 Lemon
• 3 cloves
• Half a Cinnamon Stick
• Bottle of Brandy
• 150 grams soft brown sugar

• Glass bottles

Note: I like to use Brandy to make this liqueur, but you can make Rosehip Gin and Rosehip Vodka in exactly the same way.

Just pop all your ingredients into a clean jar, and allow to sit for at least a month, shaking periodically. Then strain through muslin and bottle.

This delicious, syrupy rosehip liqueur will continue to mature although it tastes fantastic from the start. It makes a lovely homemade gift, but I bet after you try it you won’t give a drop away!

If we have wetted your appetite for delicious foraged concoctions we suggest you check out our Magical Himalayan Balsam Gin that changes colour when the tonic is added, or our savoury Wild Horseradish and Ground Ivy Infused Vodka which is perfect for Bloody Marys.

And if you fancy making a gin infusion without having to forage first, try our delicious Raspberry and Mint Gin and our mouth-watering Seville Orange Gin.