Pear vodka
A 40% grain vodka that tastes of freshly cut ripe pear, with a light fruity acidity, a clean, smooth character and a gently warming finish. The pears steep for less than a week, because their fresh aroma fades and turns cooked if they stay longer. Treat the amounts as a starting point and tune them by taste.
- Vodka in
- 2 L
- Vodka out
- about 2.2 L
- Strength
- roughly 40% ABV
- Start to bottle
- about 2 weeks
Shopping list
Amounts scale with the batch size above. The method text uses the 2 L amounts.
Grocery store
Liquor store
Equipment
Method
Ripe pears give up their aroma fast and start to taste cooked if they stay in too long, so this one is quick: slice, steep for five to eight days in a cool place, strain, and let it settle.
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Day 0
Slice the pears
Quarter and core the pears and slice them thinly, keeping the skin on for aroma. Toss the slices with the lemon juice straight away so they don't brown.
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Day 0
Start the jar
Put the pear slices, and the dried pear if you have it, in the jar and cover them with both vodkas. Seal it and keep it somewhere cool and dark, shaking it once a day.
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Day 3
Taste every day
From day 3, taste daily. Strain as soon as it smells like a freshly cut pear; a cooked or woody note means it has gone too far.
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Days 5–8
Strain, press and settle
Pour it through a sieve, press the pears gently in cheesecloth, then let it settle overnight somewhere cold before filtering it through coffee filters.
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Same day
Round it out, if you like
Stir the sugar into a glass of the vodka until dissolved, and add it back a little at a time. It should stay dry.
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Then 1 week
Bottle and rest
Bottle it and rest it for a week. The fresh pear aroma is best within about six months.
Keep it safe
- Core the pears well; the seeds contain small amounts of amygdalin.
- Keep the jar sealed, cool and dark, and label it with the start date.
- It is as strong as regular vodka, so label the bottles and serve it in small glasses.
Tuning the next batch
- Pear too faint: use riper pears and add the dried pear.
- Tastes cooked or woody: strain two days earlier next time.
- Browning: use a little more lemon juice when slicing.
- Too strong: use all 80-proof vodka instead of the 100-proof.
To serve
Serve it ice-cold, or long with tonic, a thin slice of pear and a sprig of rosemary on a warm evening.