Quince Harvest by Jose Colindres

Quince Harvest

The first time I tasted a liqueur I enjoyed it so much I can still remember how my senses reacted to the sweetness, smoothness and fruity flavors of the liqueur. I wondered why people would drink anything else but liqueur which is so tasty. Unlike other types of alcohol that are so harsh on one’s taste buds. During dinner one evening my mother-in-law brought out a homemade liqueur made from lemons called Lemonciello. She poured what seemed like a couple of ounces into a cordial glass which looked like a champagne glass for kids to play with; the glass couldn’t hold more than two ounces. She continued to explain how her mother had made the liqueur 30 years earlier, and I was astounded at how long this liqueur had been in the family. As I took my first sip I could smell the lemony zest and taste the strong lemon flavors, sweetness, and alcohol in the drink. I was immediately taken on how something so delicious could have been made so long ago and appreciated her sharing such a personal item with me. A desire to learn the art of making liqueur was born within me and as the night progressed so did my ideas of how I would make my first batch. I knew I first had to do intense research on how liqueurs are made, which type of equipment is required, find a basic recipe I could modify to make my own but most importantly what type of fruit I would use. I never imagine this idea would turn into a family event.

Later in the evening I couldn’t help but inquire more about how Grandma had made the liqueur. Deep inside I knew I had a desire to learn how to make liqueurs and this was my first attempt at getting information on how to go about it. Later, I researched different websites on the types of fruits to use but they all seem so common. I wanted to make something that was different and special like grandmas liqueur. This is when it finally hit me; my wife’s grandfather had planted a Quince tree in what is now my in-laws house and no one took advantage of using the fruit with the exception of making preserve for Thanksgiving. The rest of the fruit would just go to waste. I thought because of the wonderful smell of the quince once ripened that it would taste pretty good. I attempted to eat one raw one day; to my disappointment quince smells very good when ripe but the taste not so much. The texture of the fruit is hard and grainy, it is difficult to bite down into, and chewing the flesh of the fruit is dry and uncomfortable it is so tart with barely any sweetness to it.

In my research of making liqueurs I read that flavors from the fruit fuse with the liquor and thought the quince doesn’t taste as good as it smells but if I could give the alcohol the taste of quince it would make a very different and delicious liqueur. My first attempt at making the liqueur was nerve wrecking and a difficult task. I spent a few weeks just reading on how to make liqueurs from fruit and wasn’t able to find any good recipes for making quince liqueur so I ended up taking different methods from other recipes and applying them to my own recipe.  The majority of the steps I used came from a tangerine liqueur recipe I found on the internet and thought was a decent recipe (Chief Mixologist,2011). Once I started prepping the fruit it turned out to be a more time consuming process than I had originally anticipated because the fruit was in such a bad shape. The quince tree never been treated with pesticide and the majority of the fruit was damaged by bugs or malformed from insect bites which made it a difficult task for pealing and dicing. After cutting for what seemed to be 30 to 40 quinces I ended up with only four cups of the fruit.

 

The fruit was placed in a cork sealed one gallon jar with vodka and spices for 3 weeks. The jar was stored in the basement where the light can’t impact the alcohol and the air is moist and cool. Each day I would stop by and stir the Jar to make sure all ingredients blended together equally. After the three weeks of fusing flavors, the simple syrup was added and left to rest for an additional week. The moment of truth came on the 5^th week when the contents were strained into bottles. My first impressions were about how yellow the liquid looked, what a bite the drink carried after it was sipped and the overwhelming taste of cinnamon in the liqueur. I was amazed at what I had created and couldn’t wait to have others try it out. That holiday season my family and I tried the liqueur and everyone loved it but I wasn’t one hundred percent happy with the end result. It’s funny how one can stumble upon recipes by mistake or with time and this is what happened with my liqueur recipe. Every recipe on the internet I read said to let the fruit sit for four weeks and then it was ready. It wasn’t until several months later when I opened my liqueur bottle that I realized there was a lot of sediment left at the bottom of the bottle and the liqueur was denser. I continued by pouring myself a glass and discovered the flavor had changed and had matured to a softer sweet flavor with the same quince aroma. I then realized the secret to a great liqueur was to let it rest for up to six months to let the flavors fuse together.

My second attempt at making liqueur I felt very confident with the great success I had from my first. This time I wanted to try something new and maybe improve on the flavor. I looked back at what I could have done better with the first batch and thought it could have been less sweet and maybe a little less flavor of cinnamon. I also remembered how difficult it was not having the right tools or equipment. I went on an all-out shopping spree from buying pesticide to spray the tree, purchasing the right grinders, dark bottles to block the light to actually ordering a roasted oak cask to give the liqueur an oak flavor. I also did more research and came across on Old Italian recipe by Helen Pizzi called “Italian Quince Liquor” that inspired me to add more flavors and ingredients to my original recipe. The end result was astounding; I could taste the burnt oak, quince, and cloves with just the right balance of sweetness which was not overpowering to the rest of the ingredients.

Each year it has become a tradition in my family to pick the fruit together in preparation for the quince liqueur making. We have come to known it as the quince harvest. Family and friends join together in the cleaning of the fruit, grinding of the meat and combining of all the ingredients. The best part is around the holidays when everyone gets a bottle of the quince liqueur made from that year’s harvest and we all come together to have the first taste. Needless to say it turns out to be the highlight of the evening.