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Make your own apricot liqueur with just 3 ingredients! Fresh, sweet, and fruity, this liqueur has a flavor comparable to Japanese Umeshu. Apricots are steeped for about 3 months in liquor and sugar to create a delightful and aromatic beverage!
⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe
- A more affordable version of Umeshu. If you have wanted to make your own Umeshu, but couldn’t find ume plums, you will love this alternative! Ume fruits are hard to find outside of Asia and are often expensive. This liqueur makes use of simple ingredients and regular apricots for a twist on the traditional Umeshu. It’s just as delicious!
- Incredible flavor and aroma. This liqueur is aromatic, with a subtle tanginess and plenty of apricot aroma! You can serve it on the rocks or use it as a cocktail base!
- Super simple to prepare. Simply combine all of the ingredients in a jar, put it in a dark place, and forget about it. It’s that easy!
📘 What is Apricot Liqueur
An apricot liqueur is an alcoholic drink made with fresh apricots that are steeped in a neutral spirit. It is often sweetened with either rock sugar or granulated sugar. After a few months, the fruits infuse the liqueur with a wonderful flavor.
The Japanese version of apricot liqueur is called Umeshu and is made with unripe ume plums. Although ume is often translated to “plum,” it is actually close to the apricot fruit.
🍑 Ingredient Notes
This homemade liqueur requires just 3 easy-to-find ingredients. Here is what you will need:
- Apricots – Do not use dried apricots here. You must use fresh and quality apricots. I like to use semi-ripe apricots, but you can use them ripe or unripe, depending on how sour you want the liqueur.
- Sugar – Preferably yellow rock sugar or light brown sugar. It will give your liqueur a golden brown color.
- Alcohol – Use a neutral, flavorless spirit with about 30% ABV (alcohol by volume). You can use vodka or rice wine. Do not try to use a lower ABV, or your liqueur might turn bad.
- Water – Optional. If you are using alcohol with a higher alcohol content, you will need to dilute it. Check out the Tips section to learn more about that.
🥣 How To Make Apricot Liqueur
Soak the apricots
- Soak the apricots. Start by placing your apricots in a large bowl. Cover with water and let them soak for 30-50 minutes. This step helps remove some of the pesticide residues.
- Drain them. Drain the apricots well and transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper towels.
- Remove the stems. Using your hands or a toothpick, remove the stems from the apricots and discard them.
Combine
- Place the rock sugar in a clean glass container. You can use one 33-ounce (1L) glass jar.
- Add the apricots to the jar.
- Pour the liquor over the apricots and close the jar.
Steep
The final step is to let the liqueur steep in a dark and cool place for at least 3 months. The sugar will melt, and the apricots will slowly release their scent and infuse the liqueur.
🍹 How To Serve Apricot Liqueur
You can serve this liqueur:
- On the rocks: The best way to enjoy its delightful aroma! Serve it with a few ice cubes and an orange peel.
- With soda water: Mix soda water and apricot liqueur in equal parts for a sparkling beverage.
- In cocktails: Use the apricot liqueur as a base for all your cocktail needs! It brings sweet, fruity, and sour flavors.
📔 Tips
- Adjust the alcohol content. I recommend using neutral alcohol with about 30% ABV (alcohol by volume). If you can’t find rice wine with that ABV, you can definitely use vodka. Since vodka is generally about 40% ABV, you must dilute it with water. To do so, instead of using 3 cups of alcohol, use 2 cups of vodka and 1 cup of water. That will give you approximately 30% ABV.
- Use rock sugar. While you can use any sugar, I highly recommend rock sugar. As it slowly dissolves, it extracts more flavor from the apricots, resulting in a tastier liqueur.
- Pick good-quality apricots. Not all apricots are equal, so make sure you pick tasty apricots. Organic apricots are even better.
💬 FAQ
It tastes incredibly similar! It is comparable to the type of umeshu made with ripe ume plums (Choya Craft Fruit, for example), so it is slightly less sour than regular umeshu.
You can use ripe or unripe apricots. Using unripe apricots will create a more sour flavor. Ripe apricots will yield a sweeter liqueur with almost no sourness.
Unfortunately, you will have to be patient. This liqueur must be infused for at least 3 months to develop its flavor. At the 2-month mark, it still has an alcohol aftertaste, while after the 3 full months, you can really taste the flavor of the apricots.
No, you can keep this apricot liqueur at room temperature.
You can keep the liqueur almost indefinitely as the sugar and alcohol content act as natural preservatives.
If you like umeshu, you will love this homemade apricot liqueur! It packs plenty of apricot flavor and makes a delicious and refreshing drink for any occasion!
🍶 More Homemade Liqueur Recipes
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Apricot Liqueur
Ingredients
- 14 ounces fresh apricots
- 7 ounces rock sugar or light brown sugar
- 3 cups vodka or rice wine it should be about 30% alcohol
Instructions
Prepare the apricots
- Start by placing your apricots in a large bowl. Cover with water and let them soak for 30-50 minutes. This step helps remove some of the pesticide residues.
- Drain them. Drain the apricots well and transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper towels. Using your hands or a toothpick, remove the stems from the apricots and discard them.
Assemble
- Place the rock sugar in a clean glass container. You can use one 33-ounce (1L) glass jar.
- Add the apricots to the jar. Pour the liquor over the apricots and close the jar.
- Let the liqueur steep in a dark and cool place for at least 3 months before enjoying it. Afterward, you can filter the liqueur, discard the apricots, and transfer the liquid to a clean glass bottle.
Notes
- Adjust the alcohol content. I recommend using neutral alcohol with about 30% ABV (alcohol by volume). If you can’t find rice wine with that ABV, you can definitely use vodka. Since vodka is generally about 40% ABV, you must dilute it with water. To do so, instead of using 3 cups of alcohol, use 2 cups of vodka and 1 cup of water. That will give you approximately 30% ABV.
- Use rock sugar. While you can use any sugar, I highly recommend rock sugar. As it slowly dissolves, it extracts more flavor from the apricots, resulting in a tastier liqueur.
- Pick good-quality apricots. Not all apricots are equal, so make sure you pick tasty apricots. Organic apricots are even better.
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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It’s hard to find ume plums. But I love umeshu. So I’ll try this abricot replacement. Thank you for sharing.
I agree, I have never seen them in stores, personally. Hope you will enjoy this liqueur!
I have just created my Christmas liquor. Fingers crossed 🤞 it will taste divine. Definitely keep you informed how it turned out. Thank you for your recipe!
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out 😉
Why such a big jar? It only fills to about 1/3.
Sorry about that! I made a mistake in the jars I used, it has been fixed.
Thank you! i surely will try it! By the way, do you know if/how the apricots can be used onced filtered? It would be a shame to waste them 🙂
Yes, you can definitely eat the apricots after filtering!
I’ve just set a batch of this up and will hide it in the pantry at least until bonfire night or maybe Christmas. I’ve used a 2ltr jar and 1x ingredients but jar is just over half full. Is there a reason for the space or could I have used 1.75x ingredients?
I’ve used budget ingredients from my local Aldi this time but also want to make a batch with quality ingredients when I have time to shop for them. Will be interesting to compare. Easy recipe but got to wait a few months to see if it’s a great one.
There is no reason for leaving space in the jars, it doesn’t really matter. I personally used a 1.6L jar (that’s what I had on hand) and they were full with 1X the recipe.
Let me know how it tastes in a few months 😉
Just strained and bottled it ready for tomorrow night’s bonfire party and it tastes lush!!
Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear you liked this liqueur recipe, Rona.
We just strained a new batch last week as well 😉
Would I be able to use other fruits like plums, apples, etc. for alternative flavors?
Yes, that will work too!