If you want to make crème de cassis but don't have easy access to fresh black currants, you've come to the right place! We're going to make a lightning fast black currant liqueur using juice, sugar, and a neutral flavored spirit of your choice.
Where I live, the liquor stores don't often carry crème de cassis, and if they do, it's not a high quality brand. Making my own has become a better option than driving to another state or drinking something artificially flavored.
Black currants have a lovely, unique flavor that is both sweet and tart. It can be described as a mix of blackberry, raspberry, and grape, with a distinct earthiness. There's no other flavor quite like black currant, and it's a key ingredient in some simple yet elegant cocktails like the Kir Royale.
What is crème de cassis?
Crème de cassis is a very sweet black currant flavored liqueur. It minimum, it's made with black currants, sugar, and some type of alcohol.
Liqueurs are sweet alcoholic beverages that typically contain less alcohol than a spirits (like gin or whiskey). They can be enjoyed on their own, perhaps over ice, but today they are most commonly used as an ingredient in cocktails.
The term "crème" refers to liqueurs that are extra sweet - more so than an average liqueur. The word crème is French and refers to the thick, syrupy consistency of the liqueur.
It should be noted that crème (pronounced like 'crem' thanks to the accent grave) liqueurs are not the same as cream liqueurs, like Bailey's Irish Cream. The best known crème liqueurs are crème de cassis, crème de cacao (a chocolate liqueur), and crème de menthe (a mint liqueur).
Why are black currants hard to find in the US?
Growing black currants was illegal in the US from 1911 until 1966. And since then, there are still some states that don't allow cultivation or import of black currants. The reason for the ban is that the currants act as a host for a type of fungus that causes white pine blister rust, which threatened the white pine tree (and subsequently, the timber industry).
Living in New England, I've yet to see fresh black currants in a store. I have seen red and white currants, but only on a rare occasion. Because I knew I couldn't find fresh currants, but I wanted to make my own black currants syrup and crème de cassis, I decided to locate some bottled black currant juice.
Why use black currant juice
Thanks to Amazon, I was able to pick up a bottle of Ribena, from the UK. This black currant juice is highly concentrated, and is meant to be diluted prior to drinking. They recommend one part juice to four parts water.
A concentrated juice like this is perfect for making a richly flavored syrup, and then turning that syrup into a liqueur!
Instead of trying to source fresh currants and spending time cooking them down to concentrate the flavor, I can simply mix the juice with an equal measure of sugar. Remember that crème liqueurs are extra sweet? This shortcut makes it super easy to get maximum flavor and sweetness with very little effort.
How to make a quick black currant syrup
The first step to making crème de cassis is to make a syrup. This step is incredibly easy for this recipe - combine equal parts black currant juice and sugar.
No need to heat the mixture, just stir the ingredients together and wait for the sugar to dissolve. You can heat the mixture gently, over low heat, if you want to speed things up, but it's not necessary.
I recommend using:
- 1 cup Ribena black currant juice
- 1 cup sugar
If using fresh currants, you could make a syrup with one cup black currants, one cup water, and one cup of sugar. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently to dissolve the sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce and simmer for about five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool before straining out the currants.
If using red currants, you could also try this creme de cassis recipe. I also love the sound of this wild berry cassis recipe from Forager Chef.
From syrup to liqueur
The final step in this quick process is to add liquor to our black currant syrup. Crème de cassis is typically around 15% alcohol by volume.
Assuming we yield about 14 fl oz of syrup, adding 1 cup (8 fl oz) of vodka at 40% alcohol by volume will bring the finished liqueur to approximately 13% ABV. How much alcohol you choose to add is really up to personal preference, but I would recommend adding 1 to 1.5 cups of a 40% ABV neutral-tasting spirit.
Now that the mathing is out of the way, all that's left to do is stir your alcohol into your black currant syrup. Store your homemade crème de cassis in a closed glass bottle or jar in the fridge. It should keep fresh for at least a month, but likely longer.
Now that you know how to make a liqueur, you can turn pretty much any syrup into one!
Non-alcoholic crème de cassis
In the event that you want to make a non-alcoholic version of this recipe, simply skip adding the liquor at the end. Your sweet black currant syrup will have all the flavor of crème de cassis, just minus the alcohol content.
With black currant syrup and an alcohol-removed sparkling wine like this one from Mionetto, you can make a delicious non-alcoholic Kir Royale!
Crème de cassis cocktails
The Kir and the Kir Royale are probably the most popular cocktails that use this liqueur, but another classic is the El Diablo. This tequila cocktail is made with crème de cassis, lime, and ginger beer. It's great any time of year, but it's especially fun around Halloween.
Kir
Combine ¼ oz to ½ oz of (ideally chilled) crème de cassis with 5 oz of chilled dry white wine. Serve in a white wine glass and enjoy
Kir Royale
The Kir Royale is like the Kir, but replaces white wine with sparkling wine. I usually use ½ oz of creme de cassis with 5 oz sparkling wine.
Cardinal
Like the Kir, the Cardinal mixes crème de cassis and wine. This variation replaces white wine with a dry red wine.
El Diablo
Combine 1.5 oz tequila with ½ oz crème de cassis and ½ oz fresh lime juice in a highball glass filled with ice. Top with chilled ginger beer and garnish with a blackberry, if desired.
You may also enjoy these cocktail syrup recipes:
- How to Make Oleo Saccharum
- Blackberry Simple Syrup Recipe
- Blackberry and Pink Peppercorn Simple Syrup Recipe
- Easy Elderberry Syrup
Quick Crème de Cassis Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup black currant juice I used the concentrated Ribena
- 1 cup vodka or other spirit of choice
Instructions
- Combine the sugar and juice in a large measuring cup. Stir continuously until all of the sugar has dissolved (about two minutes).
- Once the sugar has dissolved, add the vodka and stir to combine.
- Pour your finished liqueur into a glass bottle or jar and store in the refrigerator.