Blog.

Krupnik Recipe - Polish Honey Liqueur

(August 11, 2019)

I've recently started playing around with making nalewkas - traditional Polish liqueurs based on vodka/neutral spirits infusion.

The only good recipes I've seen are in Polish, so wanted to share some with the English speaking world.

In this post I'll give a recipe for krupnik staropolski ¹.

Ingredients:

(makes a 16oz. Mason jar of liqueur)

vodka or neutral spirits mixed with water to desired alcohol content
4oz. honey
spices:
- 5-10 cloves
- 3-7 allspice berries
- ½ stick of cinnamon
- 3-7 whole cardamom pods
- others as you like! (star anise, nutmeg, vanilla beans or extract, whole peppercorns, etc.)
fresh ginger
juice from half a lemon
lemon peel
orange peel

One thing to note is that nalewka making is not an exact science. Pick and choose the spices. Adjust amounts to your liking. Experiment and have fun!

Steps

Stage 1: Preparation (10-30 minutes)

Boil honey in pot.
The honey should have separated. Remove the top foamy layer.
Pour the liquid honey into jar.
Add rest of ingredients to jar.
Fill the rest of the way up with alcohol.
Shut jar and find spot to store.

Stage 2: Infusion + Filtration (~2 weeks+)

Let sit. For like 2 weeks or so. This is where the alcohol mixes with honey and becomes infused with flavors from the spices.
Pour through strainer and throw away the solids.
Filter through several layers of gauze or a coffee filter. This is to remove that nasty layer of sediment at the bottom of the otherwise beautifully golden liquid.²

Stage 3: Aging (1 week - multiple years)

Finally, it's good to let the krupnik sit on a shelf at least a few days before drinking. If you try it right after the infusion stage, you might notice it still reeking of ethanol and being hard on your taste buds and throat.

With time, the liqueur will become very smooth and all the flavors will mix and complement each other.

Malinówka recipe

1. Not to be confused with the tasty Polish grain soup.

2. Honestly, sometimes I skip this step because I'm too lazy. I'll just pour the liquid out to a new jar and stop pouring when the sediments start mixing with the good stuff.