How To Make Homemade Red Currant Cordial

Homemade Red Currant Cordial is delicious, easy, and really versatile. Mix it into cocktails and champagne, or simply enjoy it with sparkling water to make a refreshing aperitif.

Currants have a delicious, sweet, yet tart flavor profile. They belong to the same family as gooseberries, and whilst you'd typically associate red currants with red currant jelly to serve with roast lamb, this is a great way to use them in summer drinks!

Jump to:

• 📖 Ingredients List
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Instructions
• 👩🏼‍🍳 How to use red currant cordial
• ❄️ Storage & Freezing
• 🥣 Equipment
• ❓Recipe FAQ
• 🍽 Other recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

📖 Ingredients List

1. Red currants—You can also use black or white currants to make the red currant cordial. Either fresh or frozen red currants are fine! In these recipe images, I have used a mixture of white and red currants as we had an abundance growing in the garden and desperately needed ways to use them all up.
2. Orange zest - A bit of citrus lifts the flavors and adds a touch of extra acidity to balance the sweetness.
3. Ginger - This gives some subtle warm undertones and really adds the wow factor.
4. White granulated sugar - We need this to make the syrup after steeping the fruit. Plain white sugar is fine.

👩🏼‍🍳 Instructions

1. Add the fruit and water to a large saucepan over medium heat. Don't worry about removing the stems; we'll sieve them afterward. Just throw everything in.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat. Mash the fruit into the water with a potato masher and add the orange zest and ginger.
3. Cover the surface of the currant mixture with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and let it steep for 2 hours.
4. Remove the plastic wrap and add the sugar. Gently heat the mixture over low until the sugar dissolves, and then sieve into a jug or container and allow to cool.

👩🏼‍🍳 How to use red currant cordial

Red currant cordial tastes delicious in a gin and tonic cocktail, or with champagne as a twist on a bellini.

For a non-alcoholic beverage, mix red currant cordial with ginger ale and serve with a slice of orange and some fresh mint. It also tastes delicious with sparkling water!

❄️ Storage & Freezing

I love to pour the sieved red currant syrup into a clean ice cream carton and freeze it. You can scoop it out with an ice cream scoop whenever you need it, and it makes life so much easier! Plus, if you have surprise guests come over, you always have something elegant to serve them.

Freeze red currant cordial for up to 3 months. Otherwise, store it in the fridge and use it within a few weeks.

🥣 Equipment

Make the syrup in a large saucepan and mash it up with a potato masher. Push it through a fine mesh sieve to remove the stems and seeds, and then store it in an airtight container or in sterilized jars.

❓Recipe FAQ

🍽 Other recipes

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📖 Recipe