Step 5: Dilute, sweeten, and enjoy!
Remember when I said we'd dilute it down to something more reasonable? Now's the time. I used 4 cups of water and 2-1/2 of sugar, which is a decent starting point. You may want to add a bit more sugar-water if you used the high-test Nevada Everclear instead of the weak stuff we get here in the California Republic, but it's easy enough to adjust the strength later. (Edit: I have a batch in now that I'm planning on preparing according to Alain80's recommendation below of a 1:1:1: ratio of alcohol to water to sugar (one gram of sugar per one milliliter of water/alcohol). I'll post my results here once it's done.)
Anyway, heat the water on the stove and stir in the sugar. You don't need to boil the water, but you do need to get it hot enough so the sugar dissolves. Stir it frequently until it turns clear. The sugar-water will be markedly more refractive than plain water, because of all the dissolved sugar, but you should be able to see the bottom of the pan clearly.
There's an argument that I should have taken pictures of making the syrup for completeness, but dissolving white powder in clear liquid to make another clear liquid is the sort of thing even the dimmest Photo 102 student would recognize as "not visually interesting." My pedantic side demanded one, though, so it's in this batch as well.
In any event, that's it! You can drink it as it is, but it'll improve with a month or so of sitting. It won't freeze unless you added a lot of water, so feel free to keep it in the freezer. Good luck!
Anyway, heat the water on the stove and stir in the sugar. You don't need to boil the water, but you do need to get it hot enough so the sugar dissolves. Stir it frequently until it turns clear. The sugar-water will be markedly more refractive than plain water, because of all the dissolved sugar, but you should be able to see the bottom of the pan clearly.
There's an argument that I should have taken pictures of making the syrup for completeness, but dissolving white powder in clear liquid to make another clear liquid is the sort of thing even the dimmest Photo 102 student would recognize as "not visually interesting." My pedantic side demanded one, though, so it's in this batch as well.
In any event, that's it! You can drink it as it is, but it'll improve with a month or so of sitting. It won't freeze unless you added a lot of water, so feel free to keep it in the freezer. Good luck!
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gulcin was asking if it mattered that a lot of recipes for LIQUEUR have you adding sugar directly to the jar in the begining. so the tutorial on fermentation was not needed.
i have done it both ways. and adding the sugar in the begining just gives the sugar time to disolve(which it will) it just takes a lot longer. but because it is added in the begining, time is not an issue. in short it is just two seperate ways to add sugar to the liquid.
also everyone...you can use vodka...it works just fine. people say this all the time but they are wrong. i cant buy everclear in my state and i make things like this all the time with vodka. it works great.