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Making Guinda
July 06
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Guinda is the local name for choke cherry (look it up), a sour fruit that people grow around here. They're not very good for eating but they're very popular here as a flavoring for homemade liqueur, which is also called guinda. Our friend and neighbor Manolo, who makes his own guinda as well as wine, brought Marivi a bucket of the cherries this month so she could try her hand at making some guinda. So she made some and I just tried to document it. Making Guinda
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 Starting with some of the cherries from Manolo
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 Cut off all but a tiny piece of each stem. (faster with 2
people)
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After snipping the stems, the cherries get washed, then they're set aside while the rest of
the ingredients are prepared. For the proportions, Marivi got Manolo's recipe plus free advice
from several other people. And I got two recipes from Internet websites. All the recipes were similar. |
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 In a 2.5 liter jar, first add 0.75 kg (1 lb, 10 oz) of sugar.
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 Then add 0.75 liter of aguardiente (AKA "caña")
It's also know in the USofA as "white lightning". |
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The caña Marivi used was given to us by a neighbor. A lot of people here make it,
using the leftover wet pulp, etc., from their wine-making. Several neighbors have given us bottles
of their own production and that' what Marivi used. The alcohol content of home-made
caña is unknown but it's also sold commercially. The store-bought stuff is normally
90 proof. |
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 Add the cherries. ( Marivi used 0.75 kg. in each jar.)
That's it! Just stir occasionally while Ma Nature does her thing. |
 Here are two jars of guinda that were mixed two days apart.
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After a few weeks you're supposed to sample the mix and make any adjustments needed - adding
a little more sugar, for example. The very earliest you should begin drinking it is 3 months, but
it's better to let it set for a year or so. |
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