Hi, Friends of Cocktails! Who doesn’t love bananas? They’re sweet and make for great fruit salads, desserts, and yes, even cocktails. So today I’ll show you how to make a delicious homemade Banana Liqueur that’s low-waste, easy to make and cheap. What’s not to love? I’ll also compare it to a store bought version to see if we can go toe-to-toe with it.
First, here are quite a few store-bought options when it comes to banana liqueurs, or Crème de banane. Bols, Monin, De Kuyper, Tempus Fugit, or the one we’ll test here today, Giffard. Giffard’s has a lighter color that looks like amber or gold. On the nose it has a light, candy-like banana smell, with more of the same on the palate as well as some subtle acidity, reminiscent of kiwi. It’s a great Banana Liqueur option, but with all the DIY Liqueurs we’ve made on Cocktail Time, I think we can do better.
If you will, you’ll need a certain unique ingredient, something we haven’t used on the channel before: amylase. So what is it? Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starches into fermentable sugars, helping us strain out banana juice. Fun fact is that amylase is found naturally in human saliva and in various plants, fungi, and bacteria. Luckily I got a small amount of this in bulk, in a specialty store for wine producers, where I usually go to buy acids or enzymes for specialty recipes.
I couldn’t find it on amazon for you, but I’ll provide some non-affiliate links in the description. With that, you’ll be having a good time when it’s Banana Liqueur Timẹ.
Banana Juice
● 750g Peeled Bananas
● 190g Water
● 15g Amylase
● 2.5g Pectinex
● 0.75g Ascorbic Acid
Start by peeling the bananas and placing them in the blender, and don’t forget to save the peels for later. Now add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you get a nice, homogenous puree without any lumps or chunks. I recommend using a high powered blender to make sure you get the best results, but once that’s done pour the mixture into a sealable container and leave it to sit for at least 12 hours. I’ll place it in the fridge, because I don’t want this to start fermenting.
Once that’s done, you can filter the Juice using a cloth filter, but while you wait it’s also a great time to make some low-waste Banana Oleo Saccharum.
Banana Oleo Saccharum
● Edible Banana Peels
● White Sugar
Add the peels to the container and weigh them as you’re doing so. We’ll add the equal weight of sugar, which will pull the oils and a bunch of flavor from the banana peels, dissolving the sugar in the process, and giving us a delicious flavored syrup. Give it a nice muddle to help it along, close the container and place this on the shelf to do its thing in the next 24 hours. For the best result stir it a few times in that time span too.
After 24 hours have passed, filter the Oleo and now we’re ready to mix the Liqueur. I’m aiming for a 25% ABV, or 50 proof liqueur with 200g of sugar per liter, and for that I’ll use the Banana Liqueur calculator here on kevinkos.com. And while that’s a bit sweeter than what I usually make, this also means more banana flavor, so it’s a good tradeoff.
DIY Banana Liqueur
● 660mL · 22oz Banana Juice
● 148.5mL · ∼5oz Banana Oleo Saccharum
● 270mL · 9oz 96% ABV Neutral Grain Spirit
● 28mL · ∼1oz Aged Rum
Making our Banana Liqueur is as easy as combining the Banana Juice and Oleo Saccharum with Grain Spirit and Aged Rum. I love how bananas and rum go together, but you could also go with cognac, which is what Giffard’s uses in their banana liqueur. Also, if you have some leftover Oleo, make sure to keep it to make my Arrack Punch or the Bananog with it! Finally, bottle the Liqueur, add a label and leave it to sit for a few days, then you can filter out some of the sediments.
As with all DIY liqueurs it will continue to develop its flavor and mellow out for another week or two, so patience is key, but how does it taste right after it’s made? It has an aroma of ripe bananas, and on the palate it has a great, rich and ripe banana funk. It’s quite sweet, but it pairs well with the tropical profile of the liqueur. A wonderful banana liqueur for whenever you need a bit of fun, tropical flavors, but with that we’ve come to the end of today’s cocktail adventures.
We’ll make cocktails with Banana Liqueur soon, so stay tuned for that. And if you want to make more Liqueurs at home, check out this playlist of DIY Liqueurs. See you soon, Friends of Cocktails!