Fruit for Brandy & Liqueurs

Fruit with the aroma and flavor to carry a fruit brandy or a homemade liqueur. Pear, plum, cherry and black currant are the classics, and every one of them has a variety here that takes a cold winter.

More about fruit for brandy and liqueurs

Bartlett is the Williams pear behind Poire Williams, and it's rated to zone 3b. For plums, Mirabelle de Bitterroot and Italian both have the intense, sweet flesh plum brandy wants.

For cherry liqueur and kirsch-style spirits, look at Evan's Bali, Montmorency, Balaton and Romeo. Black currants make cassis, and Titania, Ben Lomond and Consort are our picks.

A few less obvious ones: honeyberry makes a great liqueur, mountain ash (rowan) berries go into a traditional bitter liqueur, and Binet Rouge and Belle de Boskoop apples are good for apple brandy. Our wine and hard cider pages cover fermenting.

Questions we get

What pear is used for pear brandy?

Bartlett, also called Williams. It's the pear in Poire Williams, and ours is rated to zone 3b.

What black currant is best for cassis?

Titania, Ben Lomond and Consort all work. Titania and Consort also resist white pine blister rust.

What plum is best for plum brandy?

Mirabelle de Bitterroot and Italian are the two we'd use.

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