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Rhubarb liqueur is a simple way to preserve the bright, tart flavor of spring rhubarb in a beautiful pink bottle that lasts all year.
This recipe takes three ingredients (rhubarb, sugar, vodka), about 15 minutes of hands-on work, and a few weeks of patience. What you get back is a gorgeous rose-pink liqueur that sips beautifully on its own and shines in cocktails.
We harvest around 50 pounds of rhubarb each season on our Vermont homestead, and and while I put up batch after batch of rhubarb canning recipes, I’m always looking for new ways to put the surplus to work. For fresh eating, we make Amish rhubarb custard pie, and I always manage to start a gallon or two of rhubarb wine, but some years, I’m looking for something simpler.
This liqueur is one of my favorite easy ways to preserve the flavor of rhubarb for year-round sipping. A single batch uses about 1 1/2 pounds, so it fits a small market bundle just as easily as a corner of the harvest.
If you’ve made dandelion liqueur or cassis (black currant liqueur) with me before, the process is similar, with one important twist: rhubarb needs sugar to release its color, so the order of operations matters.
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
The first batch I made years ago turned out so pink and so good that I’ve made it every spring since, and it’s become my standard hostess gift from May through July. It’s three ingredients, the bottling is easier than canning, and the color alone makes people think you fussed when you didn’t.
The rhubarb did all the work while you weren’t watching, and a quart of finished liqueur stretches across a lot of cocktails or a generous handful of small gift bottles.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Makes: About 1 quart (16 servings)
- Active prep: 15 minutes
- Infusion time: 4 to 6 weeks at room temperature
- Rhubarb: 6 cups chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds), red stalks for the prettiest color
- Alcohol base: 750 ml vodka, or any neutral spirit at 80 proof or higher
- Sugar: 1 cup to start, plus more to taste after straining
- Storage: Shelf stable at room temperature; best flavor within 1 year
Ingredients for Rhubarb Liqueur
Three ingredients, in this exact order: rhubarb and sugar first to draw out color and juice, vodka added on top after a 24-hour macerate. The full amounts are below, with substitutions in the notes.
- Rhubarb: The redder the stalks, the pinker the finished liqueur. Green stalks taste exactly the same but produce a pale gold liqueur instead of rose. Frozen rhubarb works fine; thaw and drain off any extra liquid before measuring.
- Sugar: Plain granulated sugar is what I use. The first cup goes in with the rhubarb to pull color and flavor; additional sugar is added after straining if you want a sweeter finish.
- Vodka: Any neutral 80 proof vodka works. You don’t need top shelf, but avoid anything pre-flavored unless you’re going for that flavor. Higher proof spirits (90 to 100 proof) extract a bit more quickly and can stand up to extra dilution from rhubarb juice.
A note on the rhubarb: Use stalks only, never leaves. Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid in toxic concentrations. The stalks are perfectly safe, and trimmed stalks are what you’ll find at the farmers market or grocery store anyway.
How to Make Rhubarb Liqueur
The process is mostly waiting. Active time is 15 minutes at the start and another 15 minutes at the end, with 4 to 6 weeks of room temperature infusion in between.
Step 1. Wash and chop the rhubarb. Trim and discard the leaves, then cut the stalks into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces. You should have about 6 cups, or 1 1/2 pounds.
Step 2. Combine rhubarb and sugar in a half gallon jar. Add the chopped rhubarb to a 1/2 gallon mason jar and pour the sugar over the top. Cap loosely and let it sit at room temperature for about 24 hours, shaking once or twice. The rhubarb will release juice and the mix will turn deep pink.
Step 3. Add the vodka. Pour the entire 750 ml bottle of vodka over the macerated rhubarb. Don’t drain off the rhubarb juice first; you want it in the mix. Cap the jar tightly.
Step 4. Infuse at room temperature for 4 to 6 weeks. Store the jar somewhere out of direct sunlight (a kitchen cabinet is fine). Give it a gentle shake every few days for the first two weeks, then leave it alone. The rhubarb will lose most of its color into the vodka.
Step 5. Strain. Pour the liqueur through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl or measuring cup. Press gently on the rhubarb solids to extract the last bit of liquid. For a clearer finish, run it through a second time using cheesecloth. Don’t toss the spent rhubarb yet; see Recipe Tips for what to do with it.
Step 6. Taste and adjust sweetness. Rhubarb is very tart, and the starting cup of sugar is on the lean side. Taste, then sweeten if you’d like. Most people end up adding a 1:1 simple syrup until the liqueur tastes balanced (typically another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of syrup).
Step 7. Bottle and store. Use a brewing funnel to fill clean bottles (flip-top Grolsch bottles are pretty for gift-giving) and cap tightly. Store at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
Recipe Tips
Save the strained rhubarb. Don’t throw it away after straining. The boozy macerated rhubarb is delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream, stirred into yogurt, or folded into a quick muffin or quick bread batter. Several readers have used it in rhubarb streusel bread with excellent results. Freeze it in a zip-top bag if you don’t have a use lined up immediately.
Macerate, don’t refrigerate. Both the 24-hour sugar macerate and the 4 to 6 week infusion happen at room temperature. The high alcohol content keeps everything safe; refrigeration just slows the extraction down without adding any safety benefit.
Use red stalks for red liqueur. If you have a mix of red and green rhubarb, sort and use the reddest stalks here. Green rhubarb makes a perfectly good liqueur but the color comes out gold-pink instead of the dramatic rose. Save the green stalks for strawberry rhubarb pie, savory rhubarb recipes like Persian lamb and rhubarb stew, or rhubarb canning recipes where the color matters less.
Taste before sweetening. Some batches are tart, some are surprisingly mellow, depending on the rhubarb variety and how ripe the stalks were. Always strain and taste before deciding how much extra sugar to add. It’s much easier to add sweetness than to take it away.
Variations
Once you’ve made a basic batch, the recipe takes well to changes. A few that work:
- Rhubarb ginger liqueur: Add a 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin, with the vodka in step 3. Strain it out with the rhubarb at the end.
- Strawberry rhubarb liqueur: Replace 2 cups of the rhubarb with 2 cups of hulled, halved strawberries. The color stays vivid and the flavor reads like spring in a glass.
- Rhubarb gin (rabarbar gin): Substitute gin for vodka. The juniper plays unexpectedly well with the tart rhubarb, and the result mixes beautifully into a tonic.
- Vanilla rhubarb liqueur: Split a vanilla bean lengthwise and add it with the vodka in step 3. Or, easier, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the bottled liqueur after straining. Pairs especially well drizzled over a slice of rhubarb upside down cake.
- Other fruits, same method: The sugar-first technique works for any tart, juice-heavy fruit. Dandelion liqueur, black currant liqueur, and sour cherry all use a close cousin of this recipe.
Rhubarb Liqueur Cocktails
Once you have a bottle on hand, the cocktail options are endless. A few easy starting points:
- Rhubarb spritz: 2 oz rhubarb liqueur, top with prosecco or sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist.
- Rhubarb gin and tonic: 1 oz rhubarb liqueur, 1 1/2 oz gin, top with tonic water and ice.
- Rhubarb sour: 2 oz rhubarb liqueur, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 1/2 oz simple syrup, shake with ice and strain.
- Rhubarb mule: 2 oz rhubarb liqueur, 1/2 oz lime juice, top with ginger beer over ice.
For more ideas, see my full collection of rhubarb cocktails.
This is the second liqueur recipe I’ve made from your recipes (dandelion was my first). These are sooo delicious!
The strained rhubarb is sweet, boozy, and still tasty. Spoon it over vanilla ice cream, fold it into muffin or quick bread batter, stir it into oatmeal or yogurt, or freeze it for later use. Don’t compost it without trying it first.
Yes. Thaw the rhubarb first, drain off any extra liquid, and proceed as written. Frozen rhubarb often releases more juice than fresh, so the macerate stage moves faster (overnight is plenty).
No. The vodka keeps everything shelf stable at room temperature, both during the 4 to 6 week infusion and after bottling. Store out of direct sunlight for best color retention. Plan to use it within a year for peak flavor.
White rum and gin both work well, with rum adding a bit of natural sweetness and gin contributing botanical notes. Whiskey and brandy will dominate the rhubarb flavor and aren’t recommended for this recipe.
Color depends almost entirely on the rhubarb stalks. Red varieties give vivid rose; green stalks give pale gold. The technique is the same. If your rhubarb is a mix, sort and use the reddest stalks for the brightest color.
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Rhubarb Liqueur
Ingredients
- 6 cups rhubarb stalks, chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds)
- 1 cup sugar, plus more to taste, see notes
- 750 ml vodka, or neutral spirit
Instructions
- Wash the rhubarb stalks and trim off the leaves and any damaged ends. Discard the leaves (they contain toxic levels of oxalic acid). Chop the stalks into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.
- Combine the chopped rhubarb and sugar in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. Cap loosely and let macerate at room temperature for 24 hours, shaking once or twice. The rhubarb will release juice and the mix will turn deep pink.
- Pour the entire 750 ml bottle of vodka over the macerated rhubarb. Don’t drain off the released juice; you want it in the mix. Cap the jar tightly.
- Infuse at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 4 to 6 weeks. Shake gently every few days for the first two weeks, then leave it alone.
- Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing gently on the solids. Reserve the spent rhubarb for ice cream topping or quick bread batter.
- Taste the strained liqueur and add additional sugar (or 1:1 simple syrup) to taste. Most people add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of simple syrup.
- Bottle in clean glass bottles, cap tightly, and store at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Just tried my first batch 👍. The pieces of Rhubarb are quite potent too. Any ideas on their uses? I thought maybe warmed and topped with ice cream as long as you weren’t driving. Could I use Rose hips in a similar way and would there be a difference between hips from fragrant roses and those without?
Thank you Penny
You could make a sugar syrup and turn the rhubarb into a preserve that’d be great on ice cream.
As to the rose hips, it really depends on the type of roses. They’re a bit like apples, and some varieties have really big tasty hips (and others don’t). It’s not necessarily correlated to the fragrance of the rose (any more than how good an apple tastes doesn’t correspond to how pretty their flowers are). Roses aren’t often selected for their hips these days, so if you’re planting them, try an old fashioned or “antique” rose variety.
Can I add a drop of red food coloring to the liqueur before bottling it to give it more red color?
Of course!
What percentage alcohol do you use for this?
I generally use Smirnoff vodka, which is 40% (or 80 proof). Rhubarb does let off quite a bit of juice, however, and it’d be good with a higher proof as well.
I love this recipe. I’m working on a second batch. Can other fruits be used ?
Yes, you can use just about any fruit. With sweeter fruit, you may want to use a bit less sugar, but otherwise, the process is the same. Enjoy!
I realize you store it at room temp. Do you also leave it at room temp while infusing?
Yes, it can be at room temp while infusing. The alcohol preserves everything at room temperature.
Do you keep in fridge for the 30 days
It infuses at room temperature, the alcohol preserves everything.
While macerating, do you leave it on the counter or in the refrigerator?
It stays on the counter, no need to refrigerate.