Create your homemade pacharán in 3 easy steps

Learn how to make your own homemade pacharán with our instructions. Quality and affordable Pacharán in 3 easy steps.

Pacharán is one of the most consumed traditional drinks in the Basque Country, and this typical drink of our land is present in many events of our daily life. Obtained by the maceration of sloes, pacharán, usually reaches between 25 and 30 degrees of alcohol, although it depends, and much, of the ingredients that we use in its elaboration.

Sloes harvested for making pacharán

Pacharán has spread throughout the Basque Country, starting from Navarre as its point of origin, a territory where pacharán has been produced and consumed since the Middle Ages and to which we owe the honor of being able to taste it at our tables. The term with which pacharán is known in the Basque Country does not differ much from its Spanish word, Patxaran, so it will be familiar to you and you will have no trouble recognizing it on restaurant menus on your trips to the Basque Country.

The maceration process of pacharán usually lasts between 3 and 6 months, depending on the tastes of each one and the ingredients that we use. If you are interested in knowing our recommendations, pay attention to these 3 steps:

1.-Pick sloes: Depending on the weather experienced during the summer, sloe berries can be ready for picking between September and October, most of the time preferring the first days of the latter month.

Sloe harvesting in the Basque Country

In order to make a good pacharán, it is advisable to collect ripe sloes, thus obtaining all the typical characteristics of these berries. To recognize ripe sloes from others that are not, it is enough to appreciate the blue-black color that they usually reach in their maturity, if they do not have this color, leave them.

2.-Buying ingredients: When making homemade pacharán, we can distinguish two types of ingredients: essential and optional.

Endrinas

Essentials: Aniseed and sloes. Many will say that these are not the only essential ingredients, but the reality is that with these two ingredients we can obtain a basic and quality pacharán.

Buy aniseed

We recommend that you collect the sloes yourselves, making the preparation of the pacharán a unique experience with a single objective, to enjoy nature and the elements it offers us.

As for the aniseed, we recommend not to buy the first aniseed we find in the market. In our case, we trust the Atxa aniseed brand, from the Manuel Acha distillery, one of the oldest companies in the Basque Country in the production of liqueurs. Their history, quality and reputation are their guarantee, they will not disappoint you.

Patxaran elaboration components

Optional: Cinnamon, coffee beans, high alcoholic liquors, aromatic herbs and a long etcetera occupy the optional ingredients of the homemade pacharán. In our case we kept the cinnamon and the coffee beans, the rest we discarded.

Cinnamon for making pacharán

Do not forget that you need a container to keep the pacharán during the maceration process. We recommend a carafe of about 3 or 5 liters of capacity and glass, we emphasize the importance of the material of the container, think that if you leave in a plastic carafe long time the pacharán will end up tasting like plastic.

Containers for making pacharán

To elaborate the pacharán: Once we have all the necessary ingredients, we start the elaboration of our beloved pacharán. When it comes to mixing components we recommend 2 possibilities depending on your tastes: Strong pacharán and mild pacharán.

Anis to make pacharán

Strong Pacharán: In measure of 1/3 per component.

Endrinas

Aniseed

Alcohol or liquor of any kind.

Add a couple of coffee beans and a couple of cinnamon sticks.

We add cinnamon to the anisette to make pacharán.

Soft Pacharán: 1/3 of sloes and the rest of aniseed.

As in the forte, we use the same “aromatic” elements of coffee and cinnamon.

For both modalities, leave to macerate in a cool, dark place for 3 to 6 months, moving the carafe from time to time.

Bottles with homemade pacharán from the Basque Country

From the first year of making this drink, we recommend innovating and modifying the recipe according to your own tastes.

If you already have your recipe…what are you waiting for to share it with us? tell us your secrets!