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    Home » Pickles, Preserves, Etc

    The Ultimate Berry-Infused Vinegar

    Published: Jul 17, 2021 Modified: Mar 25, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links 28 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Homemade vinegar (or red wine vinegar) infused with a double-dose of black cap raspberries or whatever berries you have. It's raspberry vinegar on steroids, inspired by a recipe from a legendary English chef duo.

    Wild blackcap raspberry or black raspberry infused vinegar

    Growing up in the restaurant industry in the Early 2000's, I was witness to some of the great culinary cliches of our time, many of them born in the 1990's from what I can gather.

    Honestly, there's too many to count, and I'm guilty of a few myself, like stacking food a la Alfred Portale. I remember one night I decided to do a main course that involved a whole bone-in chicken breast perched on top of a polenta cake, arriving to the diner like some kind of poultry flying saucer. The front of the house manager was, not impressed.

    There's lots of funny 90's and 2000's food cliches: played-out style errors like balsamic reduction "Christmas Trees" on everything from cheesecake to caprese salad, dried parsley sprinkled on the rims of plates, mango salsa, and molded food, to name a few.

    Most of those I think are a little funny now, some (mango salsa) even good from time to time if I have a craving (and a very ripe mango). But one of the food fails stands above them all to me: raspberry vinaigrette, or raz vin as it's known in line cook speak. 

    Wild blackcap raspberries or black raspberries (1)
    Black caps are peaking now in WI. It's been a decent year for them.

    Raspberry vinaigrette was one of the most popular salad dressings I can remember, and I used my fair share of it. I remember one salad made with romaine that got a sprinkle of pre-crumbled feta cheese on it, another with candied walnuts.

    Whatever the dance partners on the plate were, there was always something a little unsettling about the raspberry dressing that married them.

    The raz vin of my early 20's came pre-prepared from Sysco (the commodity food giant) in opaque, 1 gallon plastic tubs. Unscrewing the lid and peeling off the freshness seal (always a satisfying experience) revealed an off-pink, curiously thick, flesh-colored goop that, after mixing with your quintuple-washed spring mix, was more likely to make the salad arrive at the table looking like a clump of wet hair than food. 

    Wild raspberry infused vinegar
    One of the original image options for this I submitted for my fruit chapter in Flora. Unfortunately the entire fruit chapter was cut, sans my favorite recipe.

    Here's the thing though. Raspberry vinaigrette, and dressings made with many similar berries, especially the wild blackcap or black raspberries pictured here, used to be very good, and I mean toe-curling good.

    But, over time, they, like plenty of other good things, got modified and streamlined. The sin of the flesh-colored raspberry goop was burned into my mind, but while I was researching fun uses I could apply to wild berries while writing the fruit chapter of my book, I took a look at a few of the old French classics for inspiration and saw something I liked. 

    Roux brothers book
    A blast from the past. Some of the food is a little tired, but there's a few golden nuggets in this one.

    I worked for a chef who was a Maitre'D at La Gavroche, and while reading the book "New Classic Cuisine" by Michel and Albert Roux, the famed 3-star Michelin Chefs who ran the restaurant, known for their contributions to nouvelle cuisine and stats like serving the worlds most expensive meal ($20,945 for a meal for three, mostly wine) I had an epiphany. 

    Wild blackcap raspberries or black raspberries (1)
    Blackcap raspberries make the finest version of this I've tasted.

    Flipping through the book to the fruit section and scanning the pages, I saw a recipe for raspberry vinegar. I remember reading it for fun (enjoying the nostalgia of working my first pantry station).

    Something was different though, this raspberry vinegar sounded really good, and just reading the recipe I could tell it was nothing like the stuff I used to dress salads with. As is so often the case with food, the modern, commercialized version bears no resemblance to the original taste it was meant to imitate. 

    Historical raspberry vinegars
    From Recipes from The Highlands of Scotland.

    A double infusion 

    The recipe from the Roux Brothers was simple enough: put some raspberries in vinegar, sweeten in a bit, strain and bottle for use (more or less), but there was a step in there I'd never seen before. After you mix the berries with vinegar and let them sit for a few days, you remove them, and add the same amount of berries again, and repeat the process, creating a double infusion.

    Fermenting wild blackcap raspberry vinegar
    Fermenting wild blackcap raspberry vinegar
    Straining wild blackcap raspberry vinegar or black raspberry vinegar

    I worked out a version of the recipe, tested it with a few berries, and I can tell you, it makes the most delicious berry-flavored vinegar I've ever tasted, and the salads it makes are beyond the pale, especially with wild greens I use for salads like lambs quarters that benefit from a touch of sweetness.

    Foraged green salad
    Wild greens, with their extra texture and richer flavor really benefit from a slightly sweet vinegar.

    After I was primed to see it, I started seeing the double fruit maceration in other places too. Just recently, I came across another berry vinegar, nearly identical to the first calling for fresh strawberries, and then another two versions of raspberry vinegar. Like many of those old culinary traditions, people did it for a reason, and I think it's safe to say they didn't put quarts of fresh berries into something that sucked. 

    Historical strawberry and raspberry vinegar
    From Housekeeping in Old Virginia, similar recipes for strawberry and raspberry vinegars.

    Raspberry Vinegar vs Fermented Raspberry Vinegar 

    Just for the sake of clarity here, lets go over the difference between fermented and infused vinegars made from the same fruit. There's a trend of fermenting everything and everything (I do plenty of that), so if you read the words "ultimate berry vinegar" and assumed at first you'd be allowing fresh berries to ferment into vinegar you wouldn't be alone.

    Fermented foraged fruit vinegars
    Wild fruit vinegars. LtR: apple, wild plum, chokecherry, blackcap raspberry.

    Vinegar made from berries and wild fruits is great (see two methods for fruit scrap vinegar here) but if you've ever done it yourself you'll know that the finished product gives a different taste than the fresh essence of the fruit.

    But, a simple infusion and/or reduction keeps the fresh flavor of berries very well, and vinegar seems to amplify the power of the infusion more than something like, say, syrup made with water. Adding alcohol to the mix, as in the Roux Brother's recipe, also helps to draw out flavors and natural juices, a technique Kenji Lopez Alt covers in his book The Food Lab. 

    Chokecherry Vinegar with Mother
    Vinegar made from wild chokecherries, with a mother. A few people mentioned the mother looks, like a woman with long hair.

    That being said, the ultimate, ultimate berry vinegar is going to be multiple macerations of berries in a vinegar made from the fermented berries themselves as I've noted in the recipe here, but a good white wine vinegar is just fine.

    You can also save the berries themselves from the macerations to make into vinegar after the infusion is complete. As I mentioned, blackcap raspberries make one of the best infusions here, but just about any ripe, juicy berry will give you a good result. 

    Wild blackcap raspberry or black raspberry infused vinegar
    Wild blackcap raspberry or black raspberry infused vinegar
    Print Recipe
    4.91 from 20 votes

    The Ultimate Berry-Infused Vinegar

    Berry-infused vinegar made with cognac, maple syrup or sugar, and a double infusion of fresh berries. Makes about 2 cups.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Maceration4 d
    Course: Condiment
    Cuisine: French
    Keyword: Blackcap raspberries
    Calories: 10kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 1 large bowl or mason jar or a container with a lid that can hold 5-6 cups of liquid.

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup cognac or brandy *See note
    • 1.5 lbs fresh berries, such as blackcap raspberries, preferably overripe *See note
    • 5 tablespoons (75 grams) maple syrup, or a comparable amount of sugar
    • 2 cups high quality white wine vinegar

    Instructions

    The Maceration

    • Divide the berries in half. Refrigerate half the berries, then put the rest in a container and cover with the vinegar, maple and cognac or brandy and allow to sit for 48 hours, stirring occasionally and pressing them against the side to help the berries break up a bit.

    Second Maceration

    • Strain out the berries from the vinegar (saving them for another purpose, like jam or vinegar) then repeat the process with the reserved berries and infused vinegar.

    Heating/infusing

    • After the second infusion, strain out the second batch of berries and transfer the vinegar to a bowl on top of a simmering pot of water and allow to gently heat for 30 minutes.

    Cool and store

    • Cool the vinegar to room temperature, then bottle and store. It's excellent used to deglaze pans and make beurre blancs and other sauces, but shines the most used alongside some good tasting oil, especially nut oils like hazelnut or pumpkinseed in a simple dressing.

    Using the vinegar to dress a salad

    • To dress a salad with the finished vinegar, season salad greens to taste with oil and the vinegar in separate containers (don't mix them, shake in a jar to emulsify, or anything like that) add a pinch of salt, a few cracks of pepper and maybe a couple torn leaves of basil or mint.
    • Mix, taste, adjust the seasoning for vinegar, salt and herbs until it tastes good to you, and serve.

    Notes

    The Alcohol
    Don't be tempted skip the alcohol here-it serves a purpose. Besides brandy or cognac adding complimentary notes, the alcohol seems to serve a dual purpose of helping to extract the juice of the fruit more than just vinegar alone. Cooking takes the raw edge off the alcohol.
    Berries
    This uses a generous amount of fresh berries, but you can probably get away with using half the amount, splitting it in half for the two macerations/infusions. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Tablespoon | Calories: 10kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 8g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 57mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Vitamin C: 102mg | Calcium: 150mg | Iron: 8mg
    « Green Walnut Molasses
    Green Coriander or Unripe Cilantro Seeds »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Stephen Brill

      July 17, 2021 at 9:34 am

      Thanks for posting this article and the recipe, which I assume can be used for many fruits. I have found a couple of good spots for wild plums (Prunus Americana) near my home in Cottage Grove, MN, and may use some for plum vinegar instead of the usual plum jam.
      Steve

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 17, 2021 at 10:41 am

        Thanks Steve, yes, many fruits can be used here, preferably juicy overripe berries.

        Reply
    2. Don

      July 17, 2021 at 9:59 am

      5 stars
      Looks excellent. I missed the raspberry season here in PA but will try it with blackberries.

      Also, looking forward to trying your green walnut syrup. Have you ever tried it with hickory nuts? I'm going to try one of each.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 17, 2021 at 10:41 am

        Thanks Don, yes, this is really, really good with just about any juicy rubus or similar fruit. I haven't tried the walnut honey with hickory nuts-I smelled some green bitternut hickory yesterday for kicks and their citrus aroma wasn't anything like a green black walnut, I'd probably stick to black walnuts or butternuts for it but that's just me.

        Reply
      • Sylvie

        July 21, 2021 at 2:51 pm

        Hi Don, here in the Northern Virginia Piedmont, we have 2 raspberry seasons: early summer (basically June) when we have red raspberries and black caps (and some purple and golden) and then again late summer/early fall (late August, September, sometimes into October) for red and gold. It should be the same for you... only need to find the right berry farm! I bet this could also be done with frozen raspberries (not store-bought, but ones that you froze yourself)

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          July 23, 2021 at 12:51 pm

          Sylvie, fun to know. We have a dual raspberry season here too with the everbearing kind. Nice to pick them after the heat of summer breaks.

          Reply
    3. Chris

      July 17, 2021 at 11:05 am

      Alan, could we substitute Everclear for cognac or brandy?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 19, 2021 at 8:02 am

        I wouldn't but you could thin it out to the same ABV.

        Reply
    4. bill from lachine

      July 17, 2021 at 11:39 am

      5 stars
      Alan, Thanks for the recipe and just in time. Coming down to the final pickings of our blackcap raspberries and I'll also hit a patch of wild ones tomorrow. Looking forward to give this one a shot!

      Reply
    5. Keith

      July 19, 2021 at 10:57 am

      5 stars
      I'm working with elderberries and elderflowers to hopefully develop commercial products. I'm trying to make elderberry balsamic with grape must and naturally fermented elderberry vinegar. The problem is the vinegar is either thick enough but too sweet or balanced but too thin. Adding additional juice at the end may just work. Thanks for the idea! FYI pectinase, a natural enzyme, can be added to the fruit to extract more fruit flavor and juice when making fermented fruit vinegars. Also, an aquarium bubbler can be used with silicone tubing and a stainless steel straw to speed the fermentation. The aeration can speed the process from months to a couple of weeks.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 20, 2021 at 8:53 am

        Great stuff there Keith. Thank you. If you ever get the elderberry vinegar off the ground let me know and I can help you move it.

        Reply
        • Keith

          July 22, 2021 at 1:55 pm

          Alan- that would be awesome. I'm making your raspberry vinegar now. It's taking a good chunk of what's left of my foraged black raspberries I'm really interested to see how the combination of vinegar/cognac balances the maple syrup. Hoping what I learn will help keep my vinegars from tasting like bad Chinese restaurant sweet-sour sauce.

          Reply
        • Keith

          June 13, 2022 at 7:07 pm

          5 stars
          Alan- See above. Last your you said you'd help sell some elderberry vinegar if I got it going. I've got my first bottling (elderberry/elderflower vinegar and balsamic) and have several local places wanting to sell it. So I'm more concerned about running out of stock than needing help selling it. but I would love to get your opinion on the quality. Can I send you some samples to evaluate?

          Reply
    6. Amy

      July 21, 2021 at 12:58 pm

      5 stars
      “Unfortunately the entire fruit chapter was cut.”
      This has to be one of the saddest sentences I have ever read.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 23, 2021 at 12:48 pm

        Trust me I know. They cut 25 k words and over 100 recipes. Good news is there will be an entire book on fruit down the road.

        Reply
        • Sylvie

          July 27, 2021 at 12:21 pm

          well, Alan. THAT is god news!!!!!

          Reply
    7. Sylvie

      July 21, 2021 at 2:46 pm

      Hi Alan, may I ask for a clarification: do you press on the berries to extract add'l liquid? I am assuming no, but wanted to confirm. I can totally see how the acidified berries could be used for a chutney. And here, of course,I use honey as a sweetener since I have lots of it. It's been an exceptional year for berries and honey!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 23, 2021 at 12:51 pm

        Sylvie, you could, but it isn't necessary.

        Reply
    8. Doug

      July 21, 2021 at 8:32 pm

      5 stars
      Berry Nice.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        July 23, 2021 at 12:47 pm

        I approve this dad joke.

        Reply
    9. Dan

      August 13, 2021 at 9:41 am

      5 stars
      Does the finished product need to be refrigerated after bottling?

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 13, 2021 at 10:17 am

        No, it is completely shelf stable.

        Reply
        • Dan

          August 13, 2021 at 6:38 pm

          5 stars
          Awesome! We just finished bottling our version with raspberries this afternoon, and can't wait to try it with a meal. It is so unbelievably delicious by itself I am sure it will be amazing! Thank you very much for the recipe!

          Reply
    10. Peggy

      June 15, 2022 at 9:54 pm

      What brand can you recommend for a good quality white wine vinegar. I would have to order it since i live in southern NM.
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        June 16, 2022 at 7:41 am

        You can use white vinegar in a pinch. Beaufort is the brand of vinegar I use but it's a chef brand, most store-bought versions are fine.

        Reply
    11. tom lohse

      July 22, 2022 at 7:31 pm

      5 stars
      I love this. So far I have only used it to flavor seltzer water. And if it was a tough day I will add a little vodka. Looking forward to trying other uses.

      Reply
    12. MJ Dobratz

      March 25, 2023 at 8:36 am

      5 stars
      I am really tempted to make the black raspberry. BUT Is this really 845 calories & 149 carbs for one tablespoon??!!
      Seems impossible.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        March 25, 2023 at 8:44 am

        Don't pay attention to that, nutrition info is automatically generated and the program makes A LOT of mistakes. Sometimes they slip by me. I adjusted it to reflect the actual nutritional data of vinegar with the added sweetener.

        Reply

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    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

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