Black Currant Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) is a deciduous shrub of the gooseberry family, Grossulariaceae, native to damp woods and riverbanks across northern and central Europe and across Siberia to northern China, and widely grown in gardens and plantations in Europe and New Zealand. It grows 1 to 2 meters with pale brown stems, broad, three- to five-lobed leaves whose undersides are dotted with yellow resin glands, and drooping racemes of small greenish-purple flowers in spring. The leaves have a strong, musky, catty scent when rubbed, and the glossy black berries, about a centimeter across, are sharply tart and intensely aromatic; they flavor cassis and jam. We extract the dried leaf.