Let's see, a tablespoon is 15 ml, so you have 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and just under 2 ounces of sugar. It is a small recipe. I like that - you get to experiment at low-risk. Looking at that recipe I get the sense that the developer wanted the flavor of the solids - the onion, the ginger, the chillies and the berries to predominate with just enough sugar to temper the tartness and a minimum of red wine vinegar as liquid to poach the solids in. I'd use a smallish red onion and I'm guessing you'll get 1 1/2 cups or so because the onion won't lose as much bulk. Let's see, you have roughly 25-30 minutes of cooking time, so you could stop at 20, check for texture (anything beyond that is optional) and even let it sit a bit to cool and for the flavors to meld. You might like it a bit more "lumpy" if you know what I mean. Then people get a nice reminder of what they're eating, rather than a paste. Taste and correct seasoning, if necessary, then cook a bit more if you think it needs it. Since you said your berries are very tart, you might want more sugar at the end. Depends also on how soft your wine vinegar is. Actually, if you decide it needs more sugar, a teaspoon or so of honey wouldn't go amiss. Carol

My cordial recipe combines everything from the beginning. Berries/fruit, vodka, sugar and a little water in a gallon jar. It sits for 1-2 months and gets a shake whenever I think about it. Strain and bottle. Oh so sweet, but delicious! Beeman........... Would love to hear from through gardenweb mail about the country wine process, but don't want steal this thread. Please email me! Deanna

I've made cordials from wild black cherries and from wine berries (a wild berry similar to, but not the same as, red raspberries. The color of each was sensational and the taste was very good. The cherry cordial was deep garnet red. The wine berry cordial was a beautiful rosy pink. My purpose was to preserve the essence of those fruits, which were not useful for most other purposes in the small quantities I had them. I used vodka in about twice the volume of the fruit and added a cup or so of sugar to the partial liter bottle at the same time. Not very specific I know, but I think the proportions are not critical. Just be sure there is an ample quantity of spirits so spoilage doesn't happen. I let the cordials age in a cupboard for several months, shaking them up occasionally. Then I strained them. There was no trouble at all with clarity. I had intended to make a blackberry cordial, but somehow I missed the peak of the season. I want to make some citrus cordials now. I will use the zest. Later, maybe I will attempt something like Benedictine or Chartreuse. That would be a fun challenge. Making cordials takes very little effort and pays off with a nice product. Jim

It's chokecherry season again and I'm glad I checked back in here - GW doesn't forward messages anymore for some reason. Thanks Linda - of course, that makes sense. I'm going to use half the sugar. The batch we made last fall was sneakily powerful - so delicious you forget you're drinking nearly pure vodka - makes you feel ready for a winter on the Steppes. Not good to send guests home reeling though.