Purple patch

Every few years I use most of the blackcurrant crop to make Creme de Cassis, a delicious alcoholic liqueur  that's traditionally added to white wine to make kir and to champagne to make kir royale. 

Using Jane Grigson's 1981 recipe, it involves steeping the blackcurrants in red wine for two days, then crushing them and, using sheer force, squeezing the juice out through a cloth, simmering it gently with sugar until you get the right consistency and adding brandy in the ratio of 3 parts syrup to 1 of spirits.

All told it's quite an effort but the result, a sort of  potent Ribena, is well worth it and lasts for ages if you go easy with the precious liquid.

Wiki tells me that a purple patch means 
A period of excellent performance where nearly everything seems to go right
I wasn't aware of that and can't claim it happened. At least I didn't leave the mixture simmering too long as sometimes happens but I did let bottle slip out of my hands as I filling it,  resulting in a purple spatter across the kitchen floor which gave the dog a  surprise when she licked it.