How To: Cocktail Infusions

Dreary weather got you down? Make your own fruity drinks right at home.

The sudden change back to this rainy, cold weather after a few days of blissful warmth would put anybody in a sour mood. Lighten up with this how-to article, taken from our magazine's archives, about how to make your own liquor infusion right at home—we've got recipes on how to create infusions from fruit-based ones to herb additions. By the time warm weather swings around again, your infusion should be ready. Read below for the full instructions.

Wander into Oya or Poste in DC’s Penn Quarter and you’ll find lots of jars stuffed with liquor and assortments of fruit. A “flavor-infused” cocktail is tastier than an off-the-shelf Absolut or Stoli flavored vodka, but at a bar on Saturday night the about-$15 cocktails can add up big.

Here’s how to do your own liquor infusion at home:
1. Get a large glass jar with an airtight lid and a bottle of your chosen spirit (vodka’s easiest). Pick your fresh fruit or herb.
2. Wash and prepare your fresh—not frozen—ingredients.
3. Fill the jar with the chosen ingredient, then add spirit until there’s just enough air at the top that you’ll be able to shake it once covered.
4. Close tightly, shake, and let sit at room temperature. Continue shaking once or twice a day.
5. Infusion time varies—fruits often take about a week—so shake and taste a small amount until you get your desired flavor.
6. Once it’s infused to your liking, strain using a cheesecloth or a coffee filter and pour into original bottle. If it’s too strong, add some more uninfused vodka.

Here are some tips to infuse a fifth of vodka (750 milliliters):

• Coconut—use two cups of unsweetened dried coconut.

• Fresh herbs—one to two bunches of thyme, basil, or oregano, roughly chopped.

• Fruit—three to four cups of fresh roughly chopped strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, peaches, or dried apricots.

• Citrus zest—12 lemons or limes, six to eight oranges, or four to six grapefruits. Remove the zest carefully. Do not cut into the white pith; it’s bitter.

• Mint—two or three sprigs, stems and all.

Category Tags: Nightlife

Comments

Cranberries are also good for infusing.

Take a bake of fresh cranberries and, after they're washed, heat them with a cup of sugar. After about 5 or 10 minutes the cranberry skins will break and the sugar will turn to syrup. Pour this mixture into a mason jar with 750 ml of vodka (I usually use Smirnoff). The vodka will turn an amazingly vibrant red. It should be ready after a couple of weeks. I usually store the completed stuff in the freezer.

You can use it to make cranberry martinis, vodka tonics, etc. I like to use the cranberries in the drinks because they're very distinctive although they can be a bit dangerous to bite into after several weeks of steeping in vodka.

Posted by: b,

Infusions are a delightful. Every time I walk past my infusion jar I am compelled to shake it in anticipation of the day it will be ready. You can control the natural quality and intensity of the flavor.

Also consider infusion combinations, such as two parts pineapple and one part raspberry or an array of citrus -- equal parts of lemon, lime and orange.

www.rejiggeredcocktails.blogspot.com

Posted by: Shawn,

I like to take passion fruit from my grandmas tree and fuse it with vodka or rum. I pretty much just take the pulp out of the fruit and store it in a jar with which ever spirit I want. Its really fresh and it takes great.

Im going to try it next with some other mangos, tamarind and papaya trees with have at our home.

Posted by: Carlos, Jun 17, 2010 08:55:10 PM

GOOD IDEa to make infused as cocktail if you don’t mind can you tell me how to make infused from coconut spirit ( balinese lequir) for infused

Posted by: adi wijaya inyomaN, Feb 02, 2009 01:10:16 AM