So you've finished canning, and you're looking for a new Fall-time kitchen project. Why not infuse some booze? It rhymes and yields tasty, impressive results perfect for making seasonal cocktails. What you need: Alcohol. It doesn't need to be top-shelf, since you'll be messing around with the taste anyway. You'll also need a cheese cloth and whatever flavor you're going to be using.
Hit the jump and we'll give you the step-by-step, as well as a handful of our favorite autumnal recipes. Though the first real step in infusing your own booze is knowing that it's unbelievably simple.
Firstly, make your cheesecloth bundle with whatever flavors you want your infusion to be. Place it in a bottle of booze. Let it sit for six days (this just seems to be the magic number). Remove cheesecloth bundle. Drink. Drink some more. That's it.
Here are a few that we like. Note that we're pairing bolder, spicier flavors with darker, stronger booze (that's intentional for the colder season):
Clove Bourbon: If you're using a full bottle of bourbon, use six whole cloves. If you mix it with peach tea, your hot toddies will be talked about far and wide.
Ginger Bourbon: Cut about half an inch of a ginger root, and then slice or shred it into little pieces. Try mixing with club soda and garnishing liberally with pear slices.
Satsuma Rum: These little citrus fruits are in season through the winter. Zest the peel of one. Try it with a golden rum and add a splash to apple cider, hot, cold, or mulled. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Cinnamon Rum: Use three cinnamon sticks and add to hot cocoa. We all know that Mexican hot chocolate is the business--think of this as its drunk cousin.
Earl Grey Vodka: As much tea as you would use to make a pot of tea (not a cup) will work for a full bottle of vodka. If you want to cut out the cheesecloth-bundle step, just use two or three tea bags, to taste. Mix with simple syrup and lemon, and maybe a splash of your clove bourbon.
Now, if you want to get crazy artisinal and try infusing your booze with bacon, brown butter or any other sticky, gooey stuff, you'll be making something fantastically referred to as a fat wash. If you're like us, you might want to try it just to say you've "made a fat wash."
The way this works is you render all the food's fat (or in the case of brown butter, just make some brown butter), and then put it in the refrigerator over night to solidify it. It should be in a sealable container large enough to hold as much alcohol as you want to use (a bottle or jar.) Then you're going to pour your booze on top, close the container and leave it in the fridge for those magical six days.
This is just a jumping-off point, but the bottomline is this: You can infuse anything with anything. Now get creative and throw yourself (and you're friends, we suppose) a cocktail party. Cheers.
--Layla Schlack
Oct 18, 2011
