Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Tag Archives: clove


by 31 Comments

Pear & Cranberry Liqueur

20121125-094957.jpg

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! My husband and I were responsible for dessert this year, and one of my contributions was a pear, apple and cranberry crisp. I love those flavors and how they come together. It made me realize that I need to share a similar flavor that I have been infusing for the holidays. If you start now, this will be enjoyed before the holidays are over.

20121125-095239.jpg

Pear & Cranberry Liqueur

1 3/4 c. Sliced Pears (we used Bartlett, but really any would work well)
1/4 c. Dried cranberries
1/2 TB chopped, peeled ginger
1 whole clove
Small piece of a cinnamon stick (less than 1 gram)
3/4 c. Brandy
1 1/2 c. Vodka

Combine all ingredients into a quart jar, and allow to infuse for about 3 weeks or until it reaches your desired taste. (I think it will continue to add a bit more flavor, so I have not strained ours yet.)  Strain and filter through a jelly bag or cheesecloth, and then coffee filters.

The pear and cranberry flavors come out well in this liqueur. The combination of brandy and sweetened dried cranberries make this sweet enough to drink without being too sweet. I wanted a hint of spices, but did not want them to overwhelm the fruits, and this is achieved here. If you like lots of spice, you could add a bit more. Keep in mind that a bit of clove and cinnamon go a long way in infusions.

20121125-095129.jpg

Cheers!

Related Posts:

Cranberry-Orange Cordial

Holiday Fun Time ! – Holiday Infusions and Holiday Inspired Liqueurs


by 17 Comments

Blueberry Gin

Today I hosted a small get together for a few Portland area bloggers. It was a bit of a leap of faith for all of us as we had never met, and they came over to my home. Luckily, we are all still alive to tell the tale. And fortunately I believe a good time was had by all. A few fun cocktails were flowing, and eventually we got out a stack of spoons for everyone to start taste-testing (I think they may have tasted a few dozen…)

So, a big thank you to Evelyn from Momsicle, Poppy from Funny or Snot, and Krista from Mostly Mommyhood.

Eventually, I will post about our cocktails (and they might too…) so stay tuned. In the meantime, I wanted to share the infusion that was the base of our featured cocktail from today’s gathering.

Blueberry Gin

2 c. Gin

2 c. frozen blueberries

1/4 c. sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 whole cloves

1/2 inch piece of a cinnamon stick

Place the frozen blueberries in a small saucepan. Crush them lightly (I used a pastry cutter). Lightly cook them on low for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. This amounted to about 1 cup of a gelatinous blueberry goop.

After the blueberries are cool, place all ingredients in a quart jar (or larger). Shake and allow to infuse for at least 4 weeks, stirring or shaking occasionally.When it has reached your desired taste, Strain and Filter through a colander, cheesecloth, jelly bag, and coffee filter.

I got some of the inspiration for this liqueur from Post Prohibition. He recommends using frozen berries because of the organic breakdown of frozen fruit (or something like that… I was willing to give it a try) and also lightly cooking the berries.

The flavor came out great. I really love blueberry pie, so the intent was to include a few spices that you might find in a blueberry pie.

It is delicious! I have not yet tried making a blueberry liqueur with fresh berries, but have had a few blueberry infusions that tasted quite weak. I wanted to make sure we didn’t fall into that trap. The result was great.

Cheers!

Related Posts:

The Blueberry Pieball: Our new favorite highball


by 3 Comments

Mandarin Spice

Having recently filtered the Mandarin Gin, we were ready to try it in some cocktails!

Mandarin Spice

2 oz Mandarin Gin

1/2 TB Vermouth

1/2 TB Winter Spice Liqueur

Lemon peel garnish

Mix or shake liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into chilled glasses, add lemon peel, and sip away.

If you don’t have Mandarin Gin, you could substitute another orangecello or orange liqueur that isn’t overly sweet. And the Winter Spice could probably be subbed with Angostura Bitters with a pleasant result.

Cheers!


by 7 Comments

Walnut Liqueur

Typical walnut liqueur, Nocino, is made with green walnuts. Unfortunately I didn’t have access to green walnuts. It is winter, after all. So I improvised and made a walnut liqueur with standard walnuts.

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. brandy

1 c. vodka

1/4 vanilla bean, split

6 whole cloves (or less – these can overpower)

2 tablespoons thick simple syrup (or to taste)

Infuse all of the ingredients (except the simple syrup) for at least 2 weeks, or longer if you wish. We let this infuse for about a month. Strain and filter the liquid well, and add the simple syrup. It was surprising how little sweetener this needed.

It is delicious on its own… and will likely be quite tasty in cocktails… any suggestions?

Enjoy!


by 9 Comments

Winter Spice Liqueur

Every December when I was a kid, my mom would make something that we called “Christmas Fragrance”. This was a combination of water, black tea, orange peel, cinnamon stick, cloves, and I think there may have even been some Tang in there. (Does anyone even remember that stuff?) She would combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, and just let it simmer on the stove for hours, adding water as needed. It would infuse the house with such a great aroma. I will occasionally mix up a batch at the holidays and fill the house with warmth and memories.

I wanted to capture that feeling in a liqueur, and here is my attempt… Tang NOT included.

Winter Spice Liqueur

Ingredients:

Orange Zest (from one orange)

Cinnamon Stick (1)

Black Tea (1 TB)

Whole Cloves (1 tsp)

Brandy (2 c.)

Sugar (1/4 c.)

I infused all of the above for about 3 weeks. The result is very flavorful, potent and tasty. I think it will be good on its own (in small quantities) as a digestif. We haven’t tried it in any cocktails yet, but it would probably be good in some warm spiced cider.