6 oz Strawberry Rum
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 TB Agave
4-6 Thai Basil leaves, plus more for garnish
Muddle basil with some ice in a cocktail shaker. Add the remainder of the ingredients, and more ice, shake vigorously. Serve in a tall glass over ice, and add more basil to garnish.
This drink is the epitome of summer. We loved it, and hope you will too! Another great use for that Strawberry Rum.
Hey there bourbon lovers… I’m assuming (based on the title of this post) that if you are not a bourbon-lover, you are not reading. However, those of you who have neutral feelings about bourbon, you should really consider trying a bourbon infusion. They are amazing.
Coffee Bourbon
So, back to the bourbon… We have recently had a handful of bourbon fans tell us that they have started their first bourbon infusion. Some have started the banana bourbon, others the coffee bourbon. And for all lovers of bourbon out there, I thought we would make it easy on you and compile a list of all of the bourbon infusions for which we have posted recipes to date.
Chocolate Bourbon
Before we get into the list, a few things we have learned about bourbon infusions:
– They almost never need any additional sweeteners
– They take little effort and turn out phenomenally
– They cause many people who are not traditionally bourbon lovers to have a much better appreciation of this fine, brown spirit
Cherry Bourbon
Below are all of her the bourbon infusions we have posted thus far (as well as a few cocktails and other recipes). Please click the link to get the recipe and post for each infusion.
Prune Bourbon (we have not yet posted a recipe but an easy treat was prune bourbon in ginger ale) We also used the infused prunes to make the amazing Boozy Prune Jam
My favorites? I would say the Cherry Bourbon, Coffee Bourbon (you really must make this and try the milkshake) and Apple Pie Bourbon. The Prune Bourbon was delicious, but the Boozy Prune Jam was so good, I would make the infusion again just so I can have more jam.
So to all the bourbon lovers, I hope you find some inspiration and start an infusion. Don’t see one you like on the list? Feel free to ask me about other ideas for your infusions.
All of these infusions can be made with almost any variety of blackberry. Here in Oregon, we have a local cultivar of blackberry called the Marionberry. This berry is slender and a bit tart, but a very tasty variety of blackberry.
I must be a bit greedy… because my recent trip to my parents’ farm to pick Marionberries yielded ten pounds of these beauties. (I also managed to come home with a couple pints of wild black raspberries, a favorite from my childhood.)
While most of the berries made their way into a large batch of jam, and a few ended up in a batch of Maple-Bourbon Blackberries, the rest were turned into several prized infusions.
Blackberry (Marionberry) Bourbon
2 1/2 c. Blackberries
2 1/4 c. Bourbon
Combine ingredients in a large jar, seal well and shake. Store in a cool, dark place for several months or until it reaches your desired taste, shaking contents every few days. Add sugar/honey if desired. Strain and filter with strainer, cheesecloth, and coffee filters.
Blackberry (Marionberry) Mojito Infusion
2 c. Blackberries
2 c. Rum
1/4 c. Packed mint leaves (we used a combination of spearmint and chocolate mint)
Zest of 1 lime
2 TB Sugar (or more to taste)
Combine all ingredients in a large jar and follow directions above for Blackberry Bourbon.
Blackberry-Lemon Liqueur
2 c. Blackberries
Zest of 1 lemon
1 1/4 c. Brandy
3/4 c. Vodka
2 TB Sugar (or more to taste)
Combine all ingredients in a large jar and follow directions above for Blackberry Bourbon.
While you may not have Marionberries in your area, try any of these liqueurs/infusions with your local variety of blackberry. As each variety has a different “sweetness” to it, you may want to alter the sugar content to suit your variety.
Who needs a Monday cocktail? It is (finally) a gorgeous, sunny summer day here in the Pacific Northwest. And a cool, refreshing drink sounded just perfect.
We’re bringing back a few infusions that we made a while back, but they are perfect for this summer beverage.
If you’ve been following along, you know that we started a Strawberry Rum infusion about a month ago. The strawberry flavor is now quite nice. And while I’m not quite ready to strain and filter the entire infusion, we can easily pour off some of the liquor to use in cocktails.
And to kick-start our holiday celebrating, we decided to test out some strawberry mojitos on July 3rd.
Muddle mint with 1-2 ice cubes in a sturdy glass. Add sugar. Squeeze 3 of the lime wedges into the glass, add the rind and muddle well. Fill glass with ice, add Strawberry-Infused Rum and club soda. Stir, and garnish with final lime wedge, and if desired more mint or fresh strawberries.
This drink turned out just as good as I had hoped. We loved them so much, we quickly had another! I have a feeling this Strawberry Booze will not last long…
If you are hoping to make these for your holiday festivities, you could muddle a few fresh strawberries into the glass, and just use regular rum.
The first liqueur I ever made was Raspberry. I guess I should say the first four liqueurs I made were all Raspberry!
A few years ago, I went to my parents’ farm to pick some raspberries for jam. I came home with a LOT of berries. I made a few batches of jam, and it seemed like I had not even made a dent in the volume of raspberries. So I started going through my liquor cabinet, selecting anything that seemed like it would taste good with the berries.
I ended up with Raspberry Vodka, Raspberry Brandy, Raspberry Cachaça and Raspberry-Mint Gin. I left all of the infusions in the back of our coat closet for three months. And by the time we filtered them, they were heavenly. (Follow recipe for Simple Raspberry Liqueur below) Each year, the volume of Raspberry Liqueur in my pantry seems to grow.
As I started to infuse a wider variety of ingredients, the Raspberry liqueurs have remained some of my favorites.
I spent a good part of the day yesterday picking raspberries with my mother. (And I’ve got the scratches all over my arms to prove it!)
I ended up with about four pounds of amazing, sweet, delicious raspberries. If you have never infused raspberries before, you are really missing out. These wonderful liqueurs really are a little splash of heaven.
Simple Raspberry Liqueur
750 ml bottle of 80 proof booze (vodka, gin, rum, brandy, or cachaça)
3 1/2 c. raspberries
1/4 to 1/2 c. sugar (or more depending on your preference)
Combine all ingredients in a large glass jar. Shake or stir every few days, allowing to infuse for up to 3 months, or until it reaches your desired taste. Add more sugar if desired. Strain and filter well. The straining process can take a while with raspberries, but the jelly bag (or lots of cheesecloth) and coffee filters will produce a clear result.
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
This is a favorite of ours, and tastes amazing in a gin and tonic.
This year I decided to try out some new variations and flavors. I don’t quite know how they will turn out yet… I guess we’ll have to wait a while before we know. I hope these inspire you to get creative with your raspberry infusions as well.
Raspberry-Lemon Vodka
2 c. Raspberries
Zest of 2 lemons
2 c. Vodka
1/4 c. Sugar
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
ROB Rum (Raspberry-Orange-Blueberry)
1 c. Frozen Blueberries (cut in half or roughly chopped)
1 1/4 c. Raspberries
Zest of one orange
2 c. Rum
2 TB Sugar
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
After these have infused for a while, we may alter them with more sugar or simple syrup. We also may add more zest if necessary.
And finally, one last treat…
Chocolate-Raspberry Liqueur
1 1/2 c. Raspberries
1/4 c. cocoa nibs
1/4 c. sugar
2 c. vodka
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
We will let you know how these new flavors turn out… but it may be a while before they are ready. We will try tasting them before the three months are up to see if they infuse quicker than we think. But I think they will need at least a month.
Do you have any raspberry infusion flavor ideas? What are your favorites?
Boozed + Infused 