Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Category Archives: Liqueur


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Starting a Strawberry Booze Infusion

I have dreams of strawberry mojitos… So with Oregon strawberries finally ripening, I purchased a flat at my local farm stand. Most of them will be turned into Strawberry-Balsamic jam and Strawberry Sauce. Some will even become my first shrub. (I’m very excited about that.)

But before I did any canning, macerating, or otherwise, I pulled out a few pints for a Strawberry Rum.

I have never done a strawberry infusion before. Typically, I wait to post a recipe until after I have completed the infusion and tasted it to make sure it is something I would recommend to others. The problem with that method is timing. Any of you who have been following for a while know that I tend to wait for long infusion times. For seasonal ingredients, it may be too late for you to make the infusion by the time I post the recipe.

Strawberries have a fairly short season (at least around here). So I have decided to post this recipe a bit differently. I am making a Strawberry Rum, and starting the infusion right now. If you are interested in making this, you can follow along with me. I’ll post updates every so often (but I doubt I will be straining for at least a month).

Strawberry Rum

3 c. Sliced Strawberries

3 c. light Rum

Place berries and rum in a jar or glass vessel. Seal and set aside to infuse…

You will want to shake or stir your berries every few days. I’m planning on infusing this for at least a month, but will start tasting it in a few weeks. At some point, I may also add some sugar or simple syrup.

For those of you who want to do a strawberry infusion, but aren’t crazy about the idea of a strawberry rum, below are a few other ideas I have for Strawberry booze. I haven’t made any of these, but at some point in the next few years, I’m guessing most of them will have a spot in my infusion closet.

Other Strawberry Infusion Ideas

Strawberry Vodka

Strawberry Vanilla Bean Vodka (I’d use the same proportions as above, but add 1-2 split vanilla beans)

Strawberry-Lime Gin (using lime zest)

Strawberry Cachaça (our raspberry cachaça turned out so good, I think this would be great as well)

Strawberry Brandy (either plain or with a bit of orange and lemon zest)

Really, your choices are limitless. If you have done some strawberry infusions and want to share successes or ideas (or failures) please feel free.

Happy infusing!

Related Posts:

Update: Strawberry Booze Infusion, Day 5

Update: Strawberry Booze Infusion, Day 17

Strawberry Mojitos

Strawberry-Basil Lemonade


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A Tale of Two Rhubarbs… and some gin

I have a jealousy problem… I hate to admit it, but I’m often jealous of other people’s produce. Yes, you read that correctly. Produce.

So in the spring, when everyone was singing the praises of their beautiful pink rhubarb cocktails, rhubarb syrup, rhubarb jam… and oh yes, rhubarb liqueur… I sat around and sulked. Where was MY rhubarb? Still growing…

But wait, I had some rhubarb in the freezer from last year. But that posed another problem. It was rhubarb alright, but not the pretty pink stuff. It was the green with a hint of red stuff… not exactly the “glamorous” variety.

So let’s get this straight, I’m now jealous of the *color* of the rhubarb. Oh brother, right?

Well, I finally got over it and pulled the green rhubarb out of the freezer and started an infusion. And because of my insecurities about the color and variety, I spiced it up with some orange zest, orange liqueur, and brown sugar.

A few days later, I ventured up to my parents farm (my favorite source for organic produce). To my surprise, the beautiful red rhubarb was flourishing. So I came home with a bunch of it and started another infusion.

They are both delicious. I think so far most people prefer the Rhubarb-Orange, but they are both tasty, and will be perfect drinking alone and in cocktails.

Variety 1: Rhubarb-Orange Gin

2 c. chopped Rhubarb (I used frozen, but fresh would be fine)

2 TB Orange Liqueur (triple sec, Cointreau, etc.)

Zest of One Orange

2 c. Gin

1/4 c. Packed Dark Brown Sugar

In a small saucepan, combine rhubarb and Orange Liqueur. Heat until it starts to simmer. Allow to simmer on low for about 2 minutes.

Set rhubarb aside and allow to cool. Once this has cooled, add all ingredients to a quart jar (or larger). Close the jar, shake, and place in a dark, cool location for about 4-5 weeks.

Strain with a mesh strainer, press through cheesecloth, then a jelly bag and finally coffee filters. Perfect!

Variety 2: Rhubarb Gin

2 1/2 c. chopped fresh rhubarb

2 TB Sugar

2 1/2 c. Gin

3 TB Simple syrup (thick 2-1 sugar to water ratio) or more/less to taste

Toss rhubarb and sugar in a bowl and allow to macerate for at least an hour. (I followed the advice of Country Girl Brooklyn on this step) This brings out a lot of the beautiful pink juices from the rhubarb.

Place the macerated rhubarb and juices in a canning jar with the gin and allow to infuse for about a month.

Strain and filter with a mesh strainer, jelly bag if desired, and coffee filters. Once it is filtered, add simple syrup to your desired taste.

While these were infusing, the Rhubarb-Orange definitely looked pretty undesirable. The red rhubarb almost immediately became such a beautiful pink. But now that they are filtered, I realize that I should not have judged a rhubarb by its color. I was discriminating. I’m sorry rhubarb. Please forgive me.

If you haven’t already made a rhubarb infusion this year, you should try this! I understand that some areas may not have fresh rhubarb any longer. But in my area we can usually keep harvesting through August. If it’s too late, then please try this next year. They are both very tangy and tasty.

They actually both look quite beautiful now too, don’t they?

Cheers!


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Peanut Bourbon

This is an easy one. And if you like peanuts, you will like this.

Peanut Bourbon

2/3 c. Raw Peanuts (unsalted)

1 1/2 c. Bourbon (or other spirit of your choice)

Remove skins from peanuts, and give just a quick rough chop (not much). Toast the peanuts lightly until they just start to brown and the oils are starting to come out.  Set the peanuts aside and allow to cool. Once cooled, add both the peanuts and bourbon to a jar and cap it. Shake or stir, and keep in a cool dark place. Allow to infuse until it reaches your desired taste. We let this infuse for about a month, but you could do a much shorter time. It started to get the peanut flavor very quickly. Strain and filter with cheesecloth, and if desired, with a coffee filter.

* Keep those peanuts after you have strained them! (And stay tuned for a future post about the delicious treats we made with those infused peanuts.)

If you can’t find raw peanuts, you could probably try any unsalted peanuts. Make sure if you do use raw peanuts that you toast them to bring out the flavors. I made another nut-infused liqueur without toasting and it didn’t turn out as well.

Cheers!


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Sesame-Honey Vodka

I like sesame, and I like honey. When I was a kid, we used to make a variety of a honey-sesame candy, and somehow I thought it would be good to infuse vodka with these flavors. … it is delicious!

Sesame-Honey Vodka

1 oz Sesame Seeds

1 c. Vodka

2 TB Honey

Stirring frequently, toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan on low, until they start to brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add all ingredients to a small canning jar or other sealing jar. Shake, and allow to infuse in a dark, cool place for 3-4 weeks. Strain and filter, with cheesecloth and a coffee filter, then enjoy!

This infusion really tastes like sesame and honey. I think it will be great in cocktails… any ideas?

Ok, so back to these sesame seeds… Since I’ve been on a roll trying to use my infused ingredients, I decided to keep the infused, vodka soaked seeds. I toasted them on low in the oven until they started to brown, stirring occasionally. I then roughly followed the instructions for a sesame-honey candy (from Nourished Kitchen), and … they were pretty good! They disappeared pretty fast.

If you like sesame, you will like this liqueur.

Cheers!
Sesame-Honey Vodka on Punk Domestics


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Star Anise Gin

Anise… I think this is one of those flavors where you either love it or hate it. My mother happens to love it, and she loves gin. So this was one of her Mother’s Day goodies.

Star Anise Gin

20 grams Star Anise

1 c. gin

1 TB Simple Syrup (or more/less to taste)

Place Star Anise in a jar, add gin, seal tight and shake. Allow to infuse for about 2-3 days, then add simple syrup.

At 3 days, this tasted pretty good. Keep infusing until it reaches your desired taste, then strain and filter with cheesecloth and coffee filter if desired. Your infusion time will depend on how strong you want the flavor. It reminded me of a Good and Plenty candy (which I always loved).

I happened to have a lot of star anise, but you could probably cut way back on the amount in the infusion and just allow it to sit for a longer period.

This was very easy and really tasty on its own. And I think might make for a very refreshing gin and tonic!

Cheers to Mom!


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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

Blueberry-Orange Liqueur


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Coffee Bourbon

Coffee… many of us can’t imagine a morning without it (I’m certainly one of them). And coffee liqueur… who doesn’t love a good White or Black Russian?

We knew we wanted to do a coffee liqueur, but took some time trying to decide exactly how we would do it. A lot of coffee liqueur recipes call for vodka, lots of sugar, instant coffee or brewed coffee, etc. In general, we like to use less sugar in our recipes and wanted to incorporate a different booze. So, Coffee Bourbon seemed a natural choice!

Coffee Bourbon

1/4 c. Whole Coffee Beans, Smashed (preferably dark, espresso roast)

1/2 vanilla bean, split

1 TB dark brown sugar (packed)

1 1/4 c. Bourbon

First we took the coffee beans and placed them in two plastic bags. We took a metal muddler and smashed the beans until they were gently crushed (see photo).

Place all ingredients in a small canning jar, and set the jar in a dark, cool location. Every few days, shake the jar lightly.

Infuse for about 3 weeks, or until this reaches your desired taste.

Strain and filter through cheesecloth, jelly bag (if desired) and finally coffee filters.

This coffee liqueur is so rich and delicious. You can taste all the nuances of the bourbon, and the espresso roast coffee gives it such a good flavor.

We are also going to try this same recipe with brandy.

This is a “must try”! If you love coffee, you need to make this.

Enjoy!

Related Posts:

Coffee Bourbon Milkshake: Quite possibly the best milkshake you will ever have!

Coffee Liqueur on Punk Domestics


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Tamarind-Orange Gin

I have been enjoying tamarind flavors in a number of Indian and Thai dishes for years, but until recently it had not occurred to me to attempt to use tamarind in anything myself. Last year, I was making a recipe that called for tamarind concentrate. We used it in a few dishes (and a few cocktails), and when I recently stumbled upon a bag of dried tamarind pods in a local international market, I decided it was finally time to figure out how to really use this lovely fruit.

Now, I am certainly not an expert on how to properly use tamarind. So for those of you who are, feel free to chime in on how I should have prepared this fruit.

First I cracked off the hard, outer pod. Then, inside the fruit are very large seeds which I removed. Although I probably could have infused the fruit at that point, I thought reconstituting the fruit a bit might help bring out the flavor. So I added some water and heated it on the stove (as above). It isn’t very pretty at this point, but it has that lovely, tangy flavor.

Tamarind-Orange Gin

50 g. tamarind flesh (approximately 1/3 cup)

1/2 c. water

Zest of 1 orange

1 1/2 c. Gin

2 TB Sugar

Combine the tamarind flesh and 1/2 cup water in a small sauce pan and place on stove. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 3-4 minutes, or until most of the water has either soaked into the flesh or evaporated. Remove from heat and let it cool.

After the tamarind cools, combine all ingredients in a jar, shake and let sit in a cool area for a few weeks. We let this infuse for about 3 weeks, but it seemed to infuse pretty quickly. You could probably do this in two weeks, or even use a bit more gin. Strain and filter through a strainer, cheesecloth or jelly bag, and finally a coffee filter.

We love this liqueur. Both the tamarind and orange flavors stand out beautifully. We have tried it in a gin and tonic, and I think you can guess how delicious it was. More cocktails recipes to follow…

Don’t let the tamarind intimidate you! I’m so pleased with how well this infused and how easy it was, we will make more tamarind infusions as well.

Enjoy!

Tamarind-Orange Gin on Punk Domestics


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Prune Brandy v. Prune Bourbon

If we told you we were doing a prune taste test, would it sound like we were trying to “spruce up” the menu at a senior living community?

I had not had prunes since I was a kid. I had seen some prune infusions at bars, and love how most dried fruits turn out in liqueurs, so we thought we would do a taste test… Prune Brandy v. Prune Bourbon

You decide…

Prune Liqueur

3 oz. dried prunes

1 1/2 c. of Brandy or Bourbon

Let infuse for approximately 2 weeks. Delicious!

For the prunes, we used Newman’s Organic. They were very soft and juicy for a dried fruit, and had no added sweeteners or preservatives. We split a 6 oz bag between the 2 spirits, which turned out to be about 10 large prunes per jar.

As for the taste test, both my husband and I prefer the Prune Bourbon. My husband is a bourbon lover. He loves all bourbons, especially on their own, so that is not really a fair judgment. But for myself, I am not a huge bourbon fan. I love a good Manhattan, and there are certain other bourbon cocktails that are spectacular, but it is not typically something that I would have on its own.

Infusing bourbon has really changed my feelings about this spirit. I have to say, I think bourbon makes some of the easiest, and tastiest liqueurs we have made. It has so many flavors and sugars of its own, and they blend so nicely with nearly anything that you would choose to infuse.

The Prune Brandy is also spectacular, so don’t let this rant convince you not to try that as well. I can see why the “prune” industry has been trying to give itself a face-lift over the past few years. I believe the proper term is now “dried plums” but they will always be prunes to me… But I think I’ll start buying them more often now!

Cheers!

Related Posts:
Boozy Spiced Sugar Plums

Boozy Prune Jam

Plum Liqueur


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Oatmeal & Brown Sugar Booze – why oatmeal is not just for breakfast anymore!

How do you like your oatmeal? Do you like it with cream and brown sugar? How about raisins and walnuts? Even if you don’t normally eat or care for oatmeal, I have a feeling you will like this…

I was inspired by an Oat and Honey Vodka recipe from Chow, which lists that it is adapted from Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

I have trouble following directions, so I didn’t follow the recipe. I really love brown sugar in my oatmeal, so we adapted it accordingly. It was hard to keep myself from putting dried cranberries and walnuts in there, but we wanted to be able to try this on its own first.

Oatmeal & Brown Sugar Booze

1 c. rolled oats

1 1/2 c. vodka

2/3 c. brandy

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

We infused this for about 9 days, then strained and filtered well.

We did not refrigerate as the Chow recipe indicates. With the portions of ingredients we used, it was not necessary.

The oatmeal gives it a creamy flavor, and it is delicious! We have not tried it in cocktails yet, but this recipe from Chow says to add half-and-half for a Quaker Shaker.

Maybe the true inspiration for this is my college reunion (which I am not attending)… our mascot was the Quaker. Here’s a toast to dear old Penn!

Give this one a try. You won’t regret it.