Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Category Archives: Recipes


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The Sparkling 111

Ringing in the New Year ● Palm Springs style

 

 

Better late then never!

I previously posted a few photos of the persimmon liqueur I was making at the end of last year.  Well, life got in the way of me getting to this specific post, but we did in fact create a New Years Eve cocktail with the persimmon liqueur that was totally inspired by Palm Springs.  After spending a mellow Christmas holiday here in Venice we loaded up the car and hit the road for the desert.  We checked into the Ace Hotel & Swim Club as per usual, jumped in the pool and then whipped up a little sparkling sunset treat on our patio. It seemed to fit in perfectly in there… it must have been that delicious peachy tone.  (see recipe below)

The Sparkling 111

Ingredients:

Persimmon Liqueur

Champagne or Prosecco chilled

Directions:

Pour about 1 Tablespoon of Persimmon Liqueur into each glass, then fill with Champagne or Prosecco.  Serve immediately and repeat when necessary.


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Chocolate Bourbon

I knew this would be a big hit in my household. My husband is both a chocolate lover and bourbon lover, so the combination seemed perfect.

How do you infuse alcohol with chocolate? You need to get your hands on some cocoa nibs. Cocoa nibs are easier to find than you might think. In Portland, we are fortunate to have some amazing chocolate shops. I picked up these organic, Madagascar cocoa nibs at Cacao. Their website says that they accept orders by phone or email, but they do not currently have online shopping. Also in Portland (and NYC), cocoa nibs can be found at The Meadow. The Meadow carries Valhrona cocoa nibs, and does have online shopping. Try some of the finer chocolate shops in your town to see if they carry them. (If all else fails, they can be found on Amazon.)

Chocolate Bourbon

2 c. bourbon

1/2 c. cocoa nibs

One-inch piece of vanilla bean, split

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar or vessel. Infuse for approximately 3 weeks, or until it reaches your desired taste. Strain & filter. Enjoy, sip, and savor…

The final product is very a rich chocolate color. After three weeks of infusing, this tasted strongly of chocolate, but did not overpower the bourbon.

This is delicious!

If you are not a bourbon fan, try substituting brandy for the bourbon. In the coming months, I’m sure we will feature several more cocoa nib infusions and cocktails.

If you love chocolate, give this a try!


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Ginger-Lime Gin & Tonic

For those of you wondering if the Ginger-Lime Gin would make a good G&T…

We thought it was spectacular!

2 oz Ginger-Lime Gin

4 oz Tonic Water

Lime Wedge

Pour gin and tonic over ice, squeeze a bit of lime, stir and enjoy.

This was amazing. We really liked it. I’d like to try this with club soda next time since the ginger-lime gin had so much flavor on its own (including a bit of sweetness from the agave). But I’m almost afraid to mess with this since it was so delicious.

We will make this again…


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Mandarin Hibiscus

Well, it was supposed to be a hibiscus sunrise…

We happened to have a whole lot of fresh-squeezed mandarin juice on our hands. (Perhaps that will clue you into one of our upcoming infusions…) In the meantime, the juice was amazing. We knew it needed to be paired with the hibiscus brandy.

Even if the “sunrise” didn’t turn out as I had hoped, it sure was good. I hadn’t factored in the fact that the juice was a lot heavier than the brandy.

Hibiscus Sunrise

2 oz Hibiscus Brandy

3 oz Fresh squeezed Mandarin (or standard orange) juice

Pour over ice, and enjoy!

That will probably be the end of the hibiscus cocktails for now. Hope I didn’t overload you with them. The rest of the hibiscus brandy is going to be saved for some mimosas and champagne cocktails.


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Tropics in the Winter Part 2 – Coconut Liqueur

I thought I better get this posted before we reach the end of winter! For those of you who are in warmer climates, it may be a bit late to infuse this and enjoy it before we hit spring. But for those of you in colder regions, you may still have some time… sorry. When I lived in Maine, I would always take a tropical vacation this time of year to escape the cold weather, as we still had plenty of time for snow before we hit spring (mud season).

Coconut Liqueur

3 c. Vodka (or Rum would work very nicely)

2 c. chopped/shredded coconut

6 Tablespoons Thick Simple Syrup (or to taste)

Crack and drain one coconut, then cut away the brown shell. Place the white coconut flesh in a food processor and pulse until shredded/chopped to a fairly fine grain. If you do not have a food processor you could try grating it.

Place 2 cups of the shredded coconut in the vodka and let infuse for approximately 3 weeks. At that time, add 4 TB thick simple syrup and let infuse for another 2 weeks. After a total of 5 weeks, strain the coconut and add more sweetener to your taste. I added another 2 TB of simple syrup, for a total of 6 TB. At first I thought that this was heavy on the alcohol taste, but after sitting for just a day I think this tastes perfect.

You may be able to infuse in a shorter time if you use more coconut.

Etched "Boozed + Infused" bottleThe end result for this coconut liqueur is milky white and delicious. It isn’t overly sweet, and tastes strongly of coconut. This will be great by itself, or added to cocktails. (I think it will be perfect for some upcoming cocoa and nut infusions we are working on.)

Unfortunately the color of the liqueur masks the etching on this bottle. This was a gift from my sister, etched with “Boozed + Infused”.

Simple Syrup

In many of my recipes, I list “thick simple syrup”. When I use this term, I typically have used 2/3 c. of sugar and 1/2 c. of water. I bring this to a boil on the stove and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before adding to your recipe. If you have extra left over, you can save this in a glass jar in the refrigerator for a few weeks.


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Chocolate Infused Cherry Cocktail

My love of cherries has been no secret. The pale beauties in this drink come from the preserved cherries we made last summer. They feature the Queen Anne or Royal Anne cherries. The flavor of the Royal Anne cherry is very delicate. They might just be my favorite cherry.

We preserved the Royal Anne cherries in a variety of sugary/boozy mixtures. One of which was a simple syrup with Creme de Cacao. It gave just a hint of chocolate flavor to the sweet cherries.

I like chocolate martinis, but typically the clear variety. I much prefer it to the thick, creamy, syrupy versions. My chocolate martini consists of equal parts vanilla vodka and white creme de cacao. So for this drink, we added a hint of cherry.

Chocolate Infused Cherry Cocktail

1 oz Vanilla Vodka

1 oz White Creme de Cacao

1 oz Cherry Bourbon or Cherry Brandy

Creme de Cacao infused preserved cherries (or brandied cherries)

Shake all ingredients with ice, and pour into chilled or frosted martini glasses. Garnish with Creme de Cacao infused cherries.

Of course this would be delicious with brandied cherries instead of the Creme de Cacao cherries. And any cherry brandy or cherry liqueur would work well in place of the cherry bourbon. This gives a nice light mix of cherry and chocolate without either flavor overpowering.

Cheers!


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Hibiscus Sidecar

I couldn’t wait any longer to share one of the delicious hibiscus cocktails with you…

Who loves Sidecars? I do! I do! Thanks to a friend for introducing these to me some years ago, I have delighted in them for quite a while. So the addition of hibiscus brandy in this cocktail was only logical. As I mentioned in the last post, citrus goes great with hibiscus…

Hibiscus Sidecar (serves two)

3 oz. Hibiscus Brandy

1 1/2 oz. Triple Sec

1 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

garnish of your choice

Combine all liquid in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously… strain into chilled glasses. Garnish of your choice (preferably citrus – we used a mandarin orange slice).

Delicious. Please give this a try…

Cheers!


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Hibiscus Brandy

Want to try something new and different? How about Hibiscus Brandy?

If you have ever had hibiscus tea, you know that Hibiscus flowers are a strong and refreshingly different flavor. Hibiscus tea is supposed to be quite good for your health (blood pressure, cholesterol), although I’m not sure if the alcohol negates that…

Hibiscus Brandy

2 c. brandy

1/3 c. dried hibiscus flowers

simple syrup

Place the dried flowers and brandy in a jar or glass vessel, and place in a dark location. This infuses fairly quickly. As always, I tend to infuse for a long time to see how the flavors change and enhance. I let this infuse for about 2 weeks before straining out the flowers. The color is very deep and vibrant (the photo doesn’t really do it justice).  After removing the flowers, I added about 1/4 c. of a thick simple syrup and let the infusion sit for another 2 weeks.

With only 1/4 of simple syrup, this is very strong. It is probably not something you would want to drink on its own… however, it is winter – citrus season. Hibiscus and citrus go great together. Cocktail recipes for this liqueur will be forthcoming, so go out and get yourself some hibiscus flowers and start infusing!

Can’t find hibiscus flowers? Try the Homebrew Exchange. They sell online, as well as having a storefront in North Portland.

You could also make quite a tasty liqueur with any loose leaf hibiscus tea that you can find at your local store or tea shop.


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Apple Liqueur

If you are interested in trying a simple liqueur and don’t know where to start, apples are a great ingredient. The photo above may appear to be tart green apples, but these are actually a sweet green apple, picked from my parents’ farm.

Ingredients:

Apples, sliced and cored

Brandy

Vodka

Place apple slices in a canning jar or glass vessel with a lid. Use equal parts brandy and vodka, using enough to cover your apples.

Infuse until the liquid reaches your desired taste. I let this infuse for about 4 weeks. The combination of sweet apples and brandy gave a great apple flavor, with no need for any sugars or additional sweeteners.  After infusing, strain and filter the liqueur. Bottle and enjoy!

Apples can really be used with any spirit. Looking to use up a spiced rum? We were… see below.

Related Posts:

Apple Pie Bourbon

Caramel Apple Liqueur

Apple Liqueur on Punk Domestics


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Ginger-Lime Gin

In this liqueur, the flavors of ginger, lime and agave make this spicy, yet refreshing and bright.

Ginger-Lime Gin

2 c. Gin

Zest of 1 lime

2 heaping TB chopped ginger

2 TB Blue Agave Syrup

Combine Gin, lime zest and ginger in a mason jar and let infuse for approximately 3 weeks, shaking the contents every few days. After 3 weeks, add Agave Syrup and let infuse for another week, or until it reaches your desired taste. Strain and filter, then enjoy!

Although I let this infuse for a total of 1 month, it could go much faster if you added more lime and ginger in the beginning.  The agave sweetens this lightly, with a good flavor balance to the ginger and lime.

This will make some tasty cocktails… cheers!

Ginger-Lime Gin on Punk Domestics