Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients


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Cherry Bomb!

If you haven’t yet made the Cherry Bourbon, you will want to for this cocktail!

Cherry Bomb Cocktail (makes 2)

3 oz Cherry Bourbon

1 oz Cherry Juice (you can find in the health food/organic section of the grocery store – called Just Black Cherry)

1 oz fresh squeezed Lemon Juice

1 oz Creme de Cacao

Brandied Cherry – for garnish

Combine all but the brandied cherry in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled cocktail glasses. Garnish with brandied cherry.

I really don’t mean to call every cocktail my “new favorite”. But seriously, this is SO good! If you have even remotely considered making the cherry bourbon recipe, I would highly recommend it.

Cheers!

Related Posts:

Cherry Bourbon (with dried cherries)

Fresh Cherry Bourbon


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Cherry Bourbon

I’ve never met an infused bourbon I didn’t like…

I love cherries. You will see cherry brandy, brandied cherries, and perhaps many other varieties of canned/boozy cherries in my cocktail recipes. When we get to cherry season, I no doubt will have many postings for making your own cocktail cherries. We are many months from cherry season in the Pacific Northwest. In the meantime, dried cherries are just the prescription.

Dried fruits tend to infuse fairly quickly, and leave a thicker feel to the liqueur. This infused so quickly that I ended up adding more bourbon, and after a few more days, the same luscious cherry flavor had taken over.

Cherry Bourbon

6 oz dried cherries (we used dried tart cherries that had been sweetened – Mariani brand)

3 c. bourbon

This will taste really good after a few days, even better after a week, and amazing at 2 weeks – if you can wait that long. I haven’t even bothered filtering or straining the cherries out of this. We just started pouring the bourbon off the top.

Cherry bourbon makes amazing cocktails. Recipes will be forthcoming… so go out and get some dried cherries, and make this!

Related Posts:

Fresh Cherry Bourbon

Cherry Bomb Cocktail


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Cranberry Crush! New Favorite Champagne Cocktail

Remember the Cranberry-Orange Cordial we posted a few weeks ago…

We have now tried several cocktails with this elixir and we have a new favorite Champagne Cocktail!

Cranberry Crush

2 oz Cranberry-Orange Cordial (Liqueur)

4 oz champagne

long orange twist

Ok, so maybe you haven’t made that cranberry-orange liqueur? I would suggest substituting 1 oz Fresh Pressed (not from concentrate, 100% pure juice) Cranberry Juice and 1 oz Cointreau instead of the cranberry-orange cordial.

Enjoy!! This is a keeper!


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Tropics in the Winter – Pineapple Liqueur

This photo is thanks to my sister Anne, who lives in Minnesota and just happens to be making one of the same infusions as I am.

Are you craving the warmth and sunshine of the tropics? I am… and truth be told, I will be in Mexico in a few days. In the meantime, I am infusing several tropical flavors. First on the list is Pineapple.

We did a pineapple taste test; one with Rum, another with Vodka. They both turned out delicious. It was a hard decision to come up with a winner. Both my husband and I both chose the Pineapple Rum.

Cut up a pineapple, place it in a jar, and cover with your choice of spirit. We infused for 3 weeks. After waiting (and tasting) for 3 weeks, we strained and filtered. The pineapple holds onto a lot of liquid, so you will want to press and squeeze the fruit through cheesecloth. This added a lot more liquid.

After filtering, we added 1 TB thick simple syrup to each cup of liquid for just a hint of sweetness.

Cheers!

Pineapple Liqueur on Punk Domestics


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Raspberry Bliss

This cocktail takes advantage of the raspberry vodka liqueur that we infused last summer. Knowing how delicious the raspberry liqueur turns out, we made a lot of it! There is even some to share…

Raspberry Bliss Cocktail (makes 1)

2 oz Raspberry Vodka (home infused)

1 oz Citrus Vodka

1 oz Cointreau or Triple Sec

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Serve in a chilled martini glass with garnish of your choice.

If you don’t have raspberry liqueur sitting around, you could probably try making some with frozen berries or a store-bought liqueur. And next summer when raspberries are in season you should infuse as many of them as you can!


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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!


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Cucumber Basil Martini

Cucumber Basil Martini (makes 2)

5 oz. Cucumber Infused Vodka

3-4 basil leaves

lime wedge

cucumber, coarse salt, pepper, lime zest for garnish

Muddle the basil with ice in your cocktail shaker. Add the cucumber vodka, a squeeze of lime, and shake it up. Run the edge of the lime wedge around the rim of the cocktail glasses, and dip into a salt/pepper mixture. Pour liquid into glasses, and garnish with a cucumber slice and lime zest if desired.

This cocktail was tasty and refreshing. I have a bit of a “salt-tooth” and loved the salt and pepper on the rim. That could easily be omitted if you don’t love salt as much as I do.

Cheers!


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Cranberry Orange Cordial

1 1/3 c. Chopped Cranberries

Zest of 2 Large Oranges

2 c. Vodka

3/4 c. Sugar or simple syrup to taste

I infused this for about 3 weeks. This liqueur is perfect for cocktails! The flavor  is a bit strong for sipping on its own, but substitute it in a Cosmo or craft a new favorite. I’ve already tried several combinations… and will be sharing them with you soon.

Related Posts

Cranberry Crush! Our new favorite champagne cocktail

Pear and Cranberry Liqueur

Holiday Fun Time! – Holiday Inspired Infusions and Liqueurs


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Cucumber Vodka

This is a very simple infusion. Peel and slice a cucumber, add vodka to cover. Let infuse for a week, remove the cucumber slices, and enjoy! I let this infuse for about 2 weeks, but I don’t think the extra week did too much for the flavor.

The end result is refreshing and clean. It will be perfect for cocktails!

Cucumber also makes a great addition to lots of other liquors. Try it in gin or rum…

Related Posts:

Cucumber Basil Martini

El Pepino Cocktail


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Raspberry Caipirinha

Some years back, a friend introduced me to the Caipirinha. What a lovely and refreshing drink. Sweet, tart, and all the flavors balance so perfectly.

Last summer, I infused a bottle of cachaça with about a pound and a half of fresh raspberries, and a little sugar to heighten the raspberry flavor. I realize that raspberries are not in season right now, but you could infuse cachaça with another fruit or even frozen berries.

When I make this drink, it brings me back to the warmth of summer, despite the cold rain and snow we’ve been getting in the Pacific Northwest this week.

Raspberry Caipirinha (makes one drink)

1 lime, halved and sliced

1 Tablespoon Turbinado Sugar

3 oz Raspberry Infused Cachaça

Club Soda

Crushed Ice

Place the lime and sugar in the bottom of a pint glass or large tumbler and muddle well. Fill the glass to the top with crushed ice. Add raspberry infused cachaça, and top with club soda (just a splash). Serve with a straw so you can stir it and mix the lime and sugar into the drink.

If you don’t have any infused cachaça, substitute plain cachaça. The only thing I’d alter is to add a little more sugar.

You may have noticed that I didn’t bother to strain or filter this liqueur. Simple reason there… I’m greedy. Although I will make this drink for others in my home, it is too good to bottle for gifts. You’ll have to make your own…

Cheers!