Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients


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Black Forest Cocktail

What happens when boozy cherries, cherry bourbon, chocolate bourbon and coconut liqueur get together? Deliciousness! That’s what happens.

It may not look pretty, but it is freaking awesome!

We present to you the Black Forest Cocktail (serves 2)

3 oz Chocolate Bourbon

2 oz Cherry Bourbon

2 oz Coconut liqueur

2 oz boozy cherry syrup (from creme de cocoa cherries, brandied cherries, etc.)

4 Creme de cocoa or brandied cherries

Muddle 2 cherries in the bottom of each glass. Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker or glass, add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into glasses over the muddled cherries.

The boozy cherry syrup is a simple syrup that is infused with a spirit of your choice and fresh cherries. We will (at some point… probably cherry season) post our boozy cherry recipes. But we have cocktails to make and booze to infuse… please be patient.

This cocktail used a lot of the flavors that we have shown you over the last few months. If you don’t have all of them, I’m sure you can figure out some substitutions. Coconut liqueur is a pretty easy one to figure out, as is the cherry bourbon. If you don’t have the Chocolate Bourbon… please make it ASAP!

Enjoy the weekend… we are!


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Elder Gin

We are calling this simply Elder Gin because it includes both elder berries and elder flowers… they were both dried. Sorry we didn’t have fresh. We started this back in February and fresh ingredients were a bit scarce. It is amazing the varieties of flavors and ingredients you can find when you just look for them.

Elder Gin

2 TB Dried Elder Berries

1/3 c. Dried Elder Flowers

2 c. Gin

2 TB Simple Syrup (or to taste)

Infuse the elder berries and flowers in gin for about 2-3 weeks. Strain, filter, add simple syrup. Tasty!

The first thing you should know about this liqueur is that if you don’t like licorice, you may not like this either. I don’t think it has much of a licorice flavor (I happen to love licorice), but my husband (a licorice hater) commented that he thought this tasted like licorice. My sister thought so as well. I had no idea that the elder berry is called “Sambucus (name your species here)”. Did you?

I can tell you that it is very flavorful on its own, and I think many people will love it. I tried it in champagne over the weekend, and it was fabulous!

For those of you who are St. Germain fans, if you have trouble finding the fresh flowers to make a liqueur, try using the dried and see what you think. I obtained both the dried elder berries and dried elder flowers at Homebrew Exchange. Their store is in Portland, and they also sell online.

It was amazing how quickly the little dried elder berries, which were about the size of pepper corns, infused the color into the liqueur. The color is very rich and looks beautiful.

I haven’t tried it in any other cocktails yet, but welcome your suggestions!

Elder Gin on Punk Domestics


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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!


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Mandarin Gin

Can you believe it took us this long to post a citrus infusion?

A few years ago, some friends of ours shared a homemade limoncello with us. It was the best limoncello I had ever tasted. Naturally, I asked for the recipe. I had just started getting into making home-infused booze, and this was too good to pass up. The limoncello recipe was very different from any other I’ve seen. While the others all require zesting the lemons and infusing for long times, this one just required juicing the lemons, and a much shorter infusion time. The result (perhaps because of the short infusion time) does not give the overly bitter taste of which everyone warns.

So we decided to test out a similar recipe with mandarin oranges and gin.

Mandarin Gin

11 Mandarin Oranges

2 cups of gin

1/4 c. sugar

Slice the mandarins in half, and juice them. Reserve the juice for another use (try it in a Mandarin Hibiscus).

Place the mandarin peels and sugar in the gin, and let infuse. This is where our original idea started breaking down. The limoncello recipe required only about a one-week infusion time. These mandarins needed more time. We felt the product was ready in about 4-5 weeks. Happily, the flavor is quite good, with no bitterness (perhaps because the mandarin peels have very little pith). But the quick infusion was not meant to be.

When the flavor has reached your desired taste, strain and filter. Serve chilled (straight from freezer) or in cocktails.

Cheers!


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Mango Cooler

Here is our “healthy” cocktail suggestion for the Mango Liqueur.

Mango Cooler

2 oz Mango Liqueur

1 TB Honey Liqueur

3-4 oz club soda

Light and refreshing, this will be a great spring/summer beverage… if only it was spring in the Northwest!


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Mango Liqueur

Sorry the posts have been a little less frequent for the past week or two. I have been traveling like crazy. As my husband and I checked into a hotel on Saturday, I remarked that it was the 6th bed I had slept in for the week. Yes, the sixth. Four different hotels, one night in my own bed, and a short stay at my sister’s house. Needless to say, there has been lots of work, lots of fun, and just a lot going on!

I have just returned home after a weekend on San Juan Island in Washington State. We had some amazing weather and even got to see a group of Orca Whales. Very exciting.

Ok, now back to the booze…

Mango Liqueur

2 Mangos – peeled, pits removed, and sliced

2 c. Vodka

2 TB Thick Simple Syrup (or to taste)

Infuse the mango in vodka for approximately 3-4 weeks. Strain and filter, then add the simple syrup. Age for another 2-3 weeks for the flavors to mellow.

When we first filtered this, the mango flavor was a bit bitter. But as with many fruit liqueurs, the flavors mellow with some time and rest. This is finally ready to drink. I’m happy to report that I’m enjoying a delicious cocktail with this liqueur as I write this.

Cheers!

Mango Liqueur on Punk Domestics


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Dried Currant Brandy

Have you ever had a Kir or Kir Royale? You loved it, didn’t you. A Kir is a drink made with creme de cassis and white wine, a Kir Royale is creme de cassis with champagne. You probably knew that.

Creme de cassis, a liqueur made from black currants, is heavenly.

Since this is not the season for fresh black currents, I happened to find some dried black currents at the market recently, and decided to try infusing them in brandy. As this was made with dried currants, I hesitate to call it a cassis liqueur. It was however, a tasty substitute and extremely easy to make.

Dried Currant Brandy

5.5 oz dried black currants

2 1/2 c. brandy

Combine dried currants and brandy in a jar and infuse for approximately 3 weeks or until it reaches your desired taste. Strain, filter, and enjoy.

I really enjoy this version of the cassis liqueur. It is a little potent, but very flavorful. We have not yet tried it in champagne.

I do, however, have a favorite cassis liqueur that I need to mention. It is made by Clear Creek distillery. If  you are reading this post and live in the Northwest, I hope that you have been to this distillery. If you are planning any trips to Portland, please add this to your list of places to visit. It is truly exceptional.

Clear Creek stands out among the growing number of craft distilleries in Portland. Whether you are looking for Eau de Vie, Grappa, Pear Brandy or fruit liqueur, you will not be disappointed.

You can also find a recipe for Creme de Cassis at Food Perestroika. I have not tried this recipe but it looks excellent.

Enjoy!

Dried Currant Brandy on Punk Domestics


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Irish Cream

Well it’s about time we posted our St. Patty’s Irish Cream! The day has escaped us.

I’m visiting my sister in Minnesota. Who knew it would be 80 degrees in Minneapolis in the middle of March? It has been way too nice out to be inside making Irish Cream. Now that we’re making dinner, we are also ready for a treat… Iced-Coffee and Irish Cream.

When I started looking through Irish Cream recipes, every one I found had no waiting period. Just throw a bunch of ingredients in a blender, blend the heck out of it, and enjoy! I looked through a bunch of recipes online as well as in liqueur books. They were all nearly identical. The recipe we used has been adapted from A J Rathbun’s Luscious Liqueurs.

Irish Cream

1 2/3 c. Irish Wiskey

1 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 c. half-and-half

2 1/2 T. Chocolate syrup

1 1/2 tsp instant coffee (we used Starbucks Via)

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until all ingredients are well incorporated. Refrigerate and consume within 2 weeks.

First we compared this to Bailey’s Irish Cream. We thought they were similar flavors. The Bailey’s was a little thicker and richer (most other Irish Cream recipes call for light or heavy cream), but the flavors were very similar.

Since it is so nice out, we are consuming with iced coffee, but this can be enjoyed in a variety of beverages or straight.

Next year we may concoct our own infused Irish Whiskey for St. Patty’s. In the meantime, this Irish Cream is quite tasty. Whether you decide to make this version or any of the other varieties you can find online, you will be quite happy with the end result.

Have a great St. Patrick’s Day!


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German Chocolate Cocktail

Who’s ready for a drink?

That’s what I thought…

We have started accumulating so many delicious liqueurs and infusions in our liquor cabinet (ok, it is really the coat closet) that it seemed a shame to just let them sit there… time for a fun, new concoction…

German Chocolate Cocktail

1 oz Chocolate Bourbon

1 oz Coconut Liqueur

1/2 oz Walnut Liqueur

1/2 oz White Creme de Cacao

Coconut flakes for garnish

If you’ve read this far, you know what to do…

German chocolate cake usually has pecans instead of walnuts, but I figured this was close enough. I think this would be delicious with any other nut liqueur as well (try it with Frangelico or Amaretto).

We thought it was a nice dessert beverage (and not too sweet). Give it a try and see what you think. Or try some variations and improvisations and share your taste tests with us…

Cheers!


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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.