Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients


9 Comments

The Cleanse… with booze?

Here we are in 2013! I still can’t quite believe it. January is flying by. And all around me, I see lots of people who have such great aspirations. New Year’s resolutions and cleanse diets abound.

The Cleanse

I’m not one for resolutions, and I can’t imagine I’d ever attempt a cleanse… so why not cleanse our cocktail? That’s an idea that even I can get behind.

The ingredients from our Chili Agave Liqueur had many similarities to the Master Cleanse recipe… we hope you will join us in our version of The Cleanse…

Chili Agave Liqueur

The Cleanse

1 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice (about one medium lime)

1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

1 oz. Water

1 1/2 oz. Chili Agave Liqueur

3-4 generous pinches of cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, pour into a tea cup or mug and garnish with a chili pepper.

It is cold out, so we decided to do this as a heated drink. It would probably taste just as delicious served cold.

So this may not be your typical cleanse, and this may not be your typical cocktail. But we’ve never been ones to adhere to the standard drinks. This is delicious! You’ll enjoy this much more than your New Year’s diet or cleanse!

What is your favorite way to celebrate your unconventional spirit… in a cocktail?

Advertisement


12 Comments

Sweet Heat Cocktail

You are going to love the Chili Agave Liqueur that we posted last week. And after you make it, you will need to make this…

Sweet Heat Cocktail

3 oz Chili Agave Liqueur

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

Lemon Twist

chili pepper to garnish (if desired)

Place Chili Agave Liqueur and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well, pour into a chilled martini glass, add a lemon twist and garnish.

It is spicy, sweet and completely delicious.

Cheers!


29 Comments

Chili Agave Liqueur

It is hot out! I mean it is really HOT out! Right about now, chili peppers are ripening and finding their way into many dishes and meals… and let’s not forget… cocktails.

I have received a number of questions about infusing hot peppers. And honestly, this is the only pepper infusion that I have done. It turned out really wonderful. It has great flavor, and also an underlying heat and depth of the peppers.

Feel free to use different peppers in this recipe. But beware not to use too many. That is a very common mistake of pepper infusions.

Chili Agave Liqueur

1/2 c. agave

1/2 c. water

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp black pepper corns

1 serrano pepper (fresh) – sliced in half

1 red or green jalapeno pepper (fresh) – sliced in half

5 dried chili peppers, stems removed, left whole

zest of 1 lemon (large strips if possible)

2 c. vodka

Combine all ingredients except the vodka in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let the mixture cool completely, about an hour. Strain the solids out of the syrup mixture, and pour the syrup into a quart jar or other glass container. Add the vodka to the canning jar, seal tightly. Shake to combine. Allow to infuse for 1 week.

After infusing for a week, strain well through a jelly bag and coffee filters.

If you don’t want your infusion to turn out too spicy, you could remove the seeds from the chilis before simmering in the syrup, or cut back on the number of chilis. If this does turn out too hot for your taste, thin it out with a bit more vodka and agave.

Those of you who have been asking for some “sweet heat”, you will love this liqueur. We have been too greedy to share much of it with others, but my father said this one was his favorite in a recent taste test. He is a lover of all things hot and spicy, so if you are too… you better start infusing!

Cheers!

Related Posts

Sweet Heat Cocktail


10 Comments

Lemongrass-Sage Cocktail

Thank you Jayme and Nicky from #gartenderchat for inspiring me to make this drink. It was refreshing and best of all, the sage came straight from my garden.

For those of you who missed the last post, gartending = gardening + bartending = growing your own cocktails.

Lemongrass-Sage Cocktail

2 oz. Lemongrass Vodka

1/2 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 TB Agave (or less to taste)

1 large sage leaf (plus more for garnish)

Place ice in a cocktail shaker, add one large sage leaf and muddle. Add remaining ingredients, shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

If you haven’t yet made Lemongrass Vodka, you could start infusing now … (I’m waiting…) or if you are less patient, you could muddle some heavily into the cocktail shaker and add straight vodka.

The lemongrass vodka is so easy, fragrant, and versatile, I know that we will make more of it so that we can have more delicious cocktails… I hope you enjoy this one. We sure did.

Cheers!


30 Comments

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