Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Tag Archives: bitters


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Chamomile Bourbon and a Special Manhattan

This is our 100th post! So we’ll celebrate tonight with a tasty cocktail…

Here is one that will infuse quickly and be sure to soothe… chamomile

Chamomile Bourbon

1/8 oz. (about 3 TB) dried Chamomile Flowers

1 c. bourbon

Infuse for about 5 days, then strain the flowers and filter through a coffee filter. If you can’t find dried chamomile flowers, simply substitute some chamomile tea.

As you may have noted, we have more than one infusion going with these flowers, and we will be sure to share the other with you soon.

In the meantime, you can enjoy some delicious cocktails with your infused bourbon…

Chamomile Manhattan

2 oz. Chamomile Bourbon

3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Dash of Angostura Bitters

Brandied Cherry (or other cocktail cherry)

Stir all ingredients except the Cherry over ice, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with the Brandied Cherry.

The chamomile flavor is lovely, and not overwhelming. The bourbon is still the star, but has a wonderful lingering chamomile taste.

Be sure to try this!

Cheers!

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Maple Mushroom Martini

Many months ago, we posted a Mushroom Vodka infusion. For the most part, that infusion has been sitting in a mason jar doing nothing… until now.

A handful of readers gave some great cocktail suggestions, and a simple drink with orange bitters sounded great.

Maple Mushroom Martini

2 oz. Mushroom Infused Vodka

3/4 tsp maple syrup

5-6 dashes Orange Bitters

1/2 TB fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 dash aromatic bitters

Mix all of the above ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.

This drink has the flavor of the mushroom, with a touch of sweetness from the maple, balanced with the tart lemon juice and bitters. In all, I think this was pretty delicious! I wouldn’t mind having another…

Cheers!


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Sweet & Sour… the drink

I’ve never been a big fan of “sweet and sour” food dishes. But give me a sweet and sour cocktail and I’m in heaven.

Last week we enjoyed a delicious dinner at one of our favorite Portland restaurants, Pok Pok. After sipping Tamarind Whiskey Sours, we returned home, anxious to try another tamarind cocktail with our Tamarind-Orange Gin.

Sweet & Sour

2 oz Tamarind-Orange Gin

2 oz Bourbon

1 TB Fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 tsp chocolate bourbon (or substitute a dash of chocolate bitters)

2 dashes cranberry bitters (optional)

Stir with ice, strain over more ice, and garnish with lemon slice or twist.

This made 2 small cocktails. You may want to double this depending on how thirsty you are…

Because we have so many infusions building up in our liquor cabinet (also known as the coat closet) we were able to throw a lot of additional flavors in there. Some of the last ingredients could be substituted with a different variety of bitters, and would turn out great.

Cheers!


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Kentucky Apricot

Last summer I picked up a bunch of apricots at a farm stand in Central Washington. They turned out to be a little bland, but I decided to try making an apricot-vanilla liqueur. So with a pound or two of apricots, some sugar, half a split vanilla bean, and a bottle of vodka, I let the mixture infuse for two months. It still wasn’t a strong enough apricot flavor for my taste, so I added a half pound of chopped, dried apricots, and let it infuse another three weeks. It was very tangy and had a very strong apricot flavor.  This cocktail recipe uses that apricot-vanilla liqueur.

Kentucky Apricot

1 1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur

1 1/2 oz Kentucky Bourbon

3-4 dashes cranberry bitters (or other tart/fruity bitters) we used our house made bitters

long lemon twist

Shake with ice, strain and serve with lemon twist.

What I really like about having all of our house-made liqueurs is being able to experiment with new cocktail flavors.  I am certainly no mixologist. But I do have fun trying new cocktails and mixing up something new! My cold Friday evening just got a little warmer…

Cheers!


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Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

It took a month for my Cranberry bitters to fully infuse. Now that they are done, I am ready for the holidays! I started with simple tinctures of Cranberry, Bitter Orange Peel, and Wormwood (all infused with Grain Alcohol). I eventually added some sugar, and added only part of the Wormwood tincture to the cranberry. The final liquid is… well… quite bitter. With a few dashes on a sugar cube, dropped into a glass of champagne, the result is a lovely hint of cranberry in a tasty glass of bubbly.

For those of you who have not yet made your own bitters, try a dash of Angostura bitters on a sugar cube in your favorite champagne.