Who needs a Monday cocktail? It is (finally) a gorgeous, sunny summer day here in the Pacific Northwest. And a cool, refreshing drink sounded just perfect.
We’re bringing back a few infusions that we made a while back, but they are perfect for this summer beverage.
The first liqueur I ever made was Raspberry. I guess I should say the first four liqueurs I made were all Raspberry!
A few years ago, I went to my parents’ farm to pick some raspberries for jam. I came home with a LOT of berries. I made a few batches of jam, and it seemed like I had not even made a dent in the volume of raspberries. So I started going through my liquor cabinet, selecting anything that seemed like it would taste good with the berries.
I ended up with Raspberry Vodka, Raspberry Brandy, Raspberry Cachaça and Raspberry-Mint Gin. I left all of the infusions in the back of our coat closet for three months. And by the time we filtered them, they were heavenly. (Follow recipe for Simple Raspberry Liqueur below) Each year, the volume of Raspberry Liqueur in my pantry seems to grow.
As I started to infuse a wider variety of ingredients, the Raspberry liqueurs have remained some of my favorites.
I spent a good part of the day yesterday picking raspberries with my mother. (And I’ve got the scratches all over my arms to prove it!)
I ended up with about four pounds of amazing, sweet, delicious raspberries. If you have never infused raspberries before, you are really missing out. These wonderful liqueurs really are a little splash of heaven.
Simple Raspberry Liqueur
750 ml bottle of 80 proof booze (vodka, gin, rum, brandy, or cachaça)
3 1/2 c. raspberries
1/4 to 1/2 c. sugar (or more depending on your preference)
Combine all ingredients in a large glass jar. Shake or stir every few days, allowing to infuse for up to 3 months, or until it reaches your desired taste. Add more sugar if desired. Strain and filter well. The straining process can take a while with raspberries, but the jelly bag (or lots of cheesecloth) and coffee filters will produce a clear result.
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
This is a favorite of ours, and tastes amazing in a gin and tonic.
This year I decided to try out some new variations and flavors. I don’t quite know how they will turn out yet… I guess we’ll have to wait a while before we know. I hope these inspire you to get creative with your raspberry infusions as well.
Raspberry-Lemon Vodka
2 c. Raspberries
Zest of 2 lemons
2 c. Vodka
1/4 c. Sugar
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
ROB Rum (Raspberry-Orange-Blueberry)
1 c. Frozen Blueberries (cut in half or roughly chopped)
1 1/4 c. Raspberries
Zest of one orange
2 c. Rum
2 TB Sugar
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
After these have infused for a while, we may alter them with more sugar or simple syrup. We also may add more zest if necessary.
And finally, one last treat…
Chocolate-Raspberry Liqueur
1 1/2 c. Raspberries
1/4 c. cocoa nibs
1/4 c. sugar
2 c. vodka
Follow directions above, same as Simple Raspberry Liqueur.
We will let you know how these new flavors turn out… but it may be a while before they are ready. We will try tasting them before the three months are up to see if they infuse quicker than we think. But I think they will need at least a month.
Do you have any raspberry infusion flavor ideas? What are your favorites?
Wow! Time flies, doesn’t it?! This week is a blur. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure ready for the weekend…
Several months ago, I found a recipe for a Rosehip Tipple from Wildcraft Vita. If you are not familiar with this blog, you should check it out. In addition to some amazing ideas for infusions, there are many other inspirations for flowers, herbs and foraging.
Back to the rose hips… I don’t happen to have any roses of my own. I have some friends with lots of lovely rose bushes, and have already laid claim to their rose hips. But the rose hips have not formed yet. And I’ve really been wanting to make a rose hip infusion.
As it turns out, I was able to find some dried rose hips. And the infusion could not have been easier.
Rose Hip Vodka
2 TB Dried Rose Hips
1 c. Vodka
Infuse for approximately one week. Strain.
This infusion is very nice. The flavor has hints of citrus, floral, and a bit like fruit leather. If you enjoy rose hip tea, you will like this. And the cocktails are fabulous.
The infusion will end up looking quite a bit like tea… and tastes good with tea as well. I started out with a small batch of this to test it out, but will definitely make more.
Several months ago we made a kiwi liqueur. And with warmer weather (finally) upon us, we used this tasty, fruity liqueur to make a simple Kiwi Vodka Tonic.
For summer parties and cookouts, fruit liqueur and tonic make for easy entertaining. The fruit gins (blueberry, raspberry-mint, tamarind-orange,) as well as the vodkas (cranberry-orange, raspberry, pineapple, mango) can quickly be turned into fun and festive summer drinks.
I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but I happen to be a bit of a canning addict. So with everyone touting their delicious jam cocktails, I decided to try one of my own… with Green Tomato Jam!
We made this jam last fall, long after we had picked our green tomatoes. They sat on the kitchen counter for what seemed to be forever, and we finally decided to can them. At first I wasn’t sure what to think of the jam. And in fact we left it in the pantry for months. We finally brought it out a little while back and tested it with a delicious Parrano cheese and baguette. It was fabulous! And it was wonderful in this cocktail as well.
Stir the Heather flower vodka and green tomato jam with ice, add tonic and garnish with a twist. Add more ice if needed.
This was very tasty and refreshing. The green tomato jam added a lovely tangy lemony sweet flavor, and the heather flowers paired nicely.
I think this is a great cocktail to drink during next week’s #GartenderChat! If you haven’t checked it out yet, the next one is Thursday, June 21 at 6:00 pm Pacific time.
We like to try lots of new flavors over here at Boozed + Infused. When out shopping for groceries, I often scour the shelves looking for ideas of things to infuse. I go to certain stores looking specifically for interesting flavors. One of my favorite stores to find different ingredients is the local Home Brewing supply store. You may be surprised to find that there are a lot of home brew stores out there, and many of them sell online.
At a recent trip to the Homebrew Exchange, I picked up bunch of fun bottles, ingredients, and some inspiration! One of these ingredients was dried heather flowers.
While I didn’t really know what heather flowers would taste like, I was excited to try a new infusion.
Heather Flower Vodka
2 TB Dried Heather flowers
1 c. Vodka
Infuse for about 7-9 days, strain and filter. Enjoy in cocktails!
The result is a lovely golden color. The flavor is only slightly floral. It has a nice taste to it, but is hard to describe. I can tell you that it makes a great cocktail… recipes will be forthcoming. In the meantime, try a heather flower infusion, or better yet let us know about something new and interesting that you have infused.
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.
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.
This is a very simple infusion… almost to simple to post. But I’m posting anyway, and there is a reason behind it.
A few days ago I participated in a twitter chat called #GartenderChat. What is Gartending, you might ask? Gardening + bartending = growing your own cocktails!
All that gardening/cocktail chat inspired me to make a garden-themed cocktail. I ended up making a spectacular drink with some herbs from my garden, plus this lemongrass infused vodka.
This smells and tastes like a lovely lemongrass-infused vodka… exactly as you would expect. I happen to adore lemongrass, so I couldn’t wait to make this.
I promise to post the cocktail very soon. In the meantime, you should definitely start this infusion.
I like sesame, and I like honey. When I was a kid, we used to make a variety of a honey-sesame candy, and somehow I thought it would be good to infuse vodka with these flavors. … it is delicious!
Sesame-Honey Vodka
1 oz Sesame Seeds
1 c. Vodka
2 TB Honey
Stirring frequently, toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan on low, until they start to brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add all ingredients to a small canning jar or other sealing jar. Shake, and allow to infuse in a dark, cool place for 3-4 weeks. Strain and filter, with cheesecloth and a coffee filter, then enjoy!
This infusion really tastes like sesame and honey. I think it will be great in cocktails… any ideas?
Ok, so back to these sesame seeds… Since I’ve been on a roll trying to use my infused ingredients, I decided to keep the infused, vodka soaked seeds. I toasted them on low in the oven until they started to brown, stirring occasionally. I then roughly followed the instructions for a sesame-honey candy (from Nourished Kitchen), and … they were pretty good! They disappeared pretty fast.
You’re going to think I’m some kind of freak of nature when I tell you this… but I don’t like Margaritas. I’m kind of scared to admit that to people, especially as I’m writing this blog about boozing and infusing. It is almost Cinco de Mayo! What a perfect time for Margaritas, and infused tequila. But not for me. I usually go for a Mexican beer with lime. Which is delicious in its own right. But… this year will be different.
A few weeks ago, I made the Lime-Chipotle Finishing Salt from The Cozy Herbivore. It is delicious on popcorn, and sprinkled into a variety of dishes. Among the list of recommended uses is a Margarita Rim. I’m always jealous of those who drink Margaritas. They always look so tasty.
So, I decided I would enjoy this salt on the rim of a different drink. We happened to have some Cucumber Vodka left, so it seemed only logical to pair it with this salt.
Run a lime wedge around the rim of the glass, and then dip in the Lime Chipotle Salt. Stir the remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, strain and enjoy.
The salt and chipotle finish off the flavor so well, without being over-powering. I can see why others have said that this had really stepped up their margarita consumption. It is not too late to infuse some cucumbers before Cinco de Mayo… if you’re so inclined. This would be a great addition to your festivities!
Boozed + Infused 