Boozed + Infused

Infusing liqueurs at home with inspiring and seasonal ingredients

Tag Archives: whiskey


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Habanero Honey Whiskey Recipe

If you like whiskey and honey, and a little bit lot of spice, this one is for you!

It is fun to come up with booze infusion ideas for friends. All you have to do is pay attention to things that they like, and do your best to infuse their favorite flavors into their alcohol of choice.

Habanero Honey Whiskey

A friend recently told me that she loves honey whiskey. She also told me that she likes spicy food, “the hotter the better”. That same friend just had a birthday. So her birthday gift was Habanero Honey Whiskey. Well, Habanero Honey Whiskey and glitter, because “glitter and whiskey define me” she said.

Habanero Honey Whiskey

1/4 cup honey (about 85 grams)

1 medium cinnamon stick (about 4 grams)

1 habanero pepper* (optional)

Lemon zest – from about 1/3 to 1/2 of a medium lemon (about 5 grams of zest)

1 1/2 ounces Water

1 cup Bourbon or Whiskey of your choice

Remove the stem of the habanero and quarter the pepper, keeping the seeds intact. Place the first five ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on low heat. Simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the habanero with tongs or a fork. Allow the rest of the mixture to cool completely. Strain out the solids with a mesh strainer.

Pour the honey mixture into a pint jar or other infusion vessel. Add the bourbon or whiskey, and close the jar tight. Shake well to combine.

After 24-48 hours, strain through a coffee filter, and let the infusion rest for a few days before drinking.

Depending on how much heat you can take, feel free to use only part of the habanero or omit the seeds.

* Use caution when handling hot peppers. Use gloves if possible and wash hands thoroughly.

Habanero honey whiskey ingredients

This infusion has the sweetness of the honey, the heat of the habanero, and it sure makes me want some honey whiskey!

Do you like your booze spicy?

Infusing honey

Cheers!

Habanery Honey Gliiter Whiskey

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Bourbon, Bourbon, Infused Bourbon

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Oak Aged Manhattan

Spring is in the air! We finally had a few warm and sunny days here in Portland. Before you know it, the summer berries and fruits will be blooming and ripening… so I figured we better share a winter infusion before it gets too late!

Oak Aged Rye Manhattan

Have you ever tried Barrel-Aged Cocktails? The concept is to make a large batch of a cocktail, and pour it into a wood barrel to impart subtlety, flavor and distinction into the cocktail. Living in Portland, it is easy to get your hands on a great barrel-aged cocktail. The best known and my favorite location for a barrel-aged cocktail is Clyde Common thanks to Jeffrey Morgenthaler.

It is pretty easy to get your hands on an oak barrel. You can even get them in small sizes, like one liter. But when I stumbled upon The Barrel Mill Oak Infusion Spirals at my favorite home brew supply store, I knew I wanted to test out a different method of oak-aged cocktails. Adapting Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Rye Manhattan recipe to a smaller scale, I added the contents to a quart jar, and then cut off a section of the oak infusion spiral and placed it in the premixed cocktail jar. After waiting the requisite five weeks, we did a taste-test comparing the Oak-Aged Manhattan to an un-aged Rye Manhattan. We really enjoyed the Oak-Aged version more, noting that it did have more depth than the un-aged counterpart.

I have since learned that Tuthilltown makes a Barrel-Aged Cocktail Kit. This would be a very fun and easy way for you to try this at home.

Rye Manhattan Taste Test

Oak-Aged Rye Manhattan (follow recipe to scale from Jeffrey Morgenthaler)

16 oz. Rye Whiskey

8 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Scant 1 TB Angostura bitters

Section of Oak Infusion Spiral

Add all above ingredients to a quart-sized mason jar and close tightly. Allow to infuse for 5-6 weeks. You can either leave it in your jar and pour cocktails straight into the shaker from there, or strain and bottle into smaller bottles for gifts.

Cheers!

Related Posts:

Chamomile Bourbon

Fig Bourbon

Chocolate Bourbon


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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!