I have been infusing alcohol ever since I discovered caramel infused vodka at Wodka restaurant in London in the late nineties. Waiting for our table, we settled at the bar and I watched the bartender pulling unlabeled bottles out of a small freezer dedicated to infused vodkas. I tried the homemade caramel vodka and I was just hooked. I wanted the freezer. I wanted the infusions, I wanted caramel.
I still keep homemade caramel infused vodka in my freezer as a fond memory of this discovery. It’s one of the more complicated infusions to make, but it is a wonderful dessert vodka. Since then my tastes and my infusions evolved from the simple fruit (raspberry, orange, orange vanilla) to blends. I discovered one blend as a result of a health kick I was on and eating at Pump. Since I enjoyed their cucumber, mint, jalapeno dressing so much, I figured I would enjoy the infused vodka version. It’s pretty simple, but you have to balance the length of time the jalapenos are in contact with the vodka to balance the heat. It certainly made for an excellent base for Bloody Mary’s.
More recently, my tastes have evolved back to my origins with gin being my focus. That doesn’t mean my desire to infused has diminished. I have been creating gin-based infusions using Plymouth Gin for its clean, pure, classic gin style. My latest infusions have included: Earl Grey, Persian cucumber, and fresh wasabi root. I discovered Earl Grey infused gin thanks to Audrey Saunders’ Pegu Club creation, the MarTEAni.
A refreshing cocktail is the Afternoon Tea cocktail with Earl Grey infused gin and tonic with a splash of fresh lemon juice and a lemon slice. I recently also made Gin Rickeys using the Earl Grey infused gin, and the tea just provided an added depth and character to the cocktail.
It is quite a simple process to infuse alcohol and the flavors are infinite. How far do you go? Thanks to Twitter, I recently found my next step. Creating my own gin. I follow Jon Bonne, the Wine Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and he posted about making his own gin using a recipe that also sparked my interest on Gourmet’s website. What could be more satisfying than creating your own gin? It sounds like a fascinating experiment to me and I will report my failures and successes when the process is complete.
Recipes
Simple Infusions
Take a 750ml bottle of vodka and pour out about a cup of vodka and keep aside. Add your infusing material, which could be anything that takes your fancy, including:
•1 cup of raspberries (whole)
•1 cup of strawberries (halved or quartered depending on size)
•1/2 sliced cucumber (slice into segmented strips)
•1 sliced jalapeno peppers (sliced in half or quarters)
•1 vanilla pod (split in half)
After adding the infusing material, if there is room left in the bottle, add back what you can. Cap the bottle and store at room temperature for a week. Note: for the jalapeno infusion, check the vodka at intervals to achieve the desired level of heat.
Caramel Vodka Infusions
Take a 750ml bottle of vodka and pour out about a 1/2 cup of vodka and keep aside. For a true homemade infusion, make caramel sauce from scratch (you can use the following recipe from epicurious.com) or use a store bought caramel sauce. Pour in a half cup of caramel sauce and set aside for a few days.
The infused caramel vodka at this point requires straining through paper coffee filters to trap the solids from the caramel.
Earl Grey Tea Infused Plymouth Gin
Take a 1 liter bottle of Plymouth Gin and pour into a large glass pitcher or jug. Add 1/4 cup of Earl Grey tea leaves. Steep for 2 hours then strain through a mesh strainer.
