By now, you’ve probably tasted a house-infused liquor at one of the many local establishments that offer them. They’re delicious, refreshing…and actually fairly easy to make. Have you ever sipped a cup of tea and reacted – holy *@$%^, this tastes like tea! By the end of this post, your reaction to infused liquor will sound equally ridiculous. However, while you may no longer be amazed, everyone who drinks your creation will be, and they will marvel at your amazing ability to mix two ingredients in a jar.
Here’s what you do:
- Get a clean jar. Mason jars are an ideal choice since they have an airtight seal. You can even start with a small 16 oz mason jar as I did.
- Chop up a bunch of fruit (I recommend pear or apple to start) and place it in the jar.
- Fill the jar with some decent vodka – as always, I recommend Tito’s and I stand by it, but others will work (just stay away from plastic bottles).
- Close the jar, and place it somewhere away from direct sunlight.
- Each day, give the jar a little shake and taste the mixture. No fruity taste? Seal it and leave it alone. For a 16 oz jar, 3-4 days will generally hit the sweet spot.
- When you reach a good flavor, strain the mixture (use a fine strainer or cheesecloth) into another jar.
That’s it.
I recently had guests compare my pear-infused vodka to Grey Goose Pear. My vodka had an incredibly fresh flavor with no bite – you could even sip it over ice (of course, Tito’s probably had something to do with this).
Are there more details? Sure, but you already know the basics to get you to a quality house (your house)-infused liquor. Here’s some more info if you’re interested:
- Different fruits will take longer periods of time, so be sure to keep tasting (I suspect you won’t argue with me on that).
- Obviously, the ultimate flavor of the infused liquor will depend on how the actual fruit tastes. Have a nibble before throwing it in the jar. If it tastes bad, your infused liquor will taste bad. Everyone will hate you.
- I recommend peeling the pear or apple you use – however, there is some flavor in there, so if you want to include them, go organic. Unless you want pesticide-infused vodka. Mmmmm.
- The fruit may start to brown while in the jar. If that happens, I recommend replacing with new fruit. And if you feel like a terrible human being for eating browned fruit to take down every last drop of liquor…just think of someone who is a worse person than you, and you’ll feel better.
- Keep in mind, the infusion won’t last forever. Not only because it tastes amazing, but by adding fruit you’ve now added foreign substances. This will eventually take a toll on the liquor since there are no preservatives. I wouldn’t keep this around for more than a week or two.
Good luck!
