Infusions, Extractions & Tinctures at Home: The Topic (Part 1)

[CharityCase]

Amazing thread, and I'd read it before but as I now have a serrano and lime infusion on the go:

1. I'm using fresh chiles from the garden, washed and dried them thoroughly, scored them and tossed them in. Someone has said the stalk left a strong..well..stalky taste? So I'm wondering whether the small amount of green stalk still left on the peppers will have this effect or whether the poster was referring to a larger gren section?

2. citrus and peppers would seem to have different infusion periods. I will undoubtedly taste this along the way and try for more heat and less lime (just my preference) but what do y'all think would be a good time to pull the fruit? What about the peppers?These peppers are fairly hot so I was thinking one week would be enough.

Oh, and I'm using Stoli that I bought in duty free the other day

Thanks!

[PaoPao]

Hello All. I just stumbled on this thread and thought I would post about what my wife and I did last Sunday. We bottled 12 different Smirnoff Vodka Infusions and 1 Cachaca Infusion.

This is our first time doing Infusions and was spurred by my wifes recent attendance at a chocolate truffle making class. In the class she made some Liquor infused Truffles with Cranberry / Vanilla Vodka.

The Truffles were excellent but she was actually more excited about Infusing some Vodka. Who am I to complain?

So we bought a case of clear 750 ml bottles from one of those do it yourself winemaking shops, hit the Grocery Store and Liquor Store and started production.

For the Vodka's we have brewing:

- Cantaloupe / Bing Cherry

- Cucumber / Apple

- Pineapple / Raspberry

- Mango / Mint

- Blood Orange / Mint

- Blueberry / Lemon

- Rambutan / Lemon

- Passion Fruit / Rambutan / Plum

- Vanilla

- Pineapple / Blueberry

- Peach / Raspberry

- Pear / Raspberry / Kiwi

The Cachaca flavor brewing is:

- Bing Cherry

It was alot of fun doing this and we are hoping to have made some interesting combinations of flavors.

I'll report back in a week or two to let everyone know about the taste results.

[Beth E.]

I'm bumping this thread up from oblivion because I've got vodka steeping. Two pitchers infusing even as I type.

I'm doing strawberry -- which I've done once before and it is yummy! And now I'm trying a new one, Melon.

They are so darn easy too. The strawberry one I learned about when having dinner at Felidia. We were waiting at the bar, dh and I, when I noticed the bartender making a lovely pinky red drink for another woman. When I asked what she was having the bartender told me something or other. Okay, I forgot what the drink was -- it was two years ago. But I remember the vodka lesson. He told me that they infuse their own vodka because it is better, with no artificial ingredients.

He told me to buy some strawberries and cut off the green leafy part. Then put them in a pitcher, add vodka and cover with plastic wrap. Wait 10 days, remove the berries, strain the liquid to remove any strawberry particules, like the seeds and then you are ready to use.

The strawberry vodka turns a beautiful color. The new batch has been steeping for less than 24 hours and I can already see the color change.

Yum!

[Chef Shogun]

Good timing! I'm doing a vanilla vodka (seems safe) and I'm not sure if I've let it go long enough. It's sat for a week but still doesn't taste that good. Should I let it go longer? Could be I need to use better vodka...using Smirnoff, just as I did in my failed attempts last year (chile and citrus).

[duckduck]

Just bumping this thread up so it's easier to find to refer to. Got peaches, cherries, pineapple, blackberries, blueberries and lots of vodka. Need to get jars and lemons and a lime for limoncello, then I'm going to start to play. This should be fun.

[PaoPao]

We infused about 15 different bottles last fall of all sorts of combinations of fruits and still have them in our fridge. When we drink one we just fill it up again with some more vodka ..... they are really fantastic and seem to keep for a long time.

The Limoncello one sounds very good, I think I will try that one next.

[duckduck]

http://www.vanilla.com/showcase/docs/vanillaextract.html

This recipe says four weeks for vanilla and that's what I remember reading elsewhere. I'm going to try it eventually. I've had a really killer homemade vanilla cordial in the past that has haunted me ever since. That's what I want to make more than anything but I'm going to start playing with fruits first since I have so many great local fresh fruits in my kitchen right now. Got me looking forward to November and tangerine season too.

[ninetofive]

I've made several infusions over the past month. My favorite is a quince infusion -- got the recipe from Jane Grigson's Good Things (she might have called it a quince ratafia, which could be made with either brandy or vodka -- I went with vodka). Very nice!

I also made a batch of cucumber vodka for bloody Marys and a peach vodka. I put a maybe six bruised peach kernels and now I'm wondering it that was too many i.e. cyanide. Thoughts? Not something I'm willing to test. Life is good!

[PaoPao]

I've made several infusions over the past month. My favorite is a quince infusion -- got the recipe from Jane Grigson's Good Things (she might have called it a quince ratafia, which could be made with either brandy or vodka -- I went with vodka). Very nice!

I also made a batch of cucumber vodka for bloody Marys and a peach vodka. I put a maybe six bruised peach kernels and now I'm wondering it that was too many i.e. cyanide. Thoughts? Not something I'm willing to test. Life is good!   

←

I did a cucumber vodka as well that tasted just terrible ..... similar to Zucchini ... yuck. How did yours turn out? I got the idea from a friend who has a local restaurant in which they put Cucumber slices in the ware which is delicious.

[jmfangio]

Hello all,

Longtime lurker, inspired by this thread to finally join up as a member. I've been experimenting with vodka infusions for a couple of years now, most notably:

habanero peppers (which I named the 'dim mak', after the legendary kung fu death touch)

fresh wasabi (goes great with tuna tataki, and makes a killer bloody mary)

earl grey tea (I like to top it off with sparkling lemonade, and call it the Drunken Palmer)

and most recently, jasmine tea with lavender (amazing straight from the freezer - I haven't really experimented with it in cocktails yet).

I just picked up some fresh kaffir limes from a Thai market in Hollywood, so that's next up. I'm also thinking of doing lemon with lavender, but I'm wondering if they'll have different infusion times, so I think I'll infuse the lemon first, then strain and add the lavender.

Has anyone else worked with multiple ingredients, adding one after the other?

[Snowy is dead]

I've got some pears infusing now, but they started to oxidize right away. I left the skins on, but removed the seeds and inner part. Is this normal, or should I have cut the skins off? Will it adversley affect the vodka, or is that where my color will come from?

Sean

[Chris Amirault]

Over here, where I was trying to make gin from vodka, I created a large amount of a Stoli spice infusion that I had to cut waaaaay back on in the final "gin" proportions. Long story short, the remaining infusion turned out to be better than the "gin," and I've just set up 300 ml of vodka to steep with:

• 5g cassia bark
  3g green cardamom
  3g anise
  5 allspice berries
  5 cloves
  1g mace
  1g star anise
  

Hoping to add to Manhattans, Rob Roys, Negronis, and whatever else strikes the fancy. Report back in a few days.

[chappie]

I haven't read through all of this thread yet, but my friend is getting married Saturday and I was wondering if there are any good quick infusions for something I could bring to the wedding and tuck into a freezer for the groomsmen and him to do a shot of late night.

[thirtyoneknots]

I haven't read through all of this thread yet, but my friend is getting married Saturday and I was wondering if there are any good quick infusions for something I could bring to the wedding and tuck into a freezer for the groomsmen and him to do a shot of late night.

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The things that typically infuse quickly are hot and/or tannic flavors, such as peppers and tea. Unfortunately the kinds of things that need to be either extremely cold or mixed with something to take the edge off. There is a recipe in Joy of Mixology for infusing a fifth of tequila with a cut up pineapple, sprig of tarragon, and a habanero pepper for 48 hours, then straining. Tequila isn't really my thing, so I haven't tried it yet, but it almost sounds interesting enough to mess with anyway. Might do the trick for you though.

-Andy

[Harry Covére]

Has anyone tried infusing vodka with juniper berries? I'm guessing the result would be something like gin.

Or vodka with sloe berries?

[Carolyn Tillie]

The immediate reaction is, "Why not just drink gin?"

Seriously...

[eje]

Yer gonna need a lot of sugar to make a vodka infused with sloes palatable.

My understanding is they are very, very bitter.

To me, that gets away from infusing vodkas, and makes it more like liqueur making.

I've made liqueurs with various types of plums, pluots, and plumcots and had varying degrees of success.

My favorite, really, was a black plum liqueur made on a gin base.

I would really like to try making a home made sloe gin; but, have never been able to track down a source for sloes.

[Chris Amirault]

Has anyone tried infusing vodka with juniper berries?  I'm guessing the result would be something like gin.

←

Um, yeah. It was, er, interesting.

[bostonapothecary]

that is like "cologne's geneva".... don't waste your time with vodka go cognac....

and eventually you will learn to just drink tangueray...

infuse where you are sure you have an economic advantage or an intellectual advantage.... and always remember that "life is short and the art is long..."

[Chris Amirault]

There are some of us, bostonapothecary, who seek knowledge in ill-conceived schemes and misbegotten results. And, yeah, Tanqueray's a lot better.

Meanwhile, has anyone done a date infusion?

[KatieLoeb]

Chris:

There's an easier way to get date flavor into a cocktail.

Try THIS.

I've been playing with this with bourbon and rye and also with vodka. Nothing solid to report yet, but I'll put it into the New Cocktails thread if I hit on a winner.

[Chris Amirault]

That's precisely the product that got me to think of it! Do report when you have results.

[eje]

"Jallab Syrup"!

Funny!

Well, you can return the "Julep" to its Arabic roots...

[Abra]

Last year I filled a jar with fresh red currants and dumped in a bottle of vodka. This week I found it waaaay in the back of a basement shelf. Once decanted it was a pale, delicate pink. Interestingly, since the currants themselves were very tart, it only needed a dash of simple syrup to be quite good, in a ladylike way.

[bostonapothecary]

Chris:

There's an easier way to get date flavor into a cocktail.

Try THIS.

I've been playing with this with bourbon and rye and also with vodka.  Nothing solid to report yet, but I'll put it into the New Cocktails thread if I hit on a winner.

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i remember working at the franklin cafe and there was this cocktail on the menu with supposed pomegrantie mollasses.... it was there before i started working there.... no one liked it. it got sent back constantly. i looked at the mollasses bottle and it was date mollasses instead of the pomegranite.... one lesson learned is to taste more of your own drinks....