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I’ve never been a big fan of commercial infusions; I’m assuming I’m not along with that statement in the cocktail world? I set out to make a citrus vodka that meet my standards and learn from the million times my infusions sucked or just weren’t really all that great. I have a couple grips with infusing liquors, mostly in the arena that it doesn’t make economic sense for a lot of bars and it can take up to two months for a really good infusion! If you have the ability (or a really cool bar manager,) do it by the case and you’ll thank yourself later when it’s done. I make my over the top hot Hari Kari vodka by the case, but with the hot peppers it only takes about three days to infuse the flavor.
Digging through my pile of cocktail material I came across a book ingeniously named “Infused” by Susan Elia MacNeal. She sums up infusing by saying, “All infused liqueurs are created using the same basic principle. A flavor is steeped in an alcohol base for a time. The solids are filtered out, and sweetening is added, if desired. The liqueur is aged, which allows the flavors to mellow, then it is bottled and ready to serve.” Her recipe for orange vodka was what I expected, zest and vodka (or any liquor,) then some sugar to taste.
A citrus vodka, or citrus anything really, has got to have lemon and lime (arguably grapefruit as well!) I also wanted to add orange to mine so my plan was to make a batch of all three separately and then combine them together by taste to make a citrus vodka I am proud of.
I started with the orange. My grocery store down the street had two orange types, navel and tangelo (mandarin/grapefruit hybrid). I bought four of each and went to work. You don’t know who or what has touched these things so you have to at least rinse them off. Then with a vegetable peeler I started peeling all the orange I could while leaving the pith (white part.) Collecting all the zest and mixing them together I then separated them into mason jars and used two 750ml bottles of Smirnoff Red Label. I will update when I start the lemon and lime then finish off with the final product some time from now.
Article By: Mark Sexauer
A quick follow up on my Barrel Aged Cranberry Gin! I removed my first 750ml of Tanqueray gin from the barrel and put it into a 3 liter sealed jar where I will add all my batches to ensure the same flavor for every bottle. I still have yet to decide what to do with this yet but it turned out even better than I thought, and with a great deep red/ruby color. It has an oakyness to it that is almost as upfront as the junipers. I think I will add fresh cranberries to the jar to give it a little more cranberry flavor all around as it gets somwhat lost in the aftertaste. The backend is an oaky taste first then the familiar juniper. On the rocks it was good, different, when I can get a hold of FRESH cranberries I’ll start my cranberry bitters going. I’m excited about the final result! I put in another bottle of Tanqueray and another 1/4 cup of whole cranberries pureed. The first bottle sat for about two months rotating every two weeks or so, I will do the same with this batch, maybe a little shorter so I can have at least three bottles by November!
By: Mark Sexauer
I had a post not too long ago about a 1 liter barrel I ordered online and now as promised I’ll tell you what I put in it the other day.
The directions say to prime the barrel for about 5 days with warm water, I’ve let the water sit for a month or so now as life has a way of slapping you around and making sure you can’t do what you want all the time. Thinking ahead to what I’m going to age I went aisle shopping at the grocery store. For about a buck I bought (among other fun things) a can of whole cranberry sauce. When I got home I opened it up to see what I was dealing with. The ingredients say: cranberries, high fructose corn syrup, and water. Most of the can is the high fructose corn syrupy gel that the whole cranberries are in. I ran cold water into the can and separated most of the whole cranberries. I can hear some of you now thinking “I would have waited and used real cranberries…” well I don’t want to wait and everyone likes the canned cranberry sauce better anyway. I measured about 4-5 oz and threw them in a food processor to be shredded. Grabbing a bottle of Tanquery gin I emptied the barrel of the priming water, stuffed the shredded cranberries into the barrel and filled it with the bottle of gin. My thinking is that when fall comes here before we all know it I’ll have a barrel aged cranberry gin that I can either make into bitters or use in a cocktail, or both. I’ll keep you up to date and like the article says this doesn’t really have to be in the barrel for more than a month, month and a half so I can do multiple batches before the end of September hits. Enjoy the weather, Prost.
Article By: Mark Sexauer
I got the infusion bug a while ago along with everyone else but never really infused anything that blew me away. I was infusing a lot of the same old things, with varying results. Then I got a taste of Absolut Pepper. I am not a fan of commercially infused vodkas and this one was no exception, but it did get me thinking. Messing around with peppers and vodka is easy and fast. Three days tops for the flavor to completely infuse. I call it Hari Kari Vodka and the name has caught on. Some brave soals will take a shot or two with their beer, but for the most part it goes into a great Bloody Mary?
Let me be very clear, this is a high potency infusion! This isn’t pineapple and vanilla beans with a hint of violet something or other. This is knock you on your ass hot, it will clear your sinuses in one whiff. The sole purpose of this infusion is to add a little conversation piece to the bar. I get a lot of people who dare their buddies to take shots of it and there’s also a drink we call the “bald eagle” to give to unsuspecting shot takers (this can go two ways though, a warning…) As spicy as it may be, diluted in a Bloody Mary the Hari Kari is mellowed out and makes for a very hot, very good Bloody Mary, I sell a case a month of this stuff so it can’t be that bad. It wouldn’t take too much out of your day to experiment with a more main stream mellow spicy vodka if you’d like, but then, I’ve had a lot of fun with this one and I’m guessing so would you…
Hari Kari Vodka
1 bottle vodka (I use Smirnoff red label)
1 habanera pepper
1 jalapeño pepper
1 serrano pepper
1 inch wide green pepper slice
1 inch wide red pepper slice
1 inch wide yellow pepper slice
1 whole radish
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Wash all ingredients well in cold water. For the hot peppers I cut a slice down the middle so the seeds (where the heat is) are exposed. If you wanted something just a little less hot I bet just leaving the peppers whole would help out. Put all into Mason jar, shake once a day. After three days, strain and rebottle.
Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer
