Yesterday, I was reading about infused spirits, and was immediately inspired to make some of my own. I've had some good ones, notably Declan's strawberry infused-vodka. To that end, I picked up some booze at the local store, got 4 1-quart Mason jars from AC Moore and some fruit from Wegmans, and here's what I made.
Jar 1: vodka with strawberries, raspberries and blackberries
Jar 2: vodka with pineapple and ginger
Jar 3&4: cachaca with pineapple
I'm going to open up the berry vodka on Thursday when my wife returns from her business trip, and I'm planning on opening one of the cachaca jars on Saturday for Sean's birthday get-together. I'll make sure I post pictures!
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
6 comments:
Where did you get cachaca--a regular liquor store? I only think about it when I'm at home and keep forgetting to look for it when I'm at the boozemart (like tonight!)
Wegmans carries Leblon cachaca, which is the one I've always had. However, I have heard good things about both Cachaca 51 and Mae de Ouro.
Infusions, the ONLY thing vodka is good for.
I like vodkas original flavored vodka, Gin!
Maybe I've just been drinking the wrong gins over the years, but I've never been the biggest fan. Any suggestions?
depends on what you like. In the "cocktail" world, vodka is looked at as...say....spam would be to haute cuisine. The "4-star" cocktail bars in manhattan, usually only keep 1 bottle of it...behind the bar, that's dusty, and its usually Stoli or something cheap (pricewise).
For mixing cocktails with a few spirits or fruit, I prefer a neutral gin like Plymouth.
For just a simple martini, (ratio 2:1 of gin:vermouth) I prefer tangueray 10, or something with distinct flavors like Hendricks (very cucumberry) Bombay Sapphire is ok too.
After you become accustom to them, and "real" martini's (i.e. with a GOOD amount of vermouth) then try a ratio of 50:50 with Old Tom gin and Dolin vermouth, and taste how a martini was originally intended to taste!!
Next you'll say "I don't care for vermouth and only like a dash in my martini"
and I'll say....every martini you've ever had, and every taste of vermouth you've ever had, has probably been BAD vermouth....vermouth goes bad. its a wine. I notice a difference in just a week in the fridge, imagine how long that bars vermouth has been sitting there!
Vermouth is a spirit some can't get used to, but for the most part, its due to bad vermouth and a badly made martini.
BTW - I have some vodka infusions I made from a leftover jug from a 4th of july party....I made pomegranate and then I made habanero. I've yet to use them yet, but was thinking about a deconstructed bloody mary for the pepper one!
Sounds great! I think you witnessed my last tryst with vodka in our freshman year of college. I haven't been able to touch the stuff since then.
I echo what Rob is saying about gin, though. I am a huge, huge fan of Hendricks.
Post a Comment