Fun with Infusing

The first lesson I ever learned about infusing alcohols came by way of my little sister, Katie. My mom used to make homemade vanilla extract by throwing a few whole vanilla beans in a bottle of cheap vodka and letting them steep for a couple of months. This is perhaps one of the easiest and most rudimentary forms of infusions that you can make, but it works great. I would have remained blissfully unaware of this whole process if my little sister had not made a mistake while measuring out ingredients for a banana milkshake.

In our family, any good milkshake calls for 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract, and we would use Mom's homemade stuff in our concoctions. When Katie was in elementary school, she was in the habit of making herself a milkshake every night after her gymnastics practice. For about a week straight, my parents couldn't figure out why Katie was so loopy and so sleepy each night after gymnastics. Then we discovered that she had a little trouble following recipes - instead of using a tsp of vanilla extract, Katie was throwing in a 1/4 cup or more. Turns out Katie was unintentionally spiking her milkshakes each night! And thus, I was both introduced to the joys of homemade infusions and tipsy eight-year-olds at the same time.

Infusions are a fantastic way to try new flavors and spice up old cocktails. All you need for this process are some mason jars, a good lemon zester, cheesecloth, patience and some creativity! Infusion is the process of adding flavor to neutral spirits (usually vodka, but you can also play with almost any liquor) by steeping fruits/berries/nuts/peppers/you name it in said spirits for several weeks at a time. The Art of Steeping has some great recommendations on how to prepare your various ingredients for infusion, but really the sky is the limit. Below are easy-to-follow recipes for two of my favorite infusions: Cranberry-Ginger Rum and Lemoncello, as well as some cocktail suggestions for each. I hope you enjoy both of these, but also feel free to experiment on your own (and let me know if you find anything good!)

Cranberry Ginger Rum

You will need: 1.5 cups cranberries, washed and with stems removed, 3-4 pieces of crystallized ginger, one 750 ml bottle of mid-grade silver rum (Appleton, Bacardi, etc), 0.5 cups sugar, cheesecloth

In a saucepan on medium heat, add cranberries and sugar with 2-4 oz of water. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and cranberries have "popped" (when heated, the s.kin of the cranberries should burst in a cross-hatch pattern, so that each cranberry looks like a little hot cross bun). Remove from heat and place in large mason jar. Add 2 tbsp of crystallized ginger, chopped finely. Pour your bottle of rum over this and seal the mason jar tightly. Let the mixture sit for 5 days, shaking the mixture daily to prevent the ingredients from settling. Remove the cranberries from the mixture with a slotted spoon and strain the liquid back into a stoppered bottle or mason jar using a cheesecloth and funnel. Enjoy!

Spiced Ocean Spray Cocktail

Fill a highball glass with ice

Add 1.5 oz cranberry ginger rum

Top with lemon-lime soda

Stir mixture with bar spoon for 5-10 seconds

Garnish with 1/8 lime wedge

Cranberry-Ginger Mojito
In a highball glass, muddle 7-10 cranberries, 6 springs mint, 3-4 small lime wedges and (optionally) one slice of crystallized ginger with 1.5 ounces of simple syrup.
Add 1.5 oz cranberry ginger rum
Add ice to fill glass
Top with soda water
Stir vigorously with bar spoon for 5-10 seconds
Garnish with 1/8 lime wedge

Lemoncello

You will need: 6 large lemons, lemon zester, 750 ml bottle of mid-grade vodka (New Amsterdam, Svedka), distilled water, superfine sugar, cheesecloth

Zest your six lemons*, and place the peels in a large mason jar. Ensure that there is NO pith (the foamy white inner skin of the lemon) on your peels during the zesting process - failure to remove the pith will result in an extremely bitter, nearly undrinkable concoction. Pour your bottle of vodka over top of the lemon zest, seal your jar and let sit for 6-10 days, agitating daily. While you are waiting, prepare 750 ml of simple syrup using distilled water and the superfine sugar in a 1:1 ratio (don't remember how to make simple syrup? Here you go!). After 6-10 days, add 750 ml simple syrup** to the vodka-lemon zest mixture and re-seal your mason jar, allowing the vodka-syrup mix to steep for an additional 2-3 days. Filter the liquid 2-3 times using a cheesecloth and funnel to remove any free-floating particulates, then bottle and refrigerate. Enjoy!

*Note: You can go crazy with other citrus options as well. By far my favorite non-lemon option is Blood Orange. If you choose to go this route, zest 4 large blood oranges and add the juice of one of the oranges to the vodka/zest mixture to give it a little extra blood orange flavor.

**Note: Because you have added the simple syrup to your vodka mixture, the resulting proof of your liqueur will be half that of the vodka you began with. Most lemoncello is 40 proof (20% ABV). If you would like stronger lemoncello, use a stronger grain alcohol a you base, such as everclear.

Lemon Drop Martini
The simplest way to make this little number is to combine 2 oz lemoncello with 1 oz vodka, shake the mixture over ice, strain and serve in a martini glass. If you prefer a slightly more tart martini (or less sweet), follow the instructions below:

In a cocktail shaker, combine:
1 oz vodka
1 oz lemoncello
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.5 oz lemon juice

Run a lemon around the edge of a martini glass, and then rim the glass with sugar. Shake the ingredients, strain and serve in the sugar-rimmed glass. Garnish with a lemon zest (you can save the zest you used to make your lemoncello - the steeping process makes them boozy and a little chewy, but kind of a fun addition)

An Apology to Cointreau

Dear Cointreau,

I'm sorry. For the better part of a year, I've been trying to convince myself that you are nothing special (see, for instance, the now redacted statement here). I've told myself that you are nothing more than fancy, over-priced triple sec and that you were not worth my time or my discretionary spending money. I was wrong. For this, I owe you an apology. I hereby vow never to make another Sidecar without you again (unless its for a rude house guest - in which case they're getting a Sidecar with lemon juice from a little lemon bulb, non-VSOP brandy from a plastic bottle, and the worst triple sec I can find).I hope you accept my apology and that we can be better friends moving forward.

Sincerely,

Robby

Well, I finally did it - I found Cointreau on sale and ponied up the $35 for a bottle of what I thought was glorified Triple Sec (which discerning consumers can find for under $10 a bottle...). But enough people had tried to sell me on the merits of Cointreau that I figured I should at least give it a try. Turns out they were spot-on. While its true that you can find decent Triple Sec on the market, Cointreau markets themselves as the Triple Sec, the one that sets the industry standard. And boy, does it ever. Zack and I treated ourselves to some fine Cointreau Sidecars right away, and the difference was extremely noticeable. There were lovely hints of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon along with the bittersweet orange flavor that enhanced the Brandy/lemon juice pairing quite well. The Sidecar has become one of my top five favorite drinks over the past year, and the addition of Cointreau makes it even better. As stated above, I hereby resolve never to make another Sidecar without Cointreau.

One note: Unlike Grand Marnier, Cointreau is not super-duper for sipping by itself. Grand Mariner comes from the curacao family (rather than the triple sec family) and so is a brandy based liqueur. For that reason, it overwhelms a lot of cocktails and makes them too boozy. But Grand Mariner is a fantastic aperitif - it stands alone quite well. Cointreau should not be sipped by itself, but man does it go great in any drink calling for Triple Sec. It is worth the investment, especially if you can find it on sale (if you see it in the $30 dollar range for a 750 ml bottle, that is a great price).

November Drink of the Month - The Brandy Alexander

This month's drink is dedicated to my mom, who is perhaps the biggest fan of this blog that I know. Thanks Mom, for enjoying my writing and for supporting my hobby.

As the calendar flips to November and the leaves start falling off the trees, perhaps it is time to cut back on wonderful, light citrus drinks made with club soda and fancy floral liqueurs. While I enjoy a good Saint Tropez most any time, it doesn't really fit most people's mood come winter time. As I write this, we are in our third day of cold (not quite freezing) rain in South Bend, which means its time to begin breaking out the heartier drinks as folks settle in for the freeze. 

For some people, winter means only warm drinks, but this is not a policy I adhere to. While warm spiced apple cider is quite delicious with rum or brandy, there are plenty of iced drink options that can help you get through the snowier months. The key here is to mix in heavier ingredients - crèmes and cream - with your liquors in order to produce a more robust drink that helps fill your belly on a cold night.

By special request, we'll feature my mom's favorite of all these heavier drinks this month: the Brandy Alexander. This drink originated in the twenties (like many great cocktails) and combines heavy cream, dark crème de cacao and brandy or cognac. It is a variation of the original "Alexander" drink, which was made with Gin. But where does the name Alexander come from? Stories vary - it might have been named after the bartender, perhaps a drink critic, or perhaps even Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

Here is a simple recipe for the Brandy Alexander:

In a cocktail shaker, combine:

1 oz brandy (cognac is preferred - if not, ensure brandy is VSOP)

1 oz fresh cream*

1 oz dark crème de cacao**

Shake WELL over ice*** and strain into a martini class. Garnish with a light sprinkling of ground nutmeg.

Obligatory notes:

*There are many difference of opinion over what kind of cream to use. Most of the recipes I consulted called for heavy cream. Our finding was that this made the drink a little too thick and heavy. I would recommend trying half-and-half the first time you make the drink. If you enjoy the taste, stick with half-and-half. If you want it a little thicker (or if you grew up on whole milk like my cowboy roommate), consider moving up to heavy cream for your second round.

**Chocolate liqueurs are also an acceptable substitute here. Godiva makes a very nice liqueur that would work quite well, but standard DeKuyper mixers work fine here. Just make sure you purchase DARK crème de cacao - the liqueur should be a caramel color.

***Since this is a cream drink, you will need to shake it quite a bit to get a good consistency. You can also make this drink in a blender if you are concerned about your shaking abilities. The Brandy Alexander can also be served as a frozen drink. If this is your preference, follow the above steps, but add 1/2 cup of ice to the recipe and make the whole thing in the blender.

Enjoy your Brandy Alexander! And stay warm!