Tequila and Vodka Summer Infusions

     To me, the best part about planning a party is planning the drinks to serve at that party.  Gives me a chance to be creative and show off a bit instead of serving 151 punch and jello shots.  So with an upcoming outdoor party, I had to think of lighter, broad palette pleasing ingredients.  Which naturally made me think of easily attainable fresh fruits: strawberries, citrus, kiwi's, and sugary pineapple.  Vodka Infusion was a given and I also thought to try another Tequila Infusion (this being only my second tequila attempt after a pepper/mango infusion previously).       So after a 2 part stop, liquor and grocery store, I decided on Camarena Tequila(100% Blue Agave) and Local Texas Vodka Enchanted Rock along with my ingredients consisting of a whole pineapple, 6 kiwis, a little over a pound of strawberries, fresh cherries, a few Texas oranges, 2 peaches, 1 cantaloup, and a handful of lemons.

Strawberries, Kiwis, and Pineapples oh my!

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     As I always say, "Lets start with Tequila first".  I picked one  750ml bottle of Camarena Reposado(Rested) Tequila to use, based on personal taste and the fact that the liquor store was out of Herradura.
     Quick lesson for those that are unaware of tequila types: There are essentially 4 types of tequila.  1. Blanco(white), which is either un-aged or stored in steel or neutral oak barrels for no more than 2 months, and then bottled immediately, resulting in its clear color.  2. Reposado(rested), which is barrel aged for at least two months but no longer than 1 year in oak barrels.  3. Anejo(aged), which is also barrel aged for at least 1 year but no more than 3 years.  This is my favorite kind.  4.  Extra Anejo, which is aged for 3-5 years in oak barrels as well.  Extra Anejo was introduced in 2006 by the NOM (Norma Oficial Mexicana) after the "Patron Explosion" to establish an ultra premium tequila brand.  Another type of "tequila" is refered to as Joven(young) or Mixto's.  These are usually your cheap tequilas that are only 51% agave and the other 49% usually consisting of both glucose and fructose sugars, which explains the horrible, horrible tequila hangover I'm sure we all experienced our freshmen year of college.
     But I digress.  Back to our recipe for the infusion.  We're going to start with about a pound of fresh strawberries, 6 kiwis, and one whole pineapple.  Rinse all your produce and place the pineapple in your fridge upside down for 10-15 minutes.  This allows for the sugar that has settled to the bottom of the pineapple to drip back through the whole fruit.  While thats happening, cut the green tops off your strawberries and cut them into slices.  Cut the ends off the kiwis, remove the brown skin, and cut into slices as well.  Take your pineapple out of the fridge and remove the top/bottom/outside skin/core.  We'll only be using about half of the pineapple so just eat the rest or save for later.  Place all produce in your airtight jar and fill with your tequila so it looks like this:

     Allow to sit for 4-5 days and then strain back into your bottle of choice using a mesh strainer and some cheesecloth to remove all food particles and enjoy.

     Now for the vodka.  For our fruit we're going to cut 3 oranges, 3 lemons, 5 strawberries, and 2 skinned peaches into slices.  Throw in 2 handfuls of fresh and destemmed cherries along with half of a whole cantaloup with the outside skin cut off.  Place everything in an airtight jar and then dump your vodka on it so it looks something like this:

     You can let this sit for up to a week, just taste it everyday to follow it as the infusion progresses.  You have to make sure the pith (white stuff between the skin and fruit) doesn't overpower your infusion with its bitter taste.

Enjoy!
-S.M.

Mixology Monday

 
     This upcoming monday (May 16th) marks another Mixology Monday cocktail challenge, "Flores de Mayo – Floral Cocktails".  This will also mark my first entry for Mixology Monday!  This month they have a wonderful host in Dave at The Barman Cometh. In preparation, I started a Tomato and Basil Infused Vodka to be used. Now that it's ready, it's time to start the actual drink.  Since I've been on a Moscow Mule kick recently, I wanted to try my own variation on this classic cocktail.  I already need to use Vodka, Lime Juice, and Ginger Beer but I needed to add a floral ingridient to the mix and I finally choose homemade Hibiscus Grenadine.  I used Jeffrey Morgenthaler's recipe and just threw in a handful of Hibiscus leaves to let them steep.  It came out very well.

Making the Hibiscus Grenadine

     The Tomato Basil vodka I let sit for 3 1/2 days before I thought the taste was ready.  Side Note: We tried using the left over tomatoes to make Salsa, absolute disaster.  The basil overpowered everything and anyone from Texas will tell you basil does not belong in good salsa.  So with everything made and ready it was time to experiment for a while before I came up with my new cocktail:

"The Mule From The Alamo"

• 1.5 oz of Tomato/Basil Infused Vodka
• 1 Bar spoon of Hibiscus Grenadine
• Lime juice from half of a fresh lime
• Fill with Ginger Beer

The Mule From The Alamo

The Mule From The Alamo

   
     Fill a shaker with ice and combine the Infused Vodka, Hibiscus Grenadine, and lime juice.  Shake and empty into a rocks glass.  Fill rest of glass with ginger beer.  Garnish with the squeezed lime half.

     The basil and ginger match very well together while the Hibiscus Grenadine adds a subtle sweet note at the end. 

Enjoy
-S.M.

Bourbon Infused with Fuji Apple Slices/Cinnamon/Nutmeg

      Another day off and I get bored enough to try another infusion.  This one being my first attempt using Bourbon.  I originally had this idea during the winter months but never actually got around to it until now.  For my apple selection I was stuck between Granny Smith or Fuji and it literally came down to a coin flip, with Fuji winning.  For one bottle of Bourbon i used 5 good sized apples.  As for my Bourbon selection I choose Woodford Reserve based solely on personal taste. (750mL for $32).

     Now to prepare everything.  Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and as always, rinse your produce throughly and pat dry.  Next, slice the apples in 1/4 inch slices and sprinkle both sides with cinnamon and nutmeg and spread them out on a baking sheet.  Since nutmeg is stronger than cinnamon, you'll want to use slightly more cinnamon.  Once all apple slices are ready, place them into the oven and let bake for 10-12 minutes then flip slices over and bake again for 10-12 minutes.

Sliced Fuji apples sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon

     When they are done baking put them to side to allow them to cool.  I placed mine in the fridge after letting them cool just to trap in more flavor until I was ready to put them in the jar.  When they're ready, align them in the jar so they'll be submerged as much as possible.  It should take 5-7 days for the infusion to reach it's greatest taste but you won't know for sure unless your tasting it every day.  At whatever point you think it's ready, you're going to need to filter it out a few times to make sure and get out all the spices floating around.

All ingredients in the jar

Enjoy!
-S.M.
   

Tomato & Basil Infused Vodka

Infusing spirits has been a side project of mine for a while now.  We've done quite a few in the past like Strawberry and Vanilla Beans, Raspberry/Blueberry and Mint, Peppers and Papaya, Cucumber, Lemon and Lime, etc. So when Mixology Monday announced the new challenge this month as "Flores de Mayo – Floral Cocktails", I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but I knew I could use it as an excuse to experiment with something new.  After a bit of debating I decided to try a tomato and basil infusion and once that is ready I can build something with that.  Worst case, I'll have something to make great Bloody Marys with.

So after a trip to the store I decided to start with 6 organic tomato's and 4 ounces of fresh basil.

Enchanted Rock Vodka

 Now to prep everything... Make sure and rinse all your produce to start with.  Cut the tops off the tomato's and then cut into halves.  Pick the basil leaves off and then place tomato's and basil into an airtight jar.  You can usually find something at Wal-Mart/Target/Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.  Then just pour the vodka into the jar, seal it, and place it our of direct sunlight.  I strongly urge people not to use a cheap vodka.  Don't spend a lot of money on a bottle just in case you screw up.  I went with Enchanted Rock Vodka (Support Local) because it's a great tasting vodka and you can get a 1.75 ml bottle for less than $30. It'll usually take 1-2 weeks for the flavor profiles to fully take.  You'll want to stir it(just pick it up and shake it) once a day as well as sample it to see how its coming along.  You may need to add more ingredients as you go.  As great chefs say, "You can always add more but you can't take away what you've already put in".Here's how mine looked once it was jarred:

I got the jar from Wal-Mart for less than $10

Once enough time has passed you're ready to bottle it.  Clean out the original bottle your vodka came in and you can strain it back into it.  I use a cheese cloth and a mesh strainer to strain all the food particles/seeds/skin out.  Once mine is ready I'll post the recipe for the cocktail I come up with.  If anyone has any ideas on what to make with this feel free to give me some input.

Enjoy

-S.M.

Summer Time...

First Post.

With summer coming up, its going to be that time for Margaritas, Mojitos(post coming soon about a Mojito Party being planned), and Bellinis.  Since we recently threw a Margarita party I thought I’d post the recipe for one of the drinks we decided to do(which was also submitted to the Grand Wine and Food Festival Tequila Cocktail Contest).  Here are a few general guidelines I try and stick to whenever I’m making margaritas:

1. Never use sweet and sour, its disgusting and ruins cocktails.
2. Use agave nectar if its avalible.
3. Don’t use a less-than-great tequila.  Make sure its 100% Blue Agave.
4. The fresher the ingredients, the better it’s going to taste.
5. Always taste test.

Cucumber-Jalapeno Margarita:

•  1.5 oz Reposado Tequila (We used 3 Caballos)
•  .5 oz Triple Sec or Paulas Texas Orange
•  .25 oz Agave Nectar
•  1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
•  3-4 Slices of Fresh Cucumber
•  2-3 Slices of Fresh Jalapeno

In a mixing glass add the Cucumber and Jalapeno slices and Agave Nectar.  Muddle, muddle, muddle. Next add ice and then the rest of the ingredients and shake thoroughly.  Make sure and strain out the drink into your glass so you don’t choke on pieces of veggies. Garnish as you see fit, we just used a cucumber slice and a lime wedge.

This next step was done primarily for presentation.  All I did was take a well sized green bell pepper, cut the top off and scoop out the insides.  I let it soak in soda water for a minute or so just to make sure nothing would leak out.  Rimmed it with salt, added ice, and used that for my glass.  Worked just fine.

Enjoy
- S.M.