Infused Liqueurs - Part 2
Tuesday, July 10, 2007

This post is the second in my alcohol infusion series. In the first, I found out, what is an infused liqueur. Part two will be about how I learn to make infusions.

Jumping into a new hobby is always fun. In the beginning, before you know any better, the sky is the limit. Anything is possible. So that’s why I like to do some research and figure out exactly how high up in the sky I may get to. If special equipment is needed to make these infusions, especially if it’s expensive then I may not be getting very far.

To begin my research into how to make alcohol infusions, I went to Google. After a few searches for "infusion", "alcohol infusion", "infused liqueur" I figured out that their isn’t a lot of general information about infused liqueurs and cocktails. And when I searched for specific keywords like "Chocolate Infused Vodka" or "Vodka Infusion" the results are filled with recipes. Recipes are great and I’m going to need them but at this point I need more than recipes. I want to learn all about the techniques of making infusions, the different types of ingredients that can be used and anything else that I might need to know. Things like, do I have to worry about bacteria forming in my infusion jar or why do some recipes use honey while others use simple syrup. So I decided that I needed a book. Infused: 100+ Recipes for Infused Liqueurs and Cocktails by Susan Elia MacNeal is a great looking book. The photos alone will make you want to create your own infusions. Looking at the photos definitely made me want to taste them because they looked delicious. The cover photo is a large glass jar that filled with clear liquid and cucumber slices. When I saw that I thought to myself that cucumber vodka would go great in a Saketini. This book is already winning me over.

The book starts off with the general information that I’m looking for. One of the first sections is called “Basic Principles of Infusion”. Let’s see, it goes over the equipment I need, the ingredients that can be used and how to actually make a bunch of different infusions. And there’s also recipes for cocktails that you can make with your infusions.

The instructions and recipes are easy to follow and there’s a nice little section that provides some good tips for making cocktails. This is the book for me. Good instructions, nice pictures and recipes too.

Okay so I’ve found a reference to act as my infusion mentor. Next up, I’ll need an infusion jar.

Posted by Anthony 8:33 PM  

Labels: infusion

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