Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The conclusion of infusion

We've all ordered those fancy smancy cocktails made of fruit or herb infused booze.  This summer I decided to do some investigating to see how difficult it really is.  It turns out it's not, at all. Easy.  Facile. Quick to impress.

Pick your poison of choice.  Find a tight sealing container, and add your chosen herb or fruit.  The proportion is up to you.  For fruits, I prefer about 1/4-1/2 full of the goods.  For herbs, the ratio can be less.  Refrigeration is not required, although with the pineapple infusion seen below, it was chilled since the pineapple was not fully submerged in the vodka.  I gave that about a week before having a taste.

Since then we've enjoyed "Simon and Ginfunkel"  (a name inspired by a local goat cheese named Simon and Goatfunkel).  That required only 4 days of stewing at room temperature, and herbs were then discarded. It was a wildly successful infusion of garden fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme.
A splash of lime and some fizzy tonic made it the perfect cocktail to sip while selling Spinach Chicken Nuggets the local farmers market.  Next up, local cantaloupe infused something to ease the pain of the impending fall.