Infusion confusions

Ok so the title is a bit of a misnomer. The only word I could think of to rhyme with infusion was confusion. But infusions have been my latest hobby. It is where you take booze and put something in it to add flavor and fun. Now I am not a big drinker anymore. It seems I prefer a clear mind and steady temper in my dotage. I do enjoy a glass or three of absinthe on a long weekend when I am certain I have nowhere to go and plenty of time to nap, and I enjoy a nice glass of bourbon with my occasional cigar. A nice glass of beer goes well with certain meals and on warm sunny days but other than that I am tea toddling most of the time. So why would I take any interest in infusions? Well because they are fun and it is like cooking without the worry of burning stuff. Sure you can mess it up but the end product is still usually a nice change to an old classic. 
If you have read previously I made and infusion with some of the blackberries growing out back and it turned out nice. As it has aged it has a taste that my wife describes as a nice fortified wine almost. That is because of all the juice I added to it and the fact that I wanted something nice and sweet for the summer. I have already been told that next year’s batch should be much larger so that it will last the entire year. That will be a fun one and I am really looking forward to it! But that will be close to 9 months from now and far too long to wait on just one project! So I am trying other things…

The first, failed attempt was to take some Evan Williams Honey (a flavored Bourbon that was way too sweet) and cut it in half with some Jim Beam. We then added 2 vanilla beans split length wise. It was pretty much what you would expect. Too honey sweet to notice the vanilla properly. So I promptly ignored it and forgot about it. Well I remembered it last week and went to work. The taste had mellowed a bit but not enough. So I took some old clean jam jars and made smaller batches.
The first batch I cut it with more Jim Beam. Then I added both the old vanilla bean as they should be mostly depleted and added ½ of a red apple cubed up to the mix. We shall see what happened.

The second batch I cut it with more Jim Beam. I then added a cinnamon stick and ½ a red apple. The cinnamon is coming out this week.

The first third I cut it with more Jim Beam. Next I added ¾ of an apple. Just to see what the difference will be.

Then honey bourbon was a spur of the moment buy and undrinkable which surprised me as Evan Williams is a good Bourbon and a fantastic White Dog. The honey is just too much though and is actually syrupy rather than nice like Jim Beam’s Red Stag (a Black Cherry flavored Bourbon). Live and learn.


The final thing we are trying is inspired by our Sombrero Diary trip. A tamarind infused tequila. Honey found 400 grams of seeded (HA!) tamarind at the local asian store and we added ½ of it (cut up) to 750ml of Jose Cuervo Silver. It is browning up nicely after the first day. Just 6 more to go!

Infusions are like playing mad scientist and Bob the baker all at once! Next is a cherry infused grappa (which is a really un-nice local one that is brewed up state). Looking back I am amazed at how much bad booze we have. Maybe we are just too picky! Oh well, wish us luck!!