Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits: Innovative Flavor Combinations, Plus Homemade Versions of Kahlúa, Cointreau, and Other Popular Liqueurs (2 page)

Different ingredients take more or less time to infuse their flavors into an alcohol base. The timing depends on several factors:

• The
  proof
  (alcohol percentage) of the base spirit
  
• The
  concentration
  of flavorful components in the blend
  
• The
  volatility
  of the flavorful components
  

Basic Booze Vocabulary

Alcohol by volume (ABV).
Percentage of alcohol in a solution in volume measure

Brew.
To prepare beer by steeping or infusing water with grains and hops and fermenting the resulting mash

Distill.
To vaporize a liquid, such as alcohol, and cool the resulting gas to precipitate a purer form of the liquid

Ferment.
To convert sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol using yeast

Infuse.
To permeate a fluid with elements from a solid material

Liqueur.
A flavorful sweet distilled spirit

Liquor.
An alcoholic beverage

Proof.
A numerical description of the percentage of alcohol in a liquid equal to about half of the actual ABV

Steep.
To infuse in water

Tincture.
To infuse in alcohol

Proof.
The concept of proof developed in the eighteenth century, when British sailors were paid partly in rum. To ensure that the rum had not been watered down, it was “proved” to be undiluted by dousing gunpowder with the liquor, then testing to see if the gunpowder would ignite. If it wouldn’t, the alcohol content was considered too low, or underproof. A proven solution was defined as 100 degrees proof, because it was assumed that it did not contain any water.

It was later found that rum-doused gunpowder would ignite as long as the rum had more than 57 percent alcohol by volume. Expressed as a ratio, 57 percent is roughly 7:4. So 70 proof liquor had about 40 percent alcohol by volume. Later this was rounded to a ratio of 8:4, or 2:1.

As you can see, proof is only an approximate measure of a liquor’s alcohol content. It is not permitted as a legal measure of the amount of alcohol produced through distillation. Although a liquor label may state the proof of its contents, it must also state the alcohol content as a percentage of volume (ABV).

The higher the proof of the alcohol base, the faster it captures flavoring components from added ingredients. Most whiskeys and rums are 80 proof. Gins can be 80 or 86 proof, and several vodkas reach 140 proof. Everclear is the highest-proof commercial spirit, topping out at 190 proof.

Concentration.
Drier ingredients, like dehydrated fruits and dried spices and herbs, have more concentrated flavoring elements because their water content has been reduced. Their fresh counterparts contain up to 60 percent less flavor molecules by weight and therefore need much more time to fully flavor an alcohol base.

Concentrated ingredients like dried cherries might take a couple of days to infuse, while fresh cherries would require a week or more in alcohol to release the same amount of flavor. That said, using finely shredded fresh fruits and vegetables produces a lighter, more natural-tasting liqueur than one made solely from dehydrated produce.

Volatility.
Some flavoring compounds disperse more easily than others, which is why certain ingredients smell more intense than others. A cracked cinnamon stick or a split vanilla bean will release its flavor into a bottle of brandy in about 24 hours. Pungent aromatic ingredients like horseradish or black pepper can flavor a fifth of vodka in just a few hours.

Flavoring agents

Every recipe in this book gives a range of tincturing time. Take a taste at the earliest end and let it go longer if the tincture is not as flavorful as you like. It is best to not let the tincturing go longer than the recommended time; longer isn’t always better.

Clockwise from top left:
Maple Syrup
,
Herb-Santé
,
Blueberry Cinnamon
,
Elderflower Blush
,
Red Lightning
, and
Cucumber Gin
.

The first flavors to be released into the base are the most volatile, lightest, and freshest- tasting ones. After a while, heavier tannic and bitter flavors will start to emerge. Usually these flavors are undesirable, so the mixture should be drained before they develop.

When the desired flavor is reached, the solid ingredients are strained from the liquid. Try to avoid the tendency to press on the ingredients in an attempt to extract the ultimate amount of liquid. True, you can get a better yield by applying some force, but you can also force small solid particles into the alcohol, which will cause cloudiness in the finished liqueur.

Once the solid ingredients have been separated, they can be discarded (although dried fruit that has been marinating in alcohol makes a delicious garnish for ice cream). Sugar syrup is added to the flavored liquor as a last step in its transformation into liqueur. The amount is largely up to personal taste, but generally 33 to 50 percent of the volume of alcohol will yield the best results.

The more sugar syrup added to the alcohol base, the silkier the mouthfeel of the finished liqueur will be. This viscosity slows down the flow of the liqueur across your palate, which allows the liqueur to linger in your mouth longer, thereby giving your taste buds and olfactory receptors more time to pick up flavor, which is why sweeter liquids taste more intense than thinner ones. (It is also why “watery” can describe both the flavor and the consistency of a food or beverage.)

Sugar syrup is easy to make and keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator. I prepare several types to have on hand for flavoring and coloring liqueurs, including Brown Simple Syrup, Caramelized Simple Syrup, and four types of creamy sugar syrups for cream liqueurs: Creamy Simple Syrup, Brown Cow Simple Syrup, Tangy-Creamy Simple Syrup, and Coconut Cream Simple Syrup (see recipes starting on
page 24
).

Once completed, most liqueurs will keep their flavor and color for about a year if stored in a tightly closed container in a cool, dark location. Cream liqueurs need to be refrigerated, and they will keep for at least a month. Cream liqueurs have a tendency to separate as they sit because the fat in the cream rises to the top. They can be recombined by shaking before serving.

Just to Be Clear

I am not a stickler for crystal clarity,
and so most of the time I simply strain out the solids from the tinctured liqueur and call it a day. But some liqueurs throw off sediment as they sit. If you want to remove that sediment, there are two methods.

Filtering.
Line a strainer with two or three layers of damp cheesecloth; set over a clean jar and slowly pour the liqueur through it. Try to avoid pouring the sediment in the bottom of the jar into the strainer.

Racking.
Place a clean jar or bottle in a deep kitchen sink. Set the jar of liqueur on the counter next to the sink. The bottom of the full jar must be higher than the top of the empty container. If necessary, set the jar of liqueur on an overturned pot.

Stick one end of a 3- or 4-foot length of clean, flexible plastic tubing (the tubing used in an aquarium is perfect) into the liqueur, making sure that the submerged tip of the tube is well above the sediment in the bottom of the jar. Suck on the other end of the tube until alcohol flows almost to the end, then quickly tuck the end into the empty bottle. The liqueur will flow from the jar into the bottle, leaving the sediment behind.

For the clearest results
, don’t press on the flavoring agents to squeeze out every last drop when straining the liqueur. You may garner a couple more mouthfuls of liquid, but you’ll also wind up with some cloudiness from small particles. Shown here is Raspberry Rose (
page 156
).

Liqueurs are grouped by how they are flavored, as shown in this listing of popular commercial brands. The chapters in the book follow these groupings, with recipes ranging from highly inventive originals to copycats of commercial formulas (highlighted in blue). Although it is impossible to replicate secret corporate formulas exactly, most of the copycat recipes included come fairly close.

• Amabili
  (banana)
  
• Apricot
  (apricot)
  
• Bajtra
  (prickly pear)
  
• Chambord
  (raspberry)
  
• Cherry Heering
  (sweet cherries)
  
• Cointreau
  (orange)
  
• Curaçao
  (bitter orange)
  
• Gran Torres
  (orange peel)
  
• Grand Marnier
  (brandy and orange)
  
• Grapèro
  (pink grapefruit)
  
• Guavaberry
  (guava)
  
• Guignolet
  (wild cherries)
  
• Hare Vişne
  (sour cherries)
  
• Hypnotiq
  (tropical blend)
  
• Kruškovac
  (pear)
  
• Lichido
  (lychee)
  
• Lillehammer
  (lingonberry)
  
• Limoncello
  (lemon)
  
• Mandarine Napoléon
  (brandy and mandarin orange)
  
• Manzana Verde or Apple Pucker
  (green apple)
  
• Midori
  (melon)
  
• Passoã
  (passion fruit, mango, pineapple, coconut)
  
• Pisang Ambon
  (banana)
  
• Prunelle
  (plum)
  
• Sloe gin
  (sloe berries or buckthorn plums)
  
• Southern Comfort
  (whiskey, peach, orange)
  
• Triple sec
  (orange)