How to Infuse Vodka
It’s always cocktail time somewhere, especially during the holidays. Impress your guests by serving cocktails with infused vodka that you made yourself. Even better, send a bottle home with them! Aren’t homemade gifts the best? 🙂 Below are some simple steps on how to infuse vodka, using various ingredients and a few different techniques.
When the grocer accidentally delivers large punnets of fresh strawberries and blueberries to your home most people would probably make smoothies, acai bowls…me – I chose to dip my hand in making infused vodka! It was my first time I am pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Fruit Infused Vodka is really simple to make and the yield is very rewarding, in more ways than one. Not long after, I began playing around with candy and found it is actually much more simple to infuse vodka with and it’s admittedly fun.
Use fruits, herbs, spice(s), candies of your choice. The world is your playground and there’s no limit to your imagination! All citrus works well and so many others. Large fruits (e.g., strawberries, lemons) should be cut into smaller pieces; smaller fruits (e.g., blueberries, raspberries) can stay whole. If using candy, I suggest choosing ones that can simply dissolve (e.g., Jolly Ranchers) or “leach” (e.g., bubble gum). Candies with a hard outer shell turn into a messy, unconsumable glob. Vodka abuse! Lol!
First step on how to infuse vodka – be sure to sterilize all jars and lids you are going to “store” fruit, etc. and vodka in by using the sanitize function on your dishwasher, place in boiling water, other (same various methods used before canning vegetables and other; search the web if you’re unfamiliar).
Place infusion goods in a clean container and cover completely with vodka of your choice. I wouldn’t suggest “rot gut;” however, it’s not necessary to use top shelf either. I used midline Svedka and it tastes lovely. If there are any floating fruit bits or other, be sure to place a sterilized ramekin on top, inside the jar to push everything down [fully submerse] in vodka. If anything isn’t covered by vodka, there is a high chance mold will develop. This sadly happened with my first batch of grapefruit. Waaaaaah!
Store in a cool, dark place for one to seven days. Fruits are best at a full week. Candies are ready in as short as one day. I suggest tasting daily until desired flavor concentration is met.
Gently shake bottles once a day, being certain to keep everything submersed.
When desired flavor is reached, strain into sterile bottles. A strainer funnel is sufficient for fruits that don’t discard small seeds or disperse haze. For others (e.g., strawberries and lemons), line the funnel with a coffee filter to make sure infused vodka has no debris or cloudiness. The coffee filter will take about an hour (depending on amount of fruit and vodka) to drip through. Most candy infused batches so not need to be strained; however, if you do see some debris left behind use the same straining method.
Label your infused vodka and store in a cool, dark space for up to a year…although I don’t think it will last that long once you’ve sampled it. Please message me with any questions or additional tips you might have. Cheers and remember to always have fun in the kitchen!
I made strawberry lemon vodka and blueberry basil, because those were the ingredients I had on hand. I kept a jar of boozy blueberries topped with fresh vodka in the refrigerator for garnish and to simply snack on. Yum!
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Simple cocktail ideas:
Strawberry Lemonade Martini – 2 oz Strawberry Lemon Vodka, 4 oz your favorite lemonade. Shake with ice, pour into glass, garnish with lemon slice.
Blueberry Basil Fizz – 2 oz Blueberry Basil Vodka over ice, top with soda water, and garnish with leftover jarred boozy berries.
Related:
Devils River Whiskey Spiked Choco “Latte”
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