alcohol infusions

[Keithy]

Just now, H.M.V said:

Oh you'll have to let me try it pretty please. Meet you at the red tingy.

Will do. You might have to fight Sara as she suggested it and I've only made a small batch.... Loads of raspberry gin as normal though 

[MrZigster]

21 hours ago, payneruk said:

What do people decant into? Obviously glass is a no no.

I've used 2 litre coke bottles before with some tape wrapped around for extra dropping security. Also 6 of the little Panda Pop sized bottles when making Skittles vodkas. 

But I've just seen the Lucozade bottles seem a little sturdier!

Yep. Been decanting into Lucozade bottles for years now. The bite sized 330ml ones are just about right for an evenings spirits.

[H.M.V]

50 minutes ago, Keithy said:

Will do. You might have to fight Sara as she suggested it and I've only made a small batch.... Loads of raspberry gin as normal though 

Love Sara but I reckon i can take her. There's chocolate gin at stake. 

[Perks]

On 3 March 2017 at 2:35 PM, Helephantelope said:

Fellow drinkers... 

 

I hope you don't mind if I hijack this thread for a moment, I have a quick favour to ask of the cider and wine drinkers among you. 

 

My friends are in a cider start-up - they're thinking of developing a dessert cider but would like some feedback on the idea. There’s a quick 10 question survey that they'd be really grateful if you could spare a moment to fill in and you’ll have the chance win a £20 Amazon voucher - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C53JV6G

 

As a thank you, and to revive the thread in earnest, here's a photo of the infusions I made in January and hope to christen this weekend. You lot inspired me to give it a go and see what happens... I will feed back next week (if I've not been banished for posting a survey that is! ) 

 

L-R: Cranberry vodka, Lime & mint rum, Mango rum, Cherry tangfastics vodka, Sloe & raspberry gin

Survey done. If I win the voucher I'll swap you or the Mango rum! They are som beaut looking mixes. Cheery tangfastics vodka.. Ace idea. Top work 

23 hours ago, payneruk said:

What do people decant into? Obviously glass is a no no.

I've used 2 litre coke bottles before with some tape wrapped around for extra dropping security. Also 6 of the little Panda Pop sized bottles when making Skittles vodkas. 

But I've just seen the Lucozade bottles seem a little sturdier!

I use robinsons litre squash bottles to take to the fest, proper sturdy. Never fail me. When there normally use water bottles to take the drink out and about. Although normally by Sat night I'm just smashing the litre bottles off! 

[Dave_c]

10 hours ago, Untz said:

I did say cold too. 

But yeah, I meant something a bit better than Smirnoff. 

Sorry if I sounded like a twat then it was a genuine question.

I shall invest in some better vodka for my creations this year then I think.

[Untz]

48 minutes ago, Dave_c said:

Sorry if I sounded like a twat then it was a genuine question.

I shall invest in some better vodka for my creations this year then I think.

Nah, I probably go with Smirnoff or equivalent when making infusions.

But vodka can be delicious neat. I go to Polish/Russian bars and make my way down the list. My favourite ones tend to be the plain ones - but they're more expensive than Smirnoff and come out the fridge so not surprising really! 

[morph100]

Doesn't cheap vodka taste the same as expensive vodka if you put it through a water filter a couple of times and chill it? Never tried myself but others swear by it.

im more into expensive tequila that tastes completely different to the cheap stuff, then once you ditch the salt, not needed, and use an orange instead of a lemon you are truly a winner.

[Untz]

2 minutes ago, morph100 said:

im more into expensive tequila that tastes completely different to the cheap stuff, then once you ditch the salt, not needed, and use an orange instead of a lemon you are truly a winner.

Oh yes. In terms of my favourite neat spirits it goes: dark rum, mezcal and tequila, vodka.

I spend more on premiums spirits a month than anything else (other than rent).

[wonderwoman76]

I make rhubarb gin regularly, it's fabulous. 

 

https://queenofeverything.co.uk/2015/06/13/rhubarb-gin/

[morph100]

11 minutes ago, Untz said:

Oh yes. In terms of my favourite neat spirits it goes: dark rum, mezcal and tequila, vodka.

I spend more on premiums spirits a month than anything else (other than rent).

What's your top brands for each one? 

[Untz]

14 minutes ago, morph100 said:

What's your top brands for each one? 

For rum I regularly get Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva and I'll get Monkey 47 for gin.

The others I won't buy bottles of - it's easy/more cost effective to go to bars and get a lot of different types. I keep meaning to get round to buying a nice bottle of mezcal, but I run out of money... 

[MrZigster]

On 24/02/2016 at 10:40 AM, exmoor shroomer said:

Not strictly an infusion but a couple of years ago I had the "bright" idea of making Bovril with rum instead of water.  It was very late Saturday night/Sunday morning and I couldn't face solids but needed something other than cheap whizz and beer inside me.  It wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be but I've drunk worse things and the small amount of nutrition in the Bovril went some way to helping me survive the horror that was that particular Sunday.

Christ. On. A. Bike.

You must have been 'shrooming.

I think this wins this thread.

"It wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be."

You thought it would be amazing?

I'm presuming you heated the rum? Using the same proportions as a water Bovril? So that's two or three teaspoons of congealed liquid cow with a mug of heated rum?

And you've drunk worse? Please tell.

[nikkic]

On 03/03/2017 at 2:35 PM, Helephantelope said:

 

L-R: Cranberry vodka, Lime & mint rum, Mango rum, Cherry tangfastics vodka, Sloe & raspberry gin

Mango rum eh? How much of each are you using for that beauty? 

[Untz]

10 hours ago, MrZigster said:

Christ. On. A. Bike.

You must have been 'shrooming.

I think this wins this thread.

"It wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be."

You thought it would be amazing?

I'm presuming you heated the rum? Using the same proportions as a water Bovril? So that's two or three teaspoons of congealed liquid cow with a mug of heated rum?

And you've drunk worse? Please tell.

That reminds me of a drink I made once. When I was 14 and thought I could handle alcohol (I was already way gone at this point, obvs) I had a freshly brewed cup of tea then added so much white rum I could drink it straight away - in fact, I think it was cold.

I ended up pisssing myself on the kitchen floor and it took about 10 years to be able to drink white rum again. What a night.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Untz

[Dave_c]

3 minutes ago, Untz said:

That reminds me of a drink I made once. When I was 14 and thought I could handle alcohol (I was already way gone at this point, obvs) I had a freshly brewed cup of tea then added so much white rum I could drink it straight away - in fact, I think it was cold.

I ended up pisssing myself on the kitchen floor and it took about 10 years to be able to drink white rum again. What a night.

I still can't drink gin since me and my mate used to drink it on Saturday afternoons when his mum went out when we were about 15. Used to mix it with diluted orange and water and took it way to far one day resulting in me lying out his back garden throwing up into a plant pot.

[Untz]

1 minute ago, Dave_c said:

I still can't drink gin since me and my mate used to drink it on Saturday afternoons when his mum went out when we were about 15. Used to mix it with diluted orange and water and took it way to far one day resulting in me lying out his back garden throwing up into a plant pot.

Good old teenage drinking.

I threw up in a slinky once thinking it was a mug.

[toppo]

Love the infusions that appear every year.

In recent years I've made;

Rhubarb Vodka - lethal as fermented fhubarb and sugar before adding vodka. 

Weathers Vodka

Mars Bar vodka

Blackberry Vodka

Damson gin (absolutely gorgeous and will be lucky to have any if the 6 litres I made from last year's fruit harvest)

Wanting something different and rum based this year.

Edited March 5, 2017 by toppo
Spelling

[oneeye]

41 minutes ago, toppo said:

Love the infusions that appear every year.

In recent years I've made;

Rhubarb Vodka - lethal as fermented fhubarb and sugar before adding vodka. 

Weathers Vodka

Mars Bar vodka

Blackberry Vodka

Damson gin (absolutely gorgeous and will be lucky to have any if the 6 litres I made from last year's fruit harvest)

Wanting something different and rum based this year.

Was that adding sunshine or the r word? 

[lucyginger]

Chocolate gin sounds lovely! I'm going to start some pineapple gin soon, I made some last year with advise from someone here. It was bloody delicious, and very drinkable neat. A few of us went to see ELO and the pineapple gin got passed around, it almost lasted the whole set and made a good singalong a very merry singalong! 

 

[Perks]

1 hour ago, lucyginger said:

Chocolate gin sounds lovely! I'm going to start some pineapple gin soon, I made some last year with advise from someone here. It was bloody delicious, and very drinkable neat. A few of us went to see ELO and the pineapple gin got passed around, it almost lasted the whole set and made a good singalong a very merry singalong! 

 

Mmm pineapple gin. Now that sounds good. How did you do it?

me and me pal smashed off a litre of gin and slimline tonic during that ELO set too. Loved it. 

[phillyfaddle]

On 2/22/2016 at 1:26 PM, hurdy said:

http://boozedandinfused.com/2012/01/18/apple-pie-bourbon/

Used this recipe, but I left it for about seven weeks. Fantastic website, their blueberry and orange gin is a treat too. 

Thanks for this! I am now inspired to expand my concoctions beyond sloe gin.

[mr gumby]

Currently watching Richard Ayoade and Rob Beckett on Channel 4 tasting caviar and vodkas in St. Petersburg. One was horseradish vodka, if anyone's looking for ideas. 

[H.M.V]

4 hours ago, mr gumby said:

Currently watching Richard Ayoade and Rob Beckett on Channel 4 tasting caviar and vodkas in St. Petersburg. One was horseradish vodka, if anyone's looking for ideas. 

Would love to check out the city but I would cry because I don't like the food or drink. Horseradish vodka. Eurgh

[Helephantelope]

Thanks so much for the responses  

After an unexpectedly heavy weekend I didn't get round to doing anything with my infusions until last night so I've only tasted one so far. One thing I probably should have mentioned is I'm hoping to use them as a sort of concentrated cocktail mix to add a mixer to rather than drinking them straight. Similar to some stories mentioned above, my mis-spent youth involving park benches and cheap vodka means I can no longer stomach neat spirits!

I decided to start with the Cherry Tangfastic Vodka which had some white gloopy stuff that had risen to the top of the bottle. Apparently this is normal with jelly-like sweets, so I strained the mixture a couple of times (using an old but clean pair of tights as we didn't have any coffee filters) and this did the trick. The strained mixture now has more of a syrupy texture but tastes amazing with a bit of lemonade. I'm calling that a success! 

On 3/3/2017 at 6:51 PM, renrutbor said:

Completed the survey for you but I'm really just interested in your rums! Thry both sound amazing! How long have you had them infusing? And what rum did you use? I prefer spiced or dark rum to white generally but not sure if they'd work as well? 

I just used cheap white rum and vodka for the infusions (from LIDL)  as it's my first time trying anything like this and I figured since I'm adding flavours and mixers I won't be able to tell the difference anyway. I started them off mid-January, can't remember exactly. I have some dark rum I want to try infusing with ginger and lime next...

On 3/5/2017 at 9:51 AM, nikkic said:

Mango rum eh? How much of each are you using for that beauty? 

I put 5 pieces of dried mango in the bottle then topped up with white rum. Will let you know how it tastes. I couldn't get the now-much-expanded mango bits out of the bottle when I strained them so I've topped it up with peach schnapps to see what happens...

I will test out one of the rums tonight but I strained them both last night and they smell great, especially the mojito one. Fingers crossed!

[midlifecrisis]

I really want to try making fruit flavoured gin. Do I have time to make a batch now to try it then make another one  to take with me if I have to tweak the recipe? Any advice great fully received!