Taking run-of-the-mill spirits and adding your own bespoke flavours is easy – and seriously rewarding. Learn how with Tom Shingler’s advice, then get inspired by six infusions that prove going beyond berries is the way forward
The project.
I remember making my first batch of sloe gin. Picking the berries, giving them a good wash, submerging them in the alcohol… then drinking it all long before it was ready. That’s the issue with sloe gin – the recipe itself is easy; being patient is the hard bit.
Luckily, not all infused spirits require months of waiting before they’re ready – in fact, most are ready in a week or two (and some need only a day). And, honestly, steeping fruit is the tip of the iceberg. Alcoholic spirits (40% ABV and higher) are highly effective at extracting flavour from stuff submerged in them; they also create a sterile environment, making the process safe and hard to mess up. You can treat a bottle of booze as an empty pot just waiting for exciting ingredients.
Vodka in particular works well as a base as it’s neutral, providing you with a blank canvas. Other spirits like rum, whisky, gin and tequila can also all be combined with other flavours to create something you can’t buy off the shelf, that’s been tailored and tweaked to your specifications.
We already know raspberries steeped in gin or rhubarb in vodka are going to taste good – but the recipes we’ve included here show how you can go beyond the norm to create spirits that you might find behind the bar in a fancy cocktail spot. Best of all, it’s so easy – and quicker than you think. Sloe gin is all well and good, but there’s so much else out there to explore.
With all of summer’s bountiful produce, it seems daft to wait until autumn to get infusing – especially when there’s the opportunity to make cocktails in the garden.
INFUSING 101
Use a clean, non-reactive container. That means no metal. Other than that, use whatever you like: jars, bottles, plastic cartons... As for cleanliness, the alcohol should sterilise the container but you don’t want any unwanted flavours in there.
Make sure your ingredients are fully submerged in the alcohol.
Floating is fine, but you don’t want anything sticking out of the liquid.
Don’t be tempted by the cheapest spirits. They need to be drinkable in their unflavoured state if you’re hoping for good results with an infusion. Don’t use the top-shelf stuff either, as you’re paying for a subtle complexity that will be overpowered by your flavourings.
Want a speedier infusion? You can finely chop, whizz or bash the ingr
