blueberry-vanilla-ginger-white-tea vodka

the very first infusion i ever did was during last christmas. i took the cranberry spice vodka recipe from cocktail times and spliced it together with food.com's apple cinnamon vodka recipe. it had fuji apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla bean.

so. good.

we served it during christmas first as shots and then with hot apple cider. i'll make again next christmas and post the recipe.

anyways. this is the second infusion i will have undertaken: blueberry-vanilla-ginger-white-tea vodka. quite a mouthful. but go ahead. put it in your mouth. choke on it for a bit. it'll taste good. just give it some time. i know, it's ambitious. but i've had iced teas that have had these four flavors before. so i think it will make a splendid vodka. and come summer, and i add a simple syrup, club soda, and maybe a muddled lemon or two... y'all will o.m.g. all over the place.

STEPS:

(1) get with a 750ml bottle of pinnacle vodka.



(2) get 6 oz. (or a small package's worth) of organic blueberries. wash and drain.



(3) put the blueberries in a mason or other air-tight jar. muddle just enough to release some of the juices.



(4) add vodka.



(5) seal jar. put in a cool, dark place for 14 days. shake vigorously once a day.



(6) TO BE CONTINUED...

after 11 days, you add the ginger. after 12 days, you add the vanilla bean. after 13 days, you add the white tea. but we will go over that in depth once the first 12 days are up. i'm still on day 3.

why infusions?

first and foremost, for the hell of it. for the epicurean delight and the hedonistic pleasure. ask not why, but why not. why would i not want to drink a tequila that has marinated in bright, beautiful, refreshing fruits and obscure, exotic spices? or vodka soaked in the neon colors and sickly sweet textures of jelly beans and candy corn? i am a human being -- i crave the new world of flavor as last century's governments craved the moon. i infuse to experience new ways of enjoying alcohol and to share those experiences with my friends.

also, infusions are timely. especially within the realm of vodka, flavors are becomingly rapidly popular. it seems there's a new one every day. pinnacle came out with whipped cream vodka recently; just the other day they had added chocolate whipped cream, strawberry whipped cream, and vanilla whipped cream. there's acai pomegranate, sweet tea, cucumber, and many more -- even a vodka flavored (i guess) in honor of los angeles. as beverageunderground.com said in their review of Three Olive's new Mountain Dew flavored vodka, Dude,

Nothing surprises guests anymore and even bartenders are getting more difficult to shock. There is a Vodka that tastes like cotton candy and another that has the flavor of Bacon and both have sold and placed better than expected. There’s Bourbon made outside of Kentucky, vodka that tastes like whipped cream and whipped cream that’s spiked with vodka.

to continue the grand epicurean tradition that is humankind in general and western in particular, we need more flavors!!! with that in mind, i infuse.

lastly, there is no one definitive source on the internet for infusions, be they vodka, tequila, or whatever. there's a lot of conflicting opinions, scientific claims, tests, infusion time lines, and so forth. i would like infusion•ology to be the go-to source for infusions. i am picking up the long-abandoned baton from infusions of grandeur, the site's last posting being august 12, 2008. i will replicate their vodka filtration experiments with a brita filter, expand on their recipe lists, do more flavor experiments, and generally usurp their claim to infusionary dominion.

so for all your future infusion needs, and to follow my journey and experiments, come to infusion•ology.