Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits
By: Andrew Schloss
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Published: Oct. 16, 2013
Genre: Cookbook
Rating:
What do you get when you add flavors and sweetener to vodka, brandy, whiskey, or rum? Homemade liqueurs! You’ll be delighted by how easy it is to make your own versions of popular brands such as Bailey’s, Triple Sec, and Kahlua, as well as dozens of original flavor combinations.
Andrew Schloss shows you the basic techniques for making a liqueur – typically as simple as combining fruit with liquor and sugar, letting the mixture sit for a week, straining, and enjoying – and then provides more than 150 recipes organized by types of flavoring, which include fruits, herbs, spices, nuts and seeds, vegetables, coffee, tea, chocolate, cream, caramel, honey, and butterscotch. Schloss also shows you how to make infused spirits, which are flavored but don’t contain sweeteners.
And finally, he offers 80 recipes for irresistible cocktails you can make with your homemade liqueurs and infused spirits. Cheers!
This book has a lot of recipes in it. The author not only gives you recipes but takes time in the beginning to go over the basics with you. We get the rundown of what glassware to use, shakers, utensils and he even goes over the simple syrups that you will be using for the recipes. He really broke it all down for you in the beginning before throwing you right into the recipes.
I found a lot of great recipes that I wanted to try but unfortunately wasn’t able to find the ingredients needed. I’m sure you can find them in other areas but with where I live, obtaining items like cacao nibs just isn’t happening unless I order them online. However, a lot of the recipes sounded delicious and I was able to try a few of them with ingredients I was able to find out here. I tried one called Orange Dreamsicle which was a creamy orange vodka and it tasted just like the popsicle. I’d say that one was my favorite.
This is a great book to have on hand if you are interested in creating your own liqueur. Not only is it self gratifying to know that you made it but I think it tastes a lot better compared to the stuff you buy on a shelf that’s been sitting there for who knows how long. It would also be an amazing holiday/housewarming gift to give someone their own custom made liqueur. I’d love to revisit the book again when I’m living in an area with more shopping options available.
The recipes. HaHa There were a lot of various recipes and just about all of them sounded amazing.
