This is the one infusion that I would completely scale back
CRE8ion by Jess Morton
The flavours of the fresh herbs, especially the rosemary, took over the whole infusion. The pears didn’t come through too much, but definitely added some body. The final product was intensely herbaceous, but had too much bitterness. If I were to make this again I would change the recipe to: orange peel, rosemary, toasted almonds, and sweet gale. Then I would infuse for 24 hours, and finally add 0.25 cups of brown sugar syrup to the infusion before dilution.
With the bitterness from the herbs especially, this infusion would greatly benefit from added sugar. The molasses flavour from the darker sugar would lend this to being closer to an amaro. Recipe below is the adjusted version, original version had 1 cup of bartlett pear (cored and sliced).
Ingredients:
- 1 large sprig of rosemary
- 0.25 cup of toasted almonds (lightly crushed)
- 2 large strips of orange peel
- 1 teaspoon (or 4 grams) of Sweet Gale
- 0.25 cups of dark brown sugar syrup (1:1 ratio)
Method:
- Toast the almonds whole in the oven at 325C for 10-15 minutes.
- Lightly chop the nuts, with a knife or food processor. Set aside. This helps with the infusion process.
- Throw all ingredients in a glass mason jar, seal, and let sit in a cool and dark place.
- Infusion time: 24 hours.
- Strain out all ingredients, and add 0.25 cups of brown sugar syrup. Mix well.
- Funnel back into the CRE8 Vodka bottle.
Fill with purified water to the 40% ABV mark on the bottle. Shake well and enjoy.
Infusion Rating (out of 5): 3/5
What’s Next?
Stay tuned for next post, where I’ll use this infusion to CRE8 a cocktail recipe!
