Bubble, bubble...

Not really much toil is involved in infusing your own liqeurs, but it does feel a little like an evil chemistry project!

My latest efforts at infusions have turned to cognac and aquavit. Zac had mentioned that he would be interested in a black truffle cognac for his birthday this summer, but I haven't started experimenting until now. I haven't been able to find truffles, yet, but I did try a vanilla cognac that turned out to be lovely! Really all it involved was tossing half of a vanilla bean into the bottle, but it is very elegant regardless. I have had it on the rocks and with hot water as an unsweetened toddy.

The aquavit is more of a gamble. I was inspired by one of my favorite bars in Ballard called the Coppergate. It used to be considered the penultimate dive bar in Ballard but was sold, remodeled and now serves excellent Scandinavian bites and has a sweet little drink list that includes a variety of aquavit. My favorite there is "Heldig's Own" which is house-made and has saffron, fennel, coriander and horseradish. Yum! A little sweet from the fennel but with nice body which I
attribute to the horseradish. Anyway, there is some knock-off Heldig's Own in a bottle at my house now. Also, a straight horseradish vodka for our friend Muir. I am taking suggestions for the next batches:

Past experiments (and their success ratings!):
Lemon **
Lime ****
Cardamom ***
Raspberry ****
Ginger *****
Jalepeno ****
Black Tea *****
Anise ***
Vanilla ****

New ideas:
Ginger-Lime (because 9 stars total= amazing!)
Cucumber
Cherry-Pomegranate
Wasabi
Tomato (I like tomatoes in any form...)
Gogi Berry (delicious and healthful!)
Mango

Vote for the next one!!