Marshmallow Infused Vodka

The campfire is roaring. Staring into the fire's burning depths, you are mesmerized while being filled with the smell of campfire smoke. There's nothing that would go better with your campfire than a nice toasted marshmallow, right? Well, think again, because once you've tried marshmallow infused vodka, you may be singing a different tune. If my parents would have fed me marshmallow infused vodka when I was eight-years-old instead of marshmallows, I may have started this blog a lot sooner than a couple weeks ago!

After doing pineapple followed by strawberry, I thought I'd try something you can't buy at your local Farmer's Market!

If you like vanilla, you'll love marshmallow vodka!

Preparation Time: About 10-20 minutes

Infusion period: 1-5 days

Materials you’ll need: 

• Approximately one bag of great big puffy marshmallows
• One canning jar (narrow mouth works best)
• Vodka
• Knife
• Wire strainer or a coffee filter (not pictured)
• Funnel (not pictured)

Recipe:

·    Fill canning jar with Marshmallows. Fill jar full of vodka.

Servings:
The longer you let this infuse, the more your marshmallows infuse. If you let a full mason jar infuse for about a week, it will yield about 16 ounces of gooey goodness!

How to make this tasty drink:

• Cut your marshmallows in half or thirds (I did thirds). This exposes more of the inner gooey parts, expediting the infusion process. The hard outer shell is slower to break down in the vodka, so let's give those marshmallows a bit of a helping hand. This is why I don't use those tiny marshmallows. Finally, I avoided the colorful marshmallows because all the colors would just blend together making for a not so eye appealing concoction.
• Drop your marshmallow bits into your canning jar. Fill that jar to the tippy-top.
• Pour in your favorite vodka. Be careful. At first, the marshmallows will recede. Don't be fooled. This only happens for a brief second and then they will puff up and spill out of your jar. This is why I suggested a skinny jar rather than the wide mouth. I used both. With a little hand-eye coordination, you can get by just fine. Just pour fast and get your lid on your jar ASAP! (see picture above)
• Shake it up a bit
• Store in a cool dry place
• Shake whenever the mood hits you to shake the living crap out of something. 
• The marshmallows won't completely dissolve in your jar. That's okay, this is normal. In making mine, I checked it after a day and just let it sit for the rest of the week. It did continue to dissolve each day after I shook the jar. But there was still some marshmallow sludge floating at the top of my jar. 
• Just skim off the puffy sludge.
• Pour from your jar into your storage container. I'm a big fan of glass flasks. Your end product should be a white(ish) color yummy concoction. Perfect for the white in your red, white and blue 4th of July (or Week of Craig) vodka tasting party!



It doesn't look pretty...
But it tastes delicious!

• Optional: You may wish to strain it for even more purity through a wire strainer. It's a bit too thick for a coffee filter. And let's be honest, I'm lactose intolerant. I don't own a cheesecloth, so I can't even comment on if that would work. Speaking of cheese cloths, why do you need a special cloth to eat cheese? The whole concept puzzles me.

How to drink your tasty drink:

There's great debate amongst those I've talked to about how to drink your marshmallow vodka. While most vodka infusions taste great chilled either over ice or straight out of your refrigerator/freezer, I took my first sip straight out of my mason jar at room temperature and it was delicious. Of course, if you like the flavor of vanilla, you're going to love marshmallow vodka! I've also been told that you can use marshmallow vodka to replace any vanilla vodka in mixed drinks. Yum!

A really eye appealing option for your red, white and blue party is to add ice and marshmallow vodka to a martini shaker and serve in a martini glass with a Marciano cherry in the middle. The cherry will sink to the bottom and voila, you've got yourself a red and white beverage. Or, if you've been exported to Canada like my pal, Christa, this would be the perfect compliment for Canada Day.

I give you yumminess,
now drink it!!!

What I learned after doing this for the very first time:

I didn't expect my marshmallows to puff out as quickly as they did. So be ready for that once you begin filling your jar with vodka. This was a fairly simple recipe, so there shouldn't be too many problems for you. I tried it by filling one jar all the way up with marshmallows and another jar just part way. It didn't appear to matter much, but the full marshmallow jar seemed to infuse faster. 

Also, some people prefer to only infuse their marshmallows one day and then use some sort of a press to expedite the infusion process. I just let my infusion do it's thing with the help of a shake here and there and almost all the marshmallows dissolved on their own. Patience is a virtue and I'm a virtuous SoB when it comes to infusions. So, don't run out and buy a coffee press unless you really like coffee!

Clean up alert: if you let your wire strainer sit overnight, it will become hard to clean. Get that gooeyness gone ASAP before it becomes hard! 


Finally, if you wait a bit to serve, you'll find you need to shake your concoction, as it may have begun to settle a bit.

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Because marshmallows are just one part vanilla mixed with one part goop, you should be able to substitute your concoction for any vanilla vodka recipe. The good people at Drink Mixer have 91 vanilla vodka recipes you could substitute your marshmallow vodka with. 

But let's be honest, what you really want is a S'more martini, right? I know I do. The Martini Diva has a complex recipe for you. Or, you could try this one from Delish.com that you could just sub your concoction with.

I'm totally vamping here, but I'm going to make my own marshmallow vodka recipe. That's right, I'm calling my shot, and it's going to be delicious!  I give you, Craig's S'more Martini:

1. Rim your glass with  your marshmallow gooiness left at the top of your flask. 
2. Sprinkle crushed up graham crackers over your gooiness.
3. Add 1 ounce of chocolate. (I plan to try for appearance purposes only to line my martini glass with chocolate syrup swirls. I know, not high class...) perhaps I'll put a little in the martini shaker cup to make sure the chocolate flavor gets mixed in there too.
4. Add 3-4 ounces of marshmallow infused vodka (shaken in martini shaker). 

After trying Craig's S'more Martini, I'm committed to make this better. One tip, use the chocolate topping to make fun designs in  your martini glass, but don't use it as your chocolate in your martini. Ummm... it didn't taste that good. I'm going Godiva next time. Try it and tell me if it's any good. I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

Recipe Alterations:

There's really not much you can do with this recipe. Except drink it. yummy!

Cheers,

Craig

Q: Does it matter what kind of vodka you infuse?

I told you I’m a cheap bastard, didn’t I? I've recently been chatting with a neighbor about my blog. I guess it’s safer to tell an almost stranger that I’ve entered the blogosphere than it is to tell my friends. At best, he’ll dig the site and visit often. At worst, he’ll just smile and nod until I get the hint and realize I’m that really annoying guy on the bus who just won’t shut up about his vodka infusions (actually, I think I am that guy!).

Don't over think your choice of vodka for your infusion!
Tip: buy what you'd normally buy or downgrade a bit.

The other day, he asked me if it matters what kind of vodka one infuses. It’s a great question, and one that deserves an answer.

Huge disclaimer here: I sucked at science classes. I’m not a mixologist, I’m not a bartender and I’m not a scientist. The closest I’ve ever gotten to the alcohol industry is a barstool at one of my favorite two Madison bars, the Argus and Genna’s. 

So please, allow me to give you vodka advice based on nothing more than what I've learned on the street... er... at the pub. Hey, what I lack in formal training, I more than make up for with personal experience!

Q: Does it matter what brand of vodka to infuse? 


A: It depends. Here are my vodka rules: 


1.      I’m a cheap bastard (but you already knew that). I'm a public worker and thus, I buy what I can afford.

        Note: I am for sale. If Stoli wants to sponsor this blog, I’ll only buy Stoli. If Smirnoff wants a piece of me, they can have me. If someone wants to ship me a case of vodka, please do. If… you get the picture.

2.      I don’t buy infused vodka. Why buy what you can make yourself? It’s much more fun to infuse your own. And, I know I’m making mine with the freshest of ingredients. Although, I’m almost certain the alcohol will kill anything that isn’t fresh. Not to mention infusing infused vodka will seriously mess with your flavors. Finally, infusing infused vodka just seems…dumb. No offense to any big strong (wo)men out there who infuse already infused vodka. Please don’t beat me up!

3.      My dad always told me you get what you pay for. While this isn’t a rule with vodka, he’s not that far off. Plus, my dad’s pretty wise and thus, I try to invoke his wisdom whenever I can. 


4.      Don’t ruin the good stuff. Please don’t waste your money by experimenting with really expensive vodka. Just because you can afford it doesn’t me doesn’t mean you should waste it. Seriously, I'll turn you in for alcohol abuse!


5.      Vodka absorbs each infusion differently. With some infusions, the fruit, herbs or candy really flavor the vodka (i.e. marshmallows). Yet in others, the infusion just accents the vodka (i.e. cucumber). 
So, you too can be a cheap bastard like me if you are infusing the right stuff!

6.      Buy what you would normally buy and if anything, downgrade a tad. You’re not drinking this vodka straight up, so the quality of the vodka matters less in infused vodka. And it matters even less if you don’t plan to drink your infusion straight up. If you plan to cut it with soda, etc, the quality matters even less (I guess this is debatable).


7.      Bacon makes everything better. This is one of life’s maxims. It is really irrelevant to this conversation, but think about it for a minute… hmmm….


8.      Still thinking about bacon? Yeah, me too! Mmmmmmmm. 


9.      When in doubt, buy the one with the funniest label/name. This isn’t my rule, it’s my lady-friend’s rule. And let’s be honest, which matters more? What I think, or what she thinks?


10.     A friend once told me an old college trick of his was to buy cheap vodka and run it through his water filter (Britta, Pur, etc). His claim is that the charcoal filters help purify the vodka and make it taste better. Then he infuses it. I’ll admit, I’ve tried this before. What do I know? I suck at science! But in addition to being a cheap bastard, I can’t argue with my friend. He drinks like a champ. So I admit, I’ve filtered my cheap vodka a time or two in the past. I’m not sure it helps, but the placebo affect is amazing! 


Just for getting this far through this post, I'll give you a sneak peak. Coming soon to a booze blog near you... marshmallow vodka! Yum!

Cheers, 

Craig

Man (blog) overboard!

I’ve really enjoyed writing this blog for you. I keep coming up with new ideas and so does everyone else. Whenever I tell someone I started an infusion blog, they get excited and fill me full of stories of their favorite infusions.

Farmer's Mark + grocery store = Craig's broke!

I think all this boozalicious excitement has gotten the best of me. My planning for the Week of Craig infusion tasting party preparation this weekend got a little over the top. My trip to Saturday’s Dane County Farmer’s Market produced two bunches of rhubarb, three quarts of strawberries, two quarts of red raspberries, one quart of black raspberries and some fresh herbal mint. Total = $36.

Then, a trip to my local Hy-Vee grocery store produced Jelly Belly's, Gummi Bears, Jolly Ranchers, Skittles, marshmallows, three bottles of vodka, plastic shot glasses and 2 pints of blackberries. Total = $64


Grand total of today's shopping .... um, let's not talk about that.

Please don’t rat me out to the good people at mint.com. It seems I’ve blown my booze budget for the next couple months! Yes, I literally have a line item in my personal budget titled "booze." Hey, stop judging me! 

The spending may be the bad news, but the good news is that all this yummy goodness is going to produce enough infusions to ensure I’m able to post something new each week for the next month or two at least!

Stay tuned and, as always, cheers!

Craig

The Week of Craig

My birthday is 3 days after the 4^th of July. Sounds awesome, right? Yeah, it was pretty cool when I was a little kid. Except for the part where my birthday is COMPLETELY overshadowed by a holiday. But not anymore... You see, I discovered that you can do just about anything as long as you claim birthday privilege. Thus, I’ve claimed a week, and it’s expanded to more like ten days that is now (not so) famously known as the Week of Craig.

Happy birthday Craig, er... um... America!

Yes, I’ve completely taken back the 4^th of July. Totally. In my opinion, it was really nice of those patriots to have done all those amazing things, knowing I’d be born a couple hundred years later. You know, with the muskets and the fighting and all that... They must have had my birthday in mind!

My favorite Week of Craig activity is the annual Monona Wife Carry Competition. Did you know a bunch of dudes carry their wives through an obstacle course in honor of my birthday? And some of them even drop their special lady. Watching a man race out of shear machismo and then drop the love of his life in the heat of competition is never not funny! I let the alpha males race and sometimes fall down while competing. Me, I’d rather fall down after drinking too much fresh strawberry vodka! This year, I’m revamping the Week of Craig. Here’s my inspiration:

A couple years ago, I threw a great wine tasting party. It was a blind taste test and it was awesome. Friends came. Friends drank. Friends laughed. Friends got drunk. Friends want me to do it again. Thus, I’m invoking the spirit of that great night and throwing a special Week of Craig vodka infusion tasting party. Shhh, don’t spoil it, since I haven’t invited my friends yet. But given I haven’t really told many people I’ve joined the blogosphere, I’m sure the secret is safe with my three regular readers.

So, stay tuned, because over the course of the next week or so, I’m going to roll out some of the best red, white and blue infusions around. Yes, you read that right, there’s even a way to make white infused vodka!

So, in honor of my birthday (err, I mean America’s), join me in making some patriotic booze!

Stay tuned. You won't want to miss this!

Until then, if you live in Wisconsin, rush out to your local farmer's market and get your strawberries while you still can. The early heat wave this year followed by a tough freeze has really hurt the strawberry crop. Many of the vendors at the Dane County Farmer's Market thought this was going to be their last week with fresh strawberries. 

Not in the mood for booze? No problem. Just check out my friend Holly's Healthy Everythingtarian blog for healthy food options to get your weekend off on the right foot! Or, if you are like me, check out Holly's blog if you just want some yummy eats to go with your yummy infusion.

Cheers,

Craig

Strawberry Vodka

It’s strawberry season, it’s strawberry season!!! I’m so excited about strawberry season, that I’ll admit, I’m getting cocky here. For my second infusion for this blog, I’m making something I’ve never made before. It’s simple enough, so I hope I don’t screw this up! My only fear is the depleted strawberry crop this year. You may think that global climate change is a myth, but I’m all bought in. The proof is in the fruits I like to infuse. Mother Nature seems to be messing with our crops. Early thaws and then re-freezes make me glad I’m doing this project now, while I can still get all this great fresh food from my local farmer’s market http://dcfm.org/ right here in Madison! I don’t know what it is about the size of fresh strawberries, but the tiny crop this year is really challenging my manhood! Plus, the smaller they are, the more you have to cut. Oh well. At least when this project is done, I get to drown in my sorrows!

Preparation Time: About 20 minutes

Infusion period: 3-4 days

Materials you’ll need:

Not pictured are a strainer and funnel.

·      2 pints of fresh strawberries

·      One knife

·      One cutting board

·      One quart-sized canning jar

·      375ML of vodka

·      wire strainer or a coffee filter (not pictured)

·      funnel (not pictured)

Recipe:

·      2 pints fresh strawberries, cut in half

·      375 ML vodka

Servings:

Approximately 13-16 ounces, depending on how juicy your strawberries are. And, if you are like me and just kept adding extra vodka to your canning jar, you’ll get more to drink. (I ended up with about 17 ounces after I filled my 1 qt. jar all the way up with vodka.)

How to make this tasty drink:

1.     Slice the top green leafy part off your strawberries.

2.     Cut your strawberries in half.

If these berries don't make your mouth water,
you are working on the wrong project!

3.     If your canning jar has a measurement on the side like mine, us it to add in your vodka.

4.     Add your berries to your canning jar.

5.     Here’s where I have to admit, I’m a man on a budget and so, rather than just using 375ML of vodka, I filled that canning jar pretty much to the top. Hey, sue me for trying to make my strawberry vodka go a little bit further.

6.     Don’t forget to add your “ready” date.

7.     Store in a cool dry place.

8.     Shake well every day, or even a couple times a day if you’d like. The key to this tasty drink is the juices.

9.     Optional: strain from your canning jar into another container with a coffee filter or cheesecloth if your guests are squeamish about the strawberry seeds.

If this doesn't make you thirsty, I don't know what will!

How to drink your tasty drink:

Much like most infusions, you can serve strawberry vodka many ways. While alpha men might drink their vodka at room temperature, I’m more of a beta male myself. There’s nothing on a warm summer day like ice-cold strawberry vodka. I like to store my booze in the freezer for a day before serving it to guests (aka, my belly). Much like the pineapple vodka you can also serve strawberry vodka on ice. And last, and certainly not least for those of you who own at least one martini glass, you can also serve it shaken, not stirred.

Got a pal who likes strawberries but can’t handle their booze straight up? No problem, you can add this to pretty much anything, including white soda or a martini (see below).

At first blush, this is the finished product.
But if you look closer...
It's a self portrait I like to call...
"Craig with tiny head."

What I learned after doing this for the very first time:

A good scientist always tests their experiment, right? So, I don’t mind admitting I had a little taste. The first thought that popped into my mind was, “Damn, that’s good!” I’m glad to report this experiment was a resounding success! The vodka really pulls the juices right out of the strawberry. As a result, the berries do hold a lot of booze, so I’m committed to figuring out how to have a feast on the berries. However, considering most of the good flavor has been sucked out of those berries and now resides right in my tasty booze, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my leftover strawberries.

Also, I'm a big fan of my 16 ounce glass flasks I ordered online. But if you've got extra room, I'd suggest adding some of the berries for appearance. Yum!

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Peachy Martini:

Add 3 oz. of strawberry vodka and 1 oz. of peach brandy in a martini shaker full of ice. Shake, shake shake and pour your little heart out. Serve in a martini glass and garnish with a lemon wedge. I've never tried this, but if you do, please, leave a comment. I'd love to hear about it!

Recipe Alterations:

As I’ve already admitted, this recipe calls for 375ML of vodka and two pints of strawberries. However, I broke the rules by adding more vodka. It’s a risk/reward situation. I’m sacrificing some of the strawberry flavoring for more booze. What can I say? I’m a bit of a boozehound!

My dad always said “Waste not, want not.” When I was a kid, I didn’t really grasp the meaning of this. But now that I’m a man on a budget, I’m hearing him loud and clear. The leftover berries are very boozy, yet there’s not much sugar left, so they don’t taste too good. I’m considering blending them in my magic bullet as part of a boozalicious smoothie. What do you think?

If you've tried this or just like what you read or simply have a suggestion for a future infusion, please leave a comment. 

Cheers!

Pineapple Vodka

Pineapple Hula girl not included.

I can think of nothing yummier to drink on a warm tropical summer Saturday afternoon than a nice glass of pineapple vodka. And the best part; it’s easy to make. For those who’ve never infused vodka before, this is the easiest recipe you’ll find. However, given the 10-day infusion period, it takes some forethought.  But the 10-day wait is well worth it. I can think of no better way to get my manganese and my vitamin C, can you? 

Preparation Time: Less than 10 minutes

Infusion period: 10 days

Materials you’ll need:

·      One fresh pineapple

·      One giant knife

·      One cutting board

·      One quart-sized wide-mouthed canning jar

·      Slightly less than ½ quart of vodka

Buy your favorite, or the cheapest vodka you can find!

Recipe:

•          ½ of a fresh pineapple (sliced)
•          ½ quart of your favorite vodka

Servings:

            Approximately 2-3 glasses of tropical heaven, or 10-15 shots of fruity fun!

How to make this tasty drink:

1.     Slice the top & bottom off your Pineapple and discard

2.     Stand the pineapple on its bottom and slice the skin off the sides. You can cut the divots off by using a knife or with a simple potato peeler.

3.     Standing the pineapple on it’s bottom, cut it in half.

I love my Emeril Knife and my Select Cuts cutting board!

4.     At this point, if these instructions confuse you, either Google “how to cut a pineapple” or simply call your mom. While you’re at it, you may want to ask her to do your laundry too! Actually, I'm beginning to question if you are old enough to be on this website... ;-)

5.     Slice one half of the pineapple and place the slices into your 1Qt. canning jar.

Don't stop now, you're almost done!

6.     Fill your canning jar as high as you want with vodka.

7.  Label your vodka so you remember when it's "ready"

7.     Place the lid on the jar (duh) and store in a cool dark place.

8.     Wait ten days and voila! Instant yummy.

Don't forget to add your "ready" date

How to enjoy your tasty drink:

Just like a good cup of java, there’s more than one way to enjoy this yummy drink. The easiest is to pour a few fingers worth into a simple juice glass and drink at room temperature. For those who like it a bit cooler, store your pineapple vodka in the freezer and drink it straight up (this is how I drink it). Alternatively, for those who don’t mind if your ice cubes water your drink down, try it on the rocks. And guys, your special lady may like it mixed with a white soda. I’ve even seen it mixed with orange soda. Mix and match with whatever you want. Just promise to stop back and tell me what you think!

Recipe Alterations:

I’ve enjoyed this drink so many times; I don’t really have any alterations. But really, the only thing you can do to this is to add more pineapple or less pineapple to taste. What do you think?

Oh yeah, and before I forget, the most frequent question I get is “Hey Craig, what do you do with the other half of the pineapple?” Well, you can add it to your breakfast smoothie, eat it raw, bake it with a little brown sugar, or my personal favorite, make another jar of pineapple vodka!

Welcome to my booze blog!

“Oh that’s good.” 

That’s what Wisconsinites say when biting into a cheese curd, string cheese, fried cheese, or taking a swig from a tall glass of milk. It’s not easy being lactose intolerant in Wisconsin. Seriously. Every meal in the “dairy state” comes with cheese. I think the legislature requires it. Since I can’t sink my teeth into cheese curds, I’m turning to something else that makes me say “oh, that’s good.” 

One day, I was drinking a glass of my favorite Cherry Bounce. There I was, brandy snifter in hand searching the internet for something fun to make for an upcoming party. It hit me; you can get everything on the internet. 

Seriously, I’ve tried. 

The internet is home to a gazillion websites that have recipes for everything from cookies to dinners to sugar free organic peanut-free food that actually tastes like peanut butter. Yet, nowhere on the internet is a list of different booze infusions. And if there is anything in life that I like, it’s booze. After all, I’m from Wisconsin. 

Well, search the internet no more. Impress your friends by making your very own homemade liquor infusion. After all, there’s nothing better than having a pal say “oh that’s good.” If you like a good drink and are up for an adventure, this blog’s for you. 

I originally had designs on posting a different infusion each week, but I know myself way to well to promise that. Thus, here’s my pledge to you. I, Craig, being of sound mind and body, do hereby pledge to, on somewhat of a semi-regular basis, post a new liquor infusion for you to try. And if you are up for the challenge, I encourage you to take this journey with me. 

If you try one of these recipes and say “oh that’s good,” then please, share this with a friend!