Fruit Infused Vodka

Fruit Infused Vodka

I know...my lack of post over the past two weeks is unacceptable. But if you had the amount of work I did then you're about ready for a cocktail as well...No thats not food coloring I put in those glasses. It's real fruit color and flavor infused into plain vodka over a number of days. I had seen several chefs on the Food Network make flavor infused vodkas with ingredients such as cucumber, jalapeño and even candy. I wanted to infuse vodka with flavors that were a little more pleasing to my palate, namely, raspberry-mint infused vodka and pineapple-lemon infused vodka. Both of these are super fruity and flavorful and mix well with a lot of juices for optimal cocktail inventing :) 

Ingredients

1 bottle of triple distilled vodka divided in half

6 tablespoons sugar

3 cups pineapple, diced

1 lemon, sliced

1 pint raspberries

1 large handful of mint leaves (about half a cup)

When dividing the vodka, pour half into a large tupperware and the other half into another large tupperware. You need to use something with a large opening on top to place the fruit and herbs. Place the pineapple and lemon into one container and place the raspberries and mint into another container and seal with the lid. Set aside somewhere cool for one week. Midway through the week open each container and stir the ingredients and add three tablespoons on sugar into each container. Seal and wait until the end of the week. 

After the vodkas have been sitting with the fruit and herbs for one week they are thoroughly infused with the flavor. The pineapple lemon vodka should be a pale yellow color and the raspberry mint vodka should be a bright pink. Both infusions should be extremely fragrant. Separately, run the contents of each tupperware through a strainer to separate the fruit from the vodka and make sure the vodka goes into another clean container. Then using a funnel lined with a coffee filter, pour the vodka into a bottle. The coffee strainer ensures that only vodka makes it into the bottle without any tiny fruit particles. You should have two transparent liquids. Mix with club soda, juice or blend with ice for a refreshing spring cocktail. Enjoy!