Ho, what’s this; a non-wine post?!

I have always wanted to infuse my own flavoured spirits. I’ve had some good experiences making my own mulled wine and hot rum toddies in the past, and I thought it would be neat this year to introduce some fall flavours into my current diet via my cocktail glass instead.

Essentially, creating your own custom flavoured moonshine involves simply the addition of a clean, flavoured article of food, or a few, into your favourite neutral spirit. Cocktail Times explains the process well at this link, but basically the only formula you need to know is neutral spirit + flavoured ingredient x room temperature + time = infused booze.

This weekend, I’m having some gal pals over for good wine, great conversation, and needless to say a classy cocktail or two, so I decided to give infusion a shot (no pun intended) and take advantage of (a) man-free hours sans boyfriend who is travelling in Ecuador, so I have full licence to enjoy my homemade cocktails and act accordingly silly should I feel the urge; and (b) the jar of Oculus Cherries I was gifted this summer after having volunteered at an event.

Oculus Cherries - available via www.missionhillwinery.com

I suppose my creative urges in the mixology department make my friends my guinea pigs for the night – but I don’t think any of them will complain about getting martinis on the house, do you?

Check out this photo of my cinnamon-cardamom vodka on Day Two – it’s already pale chartreuse in colour! (Sorry for the image blurriness.)

INFUSION RECIPE: One cinnamon stick to roughly 20 cracked green cardamom pods in roughly 500 ml of vodka. (I poured a bit of the vodka into a reserve container to make room for the infusion ingredients in the original bottle, as I could not find an infusion jar in time for this recipe.) As for vodka, I'm a big fan of both Canadian Iceberg and Russian Vodka, both of which I find more neutral than most, and reasonably priced.

There are some floaties in there because I cracked the cardamom pods with the flat side of a knife prior to infusion, but I will be using a pour spout, so I think all the solid particles will be filtered out.

I think I’ll taste it in another day or so to check for doneness; if it’s got enough flavour then I’ll put it in the freezer, where it will slow the infusion process down to a standstill.

The first recipe below is the one I have in mind for testing at my party. Note that it’s still totally all up in my head at the moment, so I’ll have to update later with results!

In the meantime, cheers and happy infusing!

The Eye Opener

• shaved ice
• 3 oz. cinnamon-cardamom vodka
• 1 Oculus Cherry
• ginger ale

Place shaved ice and infused vodka into a cocktail shaker. Stir vigourously with a bar spoon. Add Oculus Cherry into a chilled martini glass. Strain vodka into glass. Top with splash of ginger ale and serve.

The Panopticon*

* A concept devised by Jeremy Bentham and later expanded on by Michel Foucault, referring to a powerful yet covert surveillance measure used to apply discipline within a society. More at this link. (That’s right – I used a Foucauldian reference… Booya! Communications degree at work!)

Okay, before I digress too far into philosophy, I have been mulling over how to use my Oculus Cherries in a Manhattan-type cocktail, as Manhattans are one of my all-time favourite cocktails, and I just thought that the Panopticon, with its aggressive meaning, was quite an apropos eye-related name for my stiff drink that will most certainly leave you wondering, is anyone watching?

Again, also untested, but will hopefully mix up one or ten of these soon; if you try one first, let me know how the recipe turned out for you!

• shaved ice
• 3 oz. good quality Canadian rye whiskey or American bourbon, whichever you prefer your Manhattans to be made of
• 3/4 oz. Oculus Cherry juice from the jar
• 1 Oculus Cherry
• small coin of orange peel

In a cocktail shaker, add shaved ice, rye/bourbon and Oculus Cherry juice and stir vigourously with a bar spoon. Place Oculus Cherry in a well chilled martini or rocks glass. Strain cocktail mixture into glass. Gently squeeze the orange peel exterior (the orange side – not the white rind side!) over your cocktail to release a delicate spritz of citrus oil over the surface of the drink (the goal is just to make your drink aromatic – not bitter). Enjoy with a Mad Men DVD, or a really good jazz or blues CD.