I've got a bias against infusions. I admit it, and I feel so much better for having gotten that off my chest. Why the bias? I'm not sure. Maybe it has something to do with altering the integrity of a spirit. Maybe because everyone with a mason jar has got some science experiment going on behind the bar. Maybe I'd just rather taste the fresh flavors of the fruit/herb/vegetable rather than the vodka-soaked version.
Oh, I know. Most of them don't work. Up until about a month ago, I would have said none of them work. Then, I got to taste Tequila Por Mi Amante.
I have to thank and give credit to Paul Clarke for this one. Paul has introduced me to quite a few cocktails and cocktail ingredients, and I'm a better bartender for having read his site. He is, in my opinion, the best blogger on cocktails on the whole internet and one of the best writers on this topic in the world. Bookmark his site. Go ahead, I'll wait. . . .
. . . anyway, even though I own the same source material, The Gentleman's Companion - Being an Exotic Drinking Book or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask, by Charles H Baker Jr. and published in 1945, the recipe for this drink didn't jump out at me (easy to do. . . if you've read the book you'd understand). Thankfully it caught Paul's eye and he wrote it up and got my curiosity up.
I can only be curious for so long. Meaning, I couldn't wait until strawberry season. In April, I grabbed some strawberries from Chile, a bottle of Aha Toro tequila and went to work (and, hilariously, misspelled tequila on my label, visible in the picture). 21 days later, two of the chefs from the kitchen and myself knocked back THE ENTIRE BOTTLE in, oh, about 2 hours.
In a word: CRAZYGOOD. The strawberries knock the bite out of the tequila and you're left with a rosy, earthy liquor that goes down dangerously smooth. So, now that it is strawberry season, each of the aforementioned chefs have their own bottle infusing. As do I. 18 days and counting. Better get started on another batch, now that I think about it.
Tequila Por Mi Amante, circa 1937
Tequila, 1 pint
Strawberries, 1 quart
That's the Baker formula. As Paul did, I just washed and hulled two baskets of strawberries, dumped them in a jar and topped off with tequila. Forgot about it for 21 days and then, um, I can't recall.
Chocolate-stuffed bananas on the grill
Tyler Florence welcomes new daughter
Beware kids' menus!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-14-2008 @ 5:01PM
Big John said...
I might give this a shot in a month or so!
Reply
6-14-2008 @ 6:12PM
Paul said...
Thanks for the shoutout, Keith--and I should note that for those who want to try this themselves, hustle up to the "Making Your Own Cocktail Ingredients" session at Tales of the Cocktail on July 19--I've got enough Tequila por Mi Amante for 150 people soaking in my kitchen right now, and we'll be pouring it in New Orleans.
Reply
6-15-2008 @ 5:19PM
badfrog said...
Two weeks soaking is optimum for strawberries, after a month you get pruney flavors, and the strawberries aren't very nice to eat. Cherries can wait a little longer, blueberries less. Lemon or lime zest need to be removed after three days.
Also with whole fruit, add a little vanilla extract or lemon juice, and throw in a cinnomon stick for a day, then fish it out. A star anis is good instead, but not both. Sugar to taste, of course.
Also try
http://www.infusionsofgrandeur.net/
Reply
6-27-2008 @ 10:27AM
wynk said...
Maybe your problem is that you're making vodka infusions instead of pulling in a complementary flavor into an *already flavored* spirit. If we never tried to "compromise the integrity" of beverages we would never have hot chocolate, spiced cider, earl grey, or any sort of variety in beer. One of the reasons that tequila por mi amante works is that the natural flavoring of tequila marries so well with strawberry. If you did the same with vodka, you'd have strawberry flavored....alcohol. There's no marriage of flavors there--the strawberry just kind of takes over. Of COURSE that's boring. :p
Reply