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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a review of Vlada, a New York bar that specializes in infused vodkas. As I mentioned in my post, my experiences at Vlada had made me nostalgic for the moonshine that I had once enjoyed in Southwest Virginia. Back in the day, I used to buy 'shine by the gallon and infuse it with fruits, herbs, honey, and other ingredients, producing a wide range of aperitifs. While I'm a huge fan of store-bought liqueurs, I have yet to meet the mass-produced tipple that can rival the blueberry-infused moonshine, moonshine-based absinthe, or moonshine krupnikas that I once made.The more I thought about it, the more I decided that the time had come to restart my experiments in fruit infusion. I had a half bottle of Everclear in the liquor cabinet, which I quickly determined was still relatively fresh and potent. A trip down to the farmer's market gave me a couple of pints of fresh blueberries, which I washed, dried, picked over, and packed in mason jars. I covered the fruit in grain alcohol, closed the lids, and set them in the back of one of my kitchen cabinets. Apart from giving them a daily shake, I was content to let time and the 190-proof alcohol do their work.
A week later, the alcohol was stained a deep purple and the berries were gray. A quick taste assured me that the grain was still mighty strong, but was now infused with a nice blueberry flavor. Wanting something a little more intense, I let a second batch of berries steep for a week in the alcohol. Afterward, I had a very alcoholic, very intensely flavored blueberry liquor. I also had a second batch of slightly sour-tasting blueberry alcohol that I got from running the leftover blueberries through my fruit juicer.
Having had some unfortunate experiences with uncut grain alcohol, I would strongly argue against drinking it straight. Years ago, I used to mix fruit infused moonshine with club soda or seltzer. However, following some online suggestions, I cut my recent batch of blueberry liquor with simple syrup, which I made by I combining equal parts boiling water and refined sugar over medium-high heat. I boiled the solution until the sugar was completely dissolved, and allowed the mixture to cool. Most sites suggest mixing the liquor with the syrup at a 1-to-1 ratio, but I found that the resulting liqueur was a little too sweet. I ended up with a 2-to-1 liquor to syrup ratio, and I think that I might go 3-to-1 or even 4-to-1 on future batches. Even so, my 2-to-1 tipple is smooth and intensely flavored, and makes a great base for a summer spritzer, particularly when coupled with Limoncello.
While some sites advocate the use of bourbon, gin, and vodka as a liqueur base, I prefer grain alcohol. It has very little flavor, which allows the full taste of the produce to come through. Luckily, a quick trip to Connecticut has refilled my alcohol stores, and my last visit to the farmer's market yielded some very nice apricots, which I've already got steeping. I've also noticed a few beautiful lemons and I'm considering trying a few savory ingredients, like dill and horseradish. I've found that, while preserves can do a beautiful job of making summer crops last through the year, there's nothing like alcohol preserving to retain the full flavor of fresh produce!
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