3 Easy Liquor Infusions

The Daily Meal Staff|

Liquor infusions are nothing new, but when it comes to summer, they can make for some exceptional, refreshing cocktails. They can be colorful with flavors as varied as your imagination is creative, they're easy to make, and they give a sense of participation in the cocktail-making process.

 

Olivier Flosse, the wine and beverage director at A Voce in New York shares the recipes for three new cocktails on the restaurant's menu featuring infusions with pineapple, peppers, and melons.

 

Margarita in Fuoco.

The restaurant fills five-gallon Verona Grande infusion jars with fruit, vegetables, and liquor, steeping them for five days at a time, every five days. For the pepper infusion, the mix is more tame than you might expect: red, green, and yellow peppers for flavor, with roasted poblanos and habanero peppers for heat. The Margarita in Fuoco has bite, but not too much, a salted rim, and pepperoncini garnish to bring home the heat.

 

Ingredients:
1½ oz tequila infused with peppers.
½ oz Triple Sec
½ oz lime juice
1/5 oz simple syrup
lime for garnish
pepperoncini for garnish

 

Directions:

  1. Shake all the ingredients and pour into rocks glass.
  2. Garnish with a salt rim, lime wedge, and pepperoncini.

 

The Platino.

The infusion is simple— fresh pineapple steeped in vodka. The Platino definitely hits the tiki trend— fruity, sweet, and punchy, with an impressive centimeter of foam that supposedly comes not from egg whites, but from the pulp of the fruit.

 

Ingredients:
1½ oz pineapple infused vodka
½ oz Crème de Cassis
1 oz lime juice
1 oz ginger ale
pineapple for garnish

 

Procedure:

  1. Shake the vodka, crème de cassis, and lime juice with ice and then strain them into a martini glass.
  2. Garnish the cocktail with a floating pineapple ring or a slice on the rim.

 

The Melone.

Fresh cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are used for the melon infusion. The Melone is refreshing and not too sweet— a light-handed, melon-infused vodka drink that's an obvious summer go-to.

 

Ingredients:
3 oz melon-infused vodka (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon)
1 oz limoncello
watermelon for garnish

 

Procedure:

  1. Mix all of the ingredients in a shaker and serve in martini glass.
  2. Garnish with a slice of watermelon.
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