“Is it cost prohibitive? Do we have the space to make it? Can we store it properly? Is it any good in the end?”
#INFUSE SPIRITS TRIAL#
“As with most projects in the kitchen, there is a certain level of trial and error, as well as one’s desire to create something versus one’s ability,” says Mitra. Infused spirits are clearly not a flash-in-the-pan novelty, and from cost and time perspectives, bartenders deem them practical additions to their repertoires. With helpful tools like the iSi whipped cream charger, it’s even simpler to make single-serve infusions with ingredients such as orange peel and hearty herbs that might otherwise languish, Levy points out. In general, bartenders are curating their cocktails better, and whether it’s done with a shrub, a syrup, or an infusion, they want to add flavor.” It’s why we’re seeing the store-bought vodkas get less attention-with a few exceptions like a good citrus version, which is harder to make. “They give you so much flavor, you get to create a product that doesn’t necessarily exist otherwise, and it’s an opportunity to preserve fresh ingredients that aren’t always available.
All you have to do is wait for the results,” she says. Naomi Levy, who runs the bar program at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in Boston, says that infusions also offer homemade alternatives to the dizzying lineup of flavored vodkas on the market. “It’s a way to show off a little, but it becomes about tasting as you go and knowing what flavors are going to work not only with the spirit you are using as your base, but the specific brand and even region it comes from.” Ismail’s Angry Elf, a tequila drink at Kapnos, gets a jolt of Serrano-infused green Chartreuse, while his Tony Star at Graffiato stars mezcal infused with Thai chilies. The attraction of infusing other spirits is that it takes more skill,” says Taha Ismail, beverage director for Chef Mike Isabella’s Washington, D.C., and Virginia restaurant concepts-including Kapnos, Graffiato, G, and the forthcoming Pepita. But it’s certainly not the only spirit that benefits from such concentrated bursts of flavor. Vodka’s neutral canvas has long lent itself well to infusions, successfully marrying with ingredients like dill and horseradish. Add to that an unprecedented move toward collaboration between chefs and bartenders, and an optimistic outlook might be that the house-infused spirit may just become a mainstay, the way fresh juicing is beginning to replace commercially available juices in more and more cocktail-forward bar programs,” says Mitra. “The mainstream audience is becoming hip to esoteric ingredients and clever combinations. General manager Eamon Rockey, who presides over the bar program, says it’s a simple highball on the surface, but the basil tincture amplifying the mezcal base (there’s also Dolin Blanc vermouth, pineapple, and lime oleo saccharum) “springs it up a bit and makes it a nuanced drink.” One of the cocktails on offer at New York restaurant Betony is the Bright Young Thing. Consider the Broken Compass, in which charred pineapple-infused rum is paired with vermouth and cocoa nib-Campari, or the Empty Sled, which melds orange peel-infused gin with amaro and maraschino liqueur.įor autumn, Mary Pugliese, head bartender at Robert’s Maine Grill in Kittery, Maine, infused vodka with pumpkin and combined it with cream, pumpkin purée, and maple syrup for an indulgent, seasonal twist on the martini.
In Richmond, Virginia, cocktails turned out at the Rogue Gentlemen often feature imaginatively doctored spirits. At Good Co., a Brooklyn neighborhood bar, customers can sip on cucumber-basil gin, raspberry-orange-lemon zest vodka, and Thai chili tequila. Mitra’s progressive attitude to infused spirits is echoed in bars of every stripe across the nation. The addition of thyme to the gin adds another dimension to the juniper and other botanicals already present, and tempers the sweetness of the fruit while giving the cocktail an unexpected depth and long, somewhat dry finish,” he explains. “I liked the idea of having a fruit-forward cocktail for brunch that incorporated both gin and an herbal element, but was also nicely balanced between the flavor profiles. In his cocktail the Ballet Slipper, Ashish Mitra, bar manager of Russell House Tavern in Cambridge, Massachusetts, unites thyme-infused Beefeater Gin, vermouth, and Giffard Abricot du Roussillon liqueur. By steeping herbs, spices, fruits, and vegetables into spirits from gin to whiskey, bartenders create experimental concoctions that highlight adaptable new flavor combinations-and compel curious patrons. Along with baskets of fresh fruit and petite-sized bottles of bitters, jars of scratch-made infused spirits are fixtures at the modern bar.
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