What would make a tasty infused bourbon? for Questionland Seattle

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What would make a tasty infused bourbon?

My boyfriend likes to drink old fashioneds, and I thought I would surprise him with some homemade infused bourbon that he could use for his favorite drink. I’m not a bourbon drinker, so I don’t know what brands to get or what to infuse it with. What flavors would go well? I find a lot of bacon infusion recipes online, but would rather try something not meaty.

Thanks!

asteria asked in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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Why infuse at all? It's tricky and you might ruin a perfectly delicious bourbon with something crazy like cured pig meat.

I'm a big old fashioned fan myself and I think it would be more fun to buy a range of specialty bitters to go with an excellent bourbon.

The other night I had cardamom bitters in a delicious old fashioned that was like autumn melting in my mouth.

For the bourbon, I'd recommend Woodford Reserve, Bulleit or Buffalo Trace.

For the bitters, I'd recommend locally produced Scrappy's Bitters. http://scrappysbitters.com/

Buy a few...drink a lot.

zeagle answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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Orange? and clove, cassia, cardamon, cloves, ginger, vanilla, and /or allspice (pumpkin pie flavors). I haven't tried it yet but this Supertaster article about orange and spice infused scotch whiskey was posted on Chow a couple of days ago. While I'm usually an enthusiast of no bullshit beverages (straight whiskey, black coffee) I must admit it does sound really good and while it wouldn't have the smokyness of scotch to bounce the orange/spice flavors off of it seems like it would work well with burbon too. And if your BF likes old fashioneds then it's in the flavor ballpark.

I don't have a recipe and I'm not going to pull a bitchy LMGTFY on you so I'll just go ahead and google "orange infused whiskey"... well dadgummit! this was on top (this is sounding better and better!)

As far as brand of burbon Zeagle's reccommendations are great and I'd toss in Makers too depending on your finances and access, but ask someone at your fav liquor store- you don't need to and shouldn't spend a lot on a bottle, it might not work and unless you have years to experiment, the subtle flavors of an expensive burbon will be lost in the infusion. If you're hella broke and can't risk $25-30 and your BF likes rye you could try Old Overholt- it's cheap, historic, "not too bad for that price", and I think that it could really benefit from infusion. Unless your BF is into Kid Rock (or just really likes them, for some reason) don't bother with Jim or Jack- the $5 up to the next level is worth it.

FWIW your idea is risky but awesome, Zeagle and Griffin have good points but if he likes old fashioneds he's not just into straight burbon- he likes fancy shit too (if I were writing an article on 'what you drink says about you' I'd say old fashioned = "manly yet stylish") you know your guy.

There's a lot of rad in a heartfelt, hand-made, novel gift. Even if it doesn't quite work the first time the process might spark a burbon interest in you and an infusion intrest for him and then suddenly y'all are being all cute and couple-y with your newfound joint activity.

Best of luck and have fun!

goth jenny answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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I was in New Orleans this weekend, and lucky enough to dine at Cochon one evening (and yes, I AM bragging!!). They'd just added a specialty cocktail that involved bourbon and a home-made pumpkin syrup infused with cardamon, cloves, etc. It was so delicious, I almost cried. (I'm also always a huge fan of autumnal fall flavors). But I don't think you want to infuse the bourbon itself, but considering some fun syrups and other flavors that can be added to the bourbon by the glass, rather than to the whole bottle.

Tracy M answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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I agree with everyone here. Don't mess with the liquor itself. The 12th and Olive wine shop ( http://12thandolive.com/ )has an awseome selection of bitters.

If you are interested in making your own bitter for your boyfriend's Old Fashonds then I'd still recommend dropping by and soak up some interesting and unique ideas for bitters.

pairustwo answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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Most bourbon drinkers like the taste of plain, good bourbon. A dear old professor friend of mine refers to mint juleps as a waste of bourbon.

Basically, I would find a way to ask your boyfriend what he thinks of preflavored booze--if he thinks it's an interesting idea, he'll probably openly wonder about some citrus infusion or whatnot, and you have a direction. Maybe blood orange?

If he just likes bourbon, though, he'll say infusions aren't his thing. In that case, either buy him a very nice bottle of bourbon or bitters, or you could make him some boozy cherries for garnish (this is only if he likes fruit in his alcohol).

Griffin answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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Yeah, I would infuse with neutral vodka, mix with the bourbon. That way, if you screw it up, it won't make you or him as sad to see good bourbon wasted :p Or, as the others mentioned, just mix up a custom batch of bitters!

Black Beetles in Amber answered in Alcohol 6 months ago | Report

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