Strawberry

06.30.09 Strawberry Version 1

~9pm. 750 ml Fris (freeze distilled vodka), infused with 1 cup partially thawed strawberries.

The strawberries were picked at Lyman Orchards 3 days before - yay! Ripe, red and very flavorful. Strawberries thinly sliced. Vodka and strawberries completely filled the 800ml mason jar. Within 2 hours the strawberries had already begun to bleach.

07.05.09 Declared done! 5 day infusion time.

The strawberries were really bleached by the time this infusion was finished.

It was filtered using a colander. Vodka has some particulates in it. (07.18.09 Refiltered with gold mesh coffee filter to remove particulates). Emilio decided to try one of the strawberries, with this result:

E: immediate strawberry taste, then vodka burn. Not very sweet. Don't eat the vodka berry!

L: strawberry taste, then burn. Makes me cough - what's new.

Future improvements: Use fresh, not frozen strawberries next time.

07.06.09 Drinks

* Strawberries and Cream: 2/3 c cream soda & 2 shots strawberry vodka.

E: 8/10, L: 8.5/10

* 2 shots Irish Cream & 2 shots Strawberry Vodka.

E: 5/10, L: 4/10 (too thick). Has an irish cream start and hit of strawberry at end.

* Strawberry Lemonade: Lemonade & 1 shot strawberry vodka

E: 7/10, L: 7/10. Refreshing lemonade with strawberry finish.

07.08.09 Strawberry Version 2

Lissa started a half bottle infusion of vodka. The vodka was Smirnoff triple distilled, using 375 ml vodka.

Previously we had used 1 cup of local strawberries for 750ml vodka, but the ones for this infusion were store-bought and not local. They were definitely less flavorful, maybe even half as flavorful. She cut them into thin slices and discarded the white centers of the berries (left), only using the redder, more flavorful, exteriors (right) for the infusion.

Due to the difference in amount of flavor per berry, we went with 1c of thinly sliced strawberry (exteriors). This may be over kill, but we'll find out.

Again, 2 hours later the strawberries were already bleaching:

07.18.09 Declared done! 10 day infusion.

Filtered using a gold mesh coffee filter. (Refiltered Strawberry v.1 with gold mesh coffee filter to remove particulates)

Notes for improvement: Using local strawberries makes a big difference. Use local and longer than 5 day infusion next time. The store-bought strawberries were maybe not as ripe, make sure they're as ripe as possible next time to make the infusion smoother.

Strawberry v.1 (left) has a darker pink color than Strawberry v.2 (right).

Strawberry v.1 vs. Strawberry v.2:

E: Liked Strawberry v.1 better. Strawberry v.2 tastes more like alcohol at the beginning. Strawberry v.2 has more of a burn throughout. Strawberry v.2 tastes fruitier, but I'd still want more strawberry flavor. Maybe use more ripe strawberries next time.

L: Lissa thought that Strawberry v.2 was sweeter, had less burn than Strawberry v.1, especially at the end. Tough to do a fair comparison though because the strawberries and vodka used were so different. Strawberry v.1 had a lighter berry flavor.

Bought Smirnoff Strawberry flavored vodka:

L: Oh my gosh, it tastes like medicine I had when I was a kid. It smells like candy. Very fake tasting.

E: More artificial. Doesn't burn. Doesn't taste like real strawberry. It tastes like candy strawberry.

08.03.09 Strawberry Version 1.5

After trying the Strawberry v.2, which had infused for 10 days and had more strawberry flavor, Emilio had gotten the idea that we should re-infuse Strawberry v.1 to make it even more flavorful. We had approximately half a bottle (~375 ml) of strawberry vodka left at this point. The strawberries Lissa bought were pretty good, red and flavorful throughout, so the cores of the berries did not have to be discarded this time. 1 cup of thinly sliced strawberries was added to the 375 ml of strawberry v.1. We'll taste it in a week and see how it improves.

8.10.09 Declared Done!

We just got back from Montreal on Sunday and tasted it before going to bed. The strawberry taste is very good with very little vodka aftertaste. It was worth doing a double infusion and it may be worth doing double infusions with fruit as special editions to make the taste quality go up by a large factor. We both feel that it is a much better idea to infusion for at least 10 days to get a good strawberry flavor.
Lissa thinks that you can really taste the vodka at the beginning in version 1 whereas version 1.5 you can not taste the vodka and it is significantly sweeter.
Emilio thinks version 1.5 is so much better with very little vodka taste and smooth strawberry flavor.

We were not surprised to find that there was a notable color difference between v1 (right) and v1.5 (left).

08.03.09 Strawberry - attempt at over-infusion

While we had some good strawberries on hand, Emilio decided it was time to do another experiment. We are going to see what happens to the infusion the longer and longer it runs. We're going to see if this one can be over-infused. Of course, we're not going to waste, ahem... good(?) vodka, so we are doing this experiment in Test size: 6.25 oz of Fris vodka with 1/4 cup thinly sliced strawberries. We're not even going to taste this one for 3 weeks, which is double our usual infusion time. What fun is it if we don't find where the boundaries are?

08.16.09 Tasting of Strawberry over-infusion attempt

It has been two weeks of infusion time so we decided to give a try before letting it sit longer. Lissa thinks that once you double infusion you can't go back! It has a strong vodka taste at the beginning but does taste like strawberry at the end. Emilio thinks that it has a strong vodka taste like version 1 and we probably should be using a sweetener.

09.13.09 Tasting of Strawberry over-infusion

The flavor does not taste rancid or anything along that line. There isn't a sign of rotting or any pestilence. The strawberries are bleached of most of the color like the other infusions but no other sign of rotting. Lissa thinks that it does not taste over infused but it does not taste as good as double infused. Emilio thinks the flavor is mild but not very impressive. Oh well, he thought it was going to be super yucky and we'd have to toss it after running to the sink to spit it out.

10.10.09 Finally ended the over-infusion attempt

No major changes since the previous post, so we finally filtered it. Here's what it looked like before we finally called it quits.

In total this infusion ran just over 2 months (68 days!). We found nothing notable that was different from the a usual single 14 day infusion. From this mini-experiment, we've concluded that over-infusion of berries and certain other fruits is not something that we will worry about too much. However, we do wonder if citrus can be over-infused...

Recipe

750 ml vodka

1 cup of sliced ripe strawberries (after white centers have been discarded)

Infusion time of 10-14 days

Remove strawberries and replace with

1 cup sliced strawberries

Infuse again for 10-14 days.