THE BIG FAT ELVIS IS WHISKY WITH BACON FAT, AMARETTO, PEANUT BUTTER AND MAPLE SYRUP
Flavours
The ingredients and combinations you can use are limitless: nuts, spices, herbs, and fruit work well.
Infusions concentrate the compounds, so anything that has been sprayed with chemicals or is mildly toxic isn’t useable. Even seemingly innocent options such as thyme, sage, cloves, and peppercorns can become toxic at high levels.
One of the most unusual recipes I’ve come across is roast pumpkin and whisky. It sounds more palatable to my taste buds than the peat smoke used by Laphroaig Scotch, but then I’m not a whisky connoisseur.
Another unusual combination is the most involved recipe I’ve ever seen, named Big Fat Elvis in honour of Elvis Presley. Whisky is infused with frozen bacon fat (so it’s easy to remove). Amaretto, an almondbased liqueur, is infused with peanut butter. The two infusions are mixed with crushed ice, layered over a base of maple syrup, and topped with a sprinkle of apple-wood smoked salt. It’s a lot of work for one drink but it sounds delicious.
I like more straightforward concoctions, and my favourite ingredient is the damson plum. I planted a damson tree after a friend gave me some fruit. It’s not an eating plum, but it’s deeply flavoured and makes spectacular infused vinegars, spirits, and jams. A jar filled with plums, covered with vodka, and left for one to three weeks is quite delicious when poured over a sugar cube.
I first prepared a damson infusion in autumn and left it until Christmas. By then, the fruit was a yucky brown and had disintegrated into mush. Lesson learned.
The fruit disintegrates if left too long, and the lovely spirit becomes cloudy and dull. Worse, the flavour changes, becoming terribly bitter as the alcohol draws out the tannins in the plums.
Tender, green herbs like basil and coriander can produce a bitter taste quite quickly, within 24 hours. Taste regularly. Strain as soon as you like the flavour.
My problem is that I tend to do mixes first thing in the morning, but sipping spirits in a dark pantry before noon smacks of a problem!
Fruit
Wash thoroughly and remove anything you wouldn’t normally eat, eg cores, pips, stems etc. What to do with the skin is a matter of preference: leave the skin on for added colour and flavour complexity; skin off is usually milder and sweeter.
Chop into small pieces to increase the surface area.
Berries
Wash and leave whole.
Citrus
Usually, just the rind is used (without the bitter white pith). If you use the whole fruit, the result is sweeter, and the infusion quicker.
Herbs
Wash well. There’s no need to remove the woody stems from plants like thyme or rosemary.
Spices
Spice preparations depend on what you’re using:
• lightly crack whole spices such as peppercorns with a mortar and pestle to release the flavours;
• slice vanilla beans in half lengthwise;
• toasting some spices adds another dimension to your finished spirit.
Sweeteners
Most recipes call for the addition of sugar. I don’t have a sweet tooth and often omit it, but the result can be seriously mouth-puckering.
You can add sweetness in other ways to suit your tastes. Try dropping a sugar cube into a glass, or add maple syrup or a honey solution.
If you’re making the infusion as a gift, it’s more palatable if the sweetness comes from a combination of ingredients. I often substitute honey for sugar but reduce the amount to about a quarter (1 cup sugar = ¼ cup honey). However, even mild clover honey will impart a definite flavour to the mix.