Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
1 oz Elderflower Syrup
Dry Sparkling White Wine
Orange Twist

Directions:

1. Add elderflower syrup to champagne flute.

2. Fill the flute with sparkling wine.

3. Garnish with an orange twist

Ingredients:      Makes 1 Drink
3/4oz Huckleberry Simple Syrup
2oz White Rum (we used Bacardi)
1/2oz Lime Juice
Fresh or thawed Huckleberries for garnish

Directions:
1. Fill a shaker with ice and add the simple syrup, rum and lime juice.

2. Shake & strain into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with a few floated huckleberries & serve.

Mixologist: Jonny Spielsinger

_________
Browse More:
Huckleberry Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
2oz Flash-Infused Lime Vodka (Recipe & Technique at How to Flash Infuse Alcohols)
.75 oz Elderflower Syrup
.5oz Dry Vermouth

Directions:
1. Shake together all ingredients with ice.

2. Pour off ice into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with a lime disk & serve.

___________
Browse More:
Elderflower Recipes
Cocktail Recipes

Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
1 thin slice of Ginger
3/4oz Yuzu Juice
1/2oz Simple Syrup (How to Make Simple Syrup)
2oz Vodka (we used Smirnoff)
Vanilla Scented Sugar for the Rim (How to Make Vanilla Sugar)
Lemon or Yuzu Fruit slice for garnish

Directions:
1. Wet the rim of a martini glass or cocktail glass (ideally with a lemon slice).

2. Rim the glass with the vanilla sugar.

3. Put the ginger slice, a few ice cubes, and the simple syrup in a heavy glass.  Muddle vigorously.

4. Combine the ginger mixture with the yuzu juice and vodka in a shaker with ice.

5. Shake to blend & chill.

6. Strain the drink into the rimmed glass. Garnish with the fruit slice. Serve.

Mixologist: Jonny Spielsinger

_________

Browse More:
Yuzu Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

If you’ve already learned the technique, you can skip right to the flash-infused liquor recipes.

How to Flash Infuse Liquors

(see the original Cooking Issues blog post for genius, more nuance, & theories as to how & why this works)

1. Get your hands on a cream whipper.

We use iSi’s .5L (1 pint) Gourmet Whip Plus.  The Cooking Issues crew used the full liter (quart) model of the same product with great results.  We don’t know how well the .25L (1/2 pint) model will work.  Presumably iSi’s other whippers or similar products by other manufacturers will also work.

2. Load the whipper with the room temperature liquor of your choice.

We get reliably good results infusing 120ml of liquor with 1 charger.  The Cooking Issues crew used the larger (1 liter) Gourmet Whip and were able to infuse 120ml with one charger or 360ml with two chargers.

3. Add the flavoring ingredients of your choice. 

We’ve used fresh herbs, citrus fruit zest, vegetables and whole spices either as individual flavorings or in blends.

4. Charge the whipper with N2O gas.

5. Gently swirl the bottom of the whipper for 30 seconds.

6. Let the whipper stand for an additional 30 seconds.

7. Release the gas.

8. Pour out the alcohol through a fine mesh strainer.

Rinse out the whipper’s canister completely before infusing another flavor.

9. Drink on the rocks or use in cocktails & other recipes.

Flash Infused Alcohol Recipes

Vodka-Based

Chocolate (Cacao) Vodka
120ml Vodka (we used Luksusowa)
2 tbsp Cacao Nibs
1 Charger

This infusion still tastes like vodka, with a slight brown tint and an additional mild, smooth chocolate flavor.

The Cooking Issues team made a much darker (and likely more potent) chocolate vodka from cacao nibs, but they don’t specify how much they used.  Presumably you can amp up the flavor considerably by increasing the amount of nibs used.

Grapefruit Vodka
120ml Vodka (we used Luksusowa)
Zest of 1 Grapefruit or Pink Grapefruit in large strips
1 Charger

This infusion still tastes like vodka, but with a grapefruit finish similar to lightly flavored, no sugar added sparkling waters (Talking Rain brand, for example).  The grapefruit doesn’t really impart sweetness, but rather a citrus zing that almost feels (perhaps because it evokes citrus mineral water so much) effervescent.

Szechuan Button Vodka
120ml Vodka (we used Smirnoff)
6 Szechuan Buttons, finely chopped
1 Charger

Let sit for 5-10 minutes rather than 30 seconds after the swirl for best results.  This infusion tastes like vodka, but has a good amount of szechuan buttons’ tingle.  A great way to add electric zing to your cocktails!

Lime Vodka
120ml vodka (we used Smirnoff)
Zest of 3 Limes, finely zested/sliced
1 Charger

This infusion has a beautiful, deep green color with a bit of lime up front and a distinct lime finish.

Vanilla Bean Vodka
2 Vanilla Beans, split & quartered (we used Bourbon Vanilla Beans)
1/2 cup Vodka (we used Smirnoff)
1 Charger

This delicate vodka has the aroma and a little bit of the flavor of vanilla, plus some tiny vanilla seeds.  The vanilla’s potency is enough to round-out the vodka’s flavor without overpowering it.

Huckleberry Vodka
1/2 cup Frozen Huckleberries, roughly halved
1/2 cup Vodka (we used Smirnoff)
2 Chargers

A beautiful pink-tinged vodka with a bit of fruitiness and huckleberry flavor.  Not nearly as strong as huckleberry puree or huckleberry simple syrup.  A great way to bring natural color to straight-up martinis without modifying their flavor overmuch.

Gin-Based

Cucumber Gin
120ml Gin (we used Bombay Sapphire)
3oz of Cucumber (approximately 2-2.5 inches of a large cucumber), thinly sliced
1 Charger

This infusion doesn’t impart much identifiable cucumber flavor, but does soften the edges on the gin, giving the liquor a “rounded out” range of flavors.

Cocktails:
Great with club soda on the rocks!

Bourbon-Based

Autumn Bourbon
120ml Bourbon (we used Maker’s Mark)
15 Pink Peppercorns
6 whole Star Anise pieces
Zest of 1 & 3/4ths Oranges, finely zested/sliced
1 Charger

This bourbon infusion tastes like autumn in a shot glass.  The peppercorns provide some heat, the anise body and the orange zest the final piece of the puzzle.  We love it.

Cocktails:
Elderflower Fall-Hattan Recipe

Tequila-Based

Ghost Chile Tequila Recipe

Note: when we specify specific thicknesses, piece-sizes, types/brands of liquor, etc, we do so to help you replicate our results.  We have not tested these well enough to discover what is “the best” form of ingredients to use.  You may be able to get good or even better results by changing things up.

_____________
Browse More:
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
Culinary Techniques

Serving this cocktail straight up (without ice) lets the beautiful glow of the citrus juices shine through the glass unencumbered and keeps their flavor from being watered down.

Ingredients:  (Makes 1 Drink)
2oz Milagro Silver Tequila
1/2oz Cointreau
3/4oz Yuzu Juice
1/2oz Lime Juice
1/2oz Simple Syrup (How to Make Simple Syrup)
Green Chile Salt for Rim
Green Shiso Leaf for Garnish

Directions:
1. Pour all liquid ingredients into a shaker.

2. Wet the edge of a martini glass (preferably with a cut lime), and dip it in the chile salt to season the rim.

3. Add ice to the shaker.

4. Shake ingredients to combine & chill.

5. Strain into the martini glass.

6. Garnish with the shiso leaf & serve.

Mixologist: Jonny Spielsinger

_________
Browse More:
Yuzu Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
1.5oz Gin (we used Bombay Sapphire)
1oz Elderflower Syrup
.5oz Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
Dry Sparkling Wine
Lemon Twist

Directions:
1. Shake gin, elderflower syrup & lemon juice with ice.

2. Strain the mixture into a highball glass.

3. Fill the rest of the glass with sparkling wine.

4. Garnish with the lemon twist.

__________
Browse More:
Elderflower Syrup Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
Citrus Fruit Recipes

Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
2oz Brandy
3/4oz Yuzu Juice
1/2oz Cointreau
Lemon Twist for Garnish

Directions:
1. Pour all ingredients into a shaker.

2. Add ice & shake to chill & combine.

3. Strain into a martini glass.

4. Garnish with the lemon twist & serve.

Mixologist: Jonny Spielsinger

_________

Browse More:
Yuzu Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes

Ingredients:       (Makes 1 Drink)
2 oz Flash-Infused Autumn Bourbon (Recipe & Technique at How to Flash Infuse Alcohols)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Elderflower Syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Orange Twist
1 piece Star Anise

Directions:
1. Shake together all ingredients with ice.

2. Pour off ice into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with an orange twist and star anise.

Simple syrup is so called because it’s…well…simple.  A base simple syrup is nothing more than 1 part water to 1 part sugar.  Use simple syrup to sweeten cold drinks like lemonade, cocktails or hibiscus tea without endless stirring.  Dab it onto cakes before you frost them to help keep them moist.  It’s also an essential part of sorbet recipes.

Basic Simple Syrup Recipe:
½ cup sugar
½ cup water

Mix the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer on the stovetop to dissolve the sugar.  Once dissolved, remove from heat and you have made simple syrup.

Flavored Simple Syrup Recipes:

Huckleberry Simple Syrup:
Add ¾ cup huckleberry puree (from blending fresh huckleberries or frozen huckleberries) to the above simple syrup.

Tellicherry Peppercorn Simple Syrup:
(from our Huckleberry Crème Puree Recipe)
Simmer 1 ½ tbsp whole Tellicherry peppercorns in simple syrup on the stove for 3 minutes.  Strain out the peppercorns and discard.  This method can be used to make other spiced simple syrups using other whole spices like star anise, although the amount and simmering time may vary.

Alcohol Flavored Simple Syrups:
Most simple syrups found in traditional cakes and tortes are flavored with liquor.  Make a basic simple syrup, and let it cool to lukewarm.  Stir in the liquor of your choice to taste.  Then dab the simple syrup on your cake or torte before frosting in order to keep it moist.

___________

Browse More:
Culinary Techniques
Sweetener Recipes
Cocktail & Beverage Recipes
Dessert Recipes
Huckleberry Recipes
Spice Recipes