Read Online Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits: Innovative Flavor Combinations, Plus Homemade Versions of Kahlúa, Cointreau, and Other Popular Liqueurs by Andrew Schloss - Free Book Online

a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of pomegranate, 3 to 5 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Stir in the simple syrup.
5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Santé! Mix with gin for a fragrant Martini, make a cardinal-red Pomegranate Negroni ( page 255 ) or try a Hawaiian Punch ( page 244 ) or Coconut Mai Tai ( page 250 ).

    Summer Cantaloupe
    The musky perfume of cantaloupe can be overwhelming, which is why I prefer to imbibe my muskmelon rather than eat it out of hand. An acrid bite of alcohol and a little hint of citrus are all you need to clean up the feral notes that a ripe cantaloupe can impart.

    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) vodka (80–100 proof)
4 cups cantaloupe chunks
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 cup Simple Syrup
Instructions
1. Muddle the vodka, cantaloupe, and lemon zest with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir to moisten everything.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of melon, 4 to 7 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Stir in the simple syrup.
5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Sláinte! Pairs nicely with summer gin coolers, white wine spritzers, and frozen Daiquiris.

    Minty Melon
    The demise of the ripe honeydew melon is one of the saddest things in the annals of contemporary produce. At one time, the fresh, barely yielding flesh of a newly cleaved honeydew was the very essence of summer. Now I am told to age my cucumber-crisp specimen until it “ripens,” but melons do not ripen off the vine, and since they can’t be cooked and they make dismal preserves, the best thing to do is whip up a batch of melon liqueur. Because you are adding sugar, the sweetness of the melon is immaterial, and because the flesh will be discarded, its hardness hardly matters. And what you achieve is redemption from the past, as once again the regal honeydew mounts its summertime throne.
    Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) vodka (80–100 proof)
4 cups honeydew chunks
1 ⁄ 2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 cup Simple Syrup
Instructions
1. Muddle the vodka, honeydew, and mint with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir to moisten everything.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of melon and mint, about 7 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Stir in the simple syrup.
5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Cheers! Toast the season with an End-of-Summer Cocktail ( page 243 ).

    Coconut Date
    The fruit of two types of palm sway together in this fragrant, slightly creamy tropical liqueur. Shards of nut and fruit are infused into rum and then sweetened with caramelized sugar to create a brandy-like elixir.
    Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients
1 fifth (750 ml/3 1 ⁄ 4 cups) light rum (80 proof)
3 cups lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut
24 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1 ⁄ 2 cup Caramelized Simple Syrup
Instructions
1. Muddle the rum, coconut, and dates with a wooden spoon in a half-gallon jar. Stir to moisten everything.
2. Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark cabinet until the liquid smells and tastes strongly of coconut, about 10 days.
3. Strain the mixture with a mesh strainer into a clean quart jar. Do not push on the solids to extract more liquid.
4. Stir in the simple syrup.
5. Seal and store in a cool, dark cabinet. Use within 1 year.
    Bottoms Up! Pour over crushed ice for an instant Daiquiri or mix up a twist on a Coconut Mai Tai ( page 250 ).

    Fragrant Fig Mead
    Mead is the ancient wine made by fermenting honey. When fruit is added to the fermentation, mead