her Noble Experiment

Raisin with Star Anise

So, I got a good story about raisins. Thanks to Wikipedia.

Snap-dragon, also known as Flap-dragon or Flapdragon, was a parlour game played from the 16th to 19th centuries in England, Canada and the United States. It was played during the winter, particularly on Christmas Eve. Brandy was heated and placed in a wide shallow bowl; raisins were placed in the brandy which was then set alight. Typically, lights were extinguished or dimmed to increase the eerie effect of the blue flames playing across the liquor. The aim of the game was to pluck the raisins out of the burning brandy and eat them, at the risk of being burnt. According to an eighteenth-century article in Richard Steele’s Tatler magazine, “the wantonness of the thing was to see each other look like a demon, as we burnt ourselves, and snatched out the fruit.”

Good times.

I am inspired by raisins or a desire to play with them because of a French Digestif, raisin derived. It was acquired by my lovely in Epernay over a decade ago, though we don’t recall if it was produced in this region. I have failed to identify this liquor which I easily and successfully finished during our early courtship. It was port-like, earthy, nutty, not cloyingly sweet with a nice balance of subtle spice. Can I begin to achieve a similar richness with an infusion?

Additive: ¼ cup of Thomas black raisins

plus a very small pinch of star anise seeds, gently roasted for a couple minutes

Spirit: 4 ounces of Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Note: As with all infusions, shake every now and then during the course of infusing.

Like the Dried Persimmon with Cardamom-Infusion, I heated the vodka for a couple minutes on low so there was no boiling or simmering just heating. I immediately poured the hot vodka over the raisins and star anise. I left both to sit and stew for 48 hours.

The Verdict:

I was ready for the star anise to dominate, but they settled into each other beautifully during that time. A dark amber color was produced. Delicate nose. I am very pleased.

Dried Persimmon with Cardamom

Ms. M. hand-delivered straight from Chinatown a stash of dried persimmon. Besides being vitamin-rich, the appearance of this dried fruit is fascinating. Half flower, half cow pattie – smushed.

Such a sweet thing needs an appropriate pairing to kick it into a balancing act. Cardamom. I was determined to make this spice work, and I had a strategy based on a cooking technique used with dried mushrooms. I heated the vodka for a couple minutes on low so there was no boiling or simmering just heating. I immediately poured the hot vodka over the dried persimmon and roasted cardamom seed in hopes of drawing out the flavors notably from the dried fruit. Following, the plan was to take the cardamom seed out early and then let the fruit go as necessary. The time of which was to be determined with frequent periodic tastings.

Additive: 2 tablespoons of sliced dried persimmon

plus 1 cardamom seed, gently roasted for a couple minutes

Spirit: 4 ounces of Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Note: As with all infusions, shake every now and then during the course of infusing.

The Verdict:

Light pale color. Is that yellow or peach? I felt that it wasn’t until the third hour that the spice had truly made itself known. I let the fruit go for 48 hours.

After the first prolonged, multi-person tasting of this concoction, my conclusion was that the little seed over-stayed its welcome. So close to yumminess. Comparing this to my cloudy un-roasted Persimmon-Infusion, which had soaked for 72 hours, the fresh persimmon produced a more saturated flavor of fruit. Five days later, all had mellowed specifically the cardamom. It is not as persimmon-fruity as the fresh persimmon, but I think it has arrived – to a state of yumminess, meaning balance.

Cucs with Coriander

First, you can’t have too many cucumber-infusions. It is worth doing. In fact, I may have to infuse a whole bottle of vodka with the stuff.

The cucumber fruit, yes, fruit, is from the Gourd family. It was actually not so well loved in the 17^th century. It became known as the cowcumber – a food only fit for cows. For quite a long time, the prejudice developed and persisted against uncooked vegetables and fruits. It was believed that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should specifically be forbidden to children.

These infusions are not for children as well.

Additive: 4 ounces of cucumber, English and of course, organic, sliced with skin left on

plus 1 teaspoon of coriander, gently roasted for a couple minutes

Spirit: 4 ounces of Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Note: As with all infusions, shake every now and then during the course of infusing.

The Verdict:

Wanting to keep the freshness and cucumber forward, I let this infusion go 24 hours. It is good to be shy about spices. It is a very pale, clear with a touch of green. The coriander is extremely faint on the nose. To taste, the coriander adds a lovely mild spice. I’m very satisfied.

Party Time

Maybe more talk than action on the BADNESS-front, but the party made an acceptable effort to poke a dent into my infusion-supply. But oh so, surprising was what was chosen to be consumed thanks to Ms. Tipsy Jones starting with the Good ‘n Plenty-Infusion!

My three infusion specials for the evening included cucumber with coriander, dried persimmon with cardamom, and black Thompson raisin with star anise. (Recipes to follow.)

The Good & Plenty was tamed with citrus but went a bit too far. Very drinkable but imbalanced. The dill, one of my first infusion efforts, had mellowed and was balanced with lemon juice, soda, and blood orange slice. The butternut squash got a strong vote from C.H. (Chicken Hawk). “Fresh and unexpected.” Sour Apple-Lemon Power Straw was given a chance and proved to be not worth consuming. “Chemically … kinda what I imagine highlighters would taste” recalls Ms. M. It certainly looks like a highlighter pen bled into it. The kumquat went, and Sunday’s face became more and more flush. The whiskey with roasted apple and coriander vanished, and I think Sir Francis is responsible for the disappearing Lillet. All things cucumber were favored by Lulu. A muddled blackberry took over the honeydew-infused vodka. Exquisite color, but that fat blackberry could have been divided between two portions. C.H. named it Violet Beauregard. The celery was much appreciated solo and in two different forms, one mixed with a touch of lemon, a dash of simple syrup and garnished with a cornichon for Lulu. Tipsy tasted a degree of brininess in the celery-infusion, straight-up. Tipsy wanted more brininess in the cocktail form. For Mr. Jones, one stellar mix was the cucumber with coriander-infused vodka shaken with a dose of dry vermouth and a rosemary swig. Refreshing with a hint, just a hint of a spiced kick from the coriander. Coco, the curry queen, put two specials in their straight form at the top of her list – the dried persimmon with cardamom and the raisin with star anise. Ms. M had an “awesome” persimmon-cardamom martini with a muddled blackberry in it. A smokey-purple color. “It was cardamom strong-persimmon light in flavor balance…but still pretty tasty…” I think that cardamom seed needed to come out sooner than later during the infusing of the infusion. I’ll give it one hour rather than three. I will conquer the cardamom! ”I remember very much liking the Port-Kumquat-Infused Cocktail with the muddled strawberry,” says Ms. M. “Very unexpected for me since I generally shy from sweet, but it was a good natural sweet … not cloying. … I think I could be converted to sweet drinks if they are sweetened with other things that are not simple syrup. There is more depth to it rather than just straight sweetness.” Ms. Jones added the next morning that she didn’t have a hangover. She focused on vodka infusions. Could alcohol be so clean?