Early in the autumn, when the pears get ripe, I start thinking about spices like cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. And after making some spiced pear preserves, I just can’t help but wonder how I can turn this yumminess into a tasty boozy concoction. Enter this autumn spice pear-infused vodka recipe.
Bear in mind that my recipe is, once again, designed for gift-giving during the holidays. And while it was inspired by Boulder Locavore’s recipe, I’ve increased the size and adjusted the ingredients for my own taste buds. I encourage you to play around with proportions and flavors as much as you’d like.
What I learned in the making:
- I like making this with pears that aren’t quite ripe.
- Use good quality cinnamon and cloves. I bought mine at Penzey’s and they’re top-notch.
- You need a nice, big jar
for this. I bought my insanely giant jar at Container Store.
- This recipe can infuse for a week, but if you leave it for a month, your infusion will be stronger.
- You should always give your hooch to experts to try out! I gave mine to the guys at Great Fermentations to test and they loved this one!
Here’s how I made mine:
- Slice the pears. If you’re in a real hurry, you could just cut the pears in half, but I think slicing them is probably better.
- Slice your ginger in 1/4″ slices.
- Throw everything into the jar and store it in your pantry during your infusion time.
- No need to shake this one. It just…marinates.
- At the end of your infusion time, it’ll look like this:
- Strain the mixture into a bowl. It’ll look like this:
- You can set the fruit aside to put over ice cream, but make sure to refrigerate it and don’t keep it very long. It’s pretty tasty.
- Your vodka will look like this:
- If you want to avoid any residue in your end product, strain it again through a jelly strainer, nut milk bag, or coffee filter.
- Bottle it. Drink it.
Ingredients
- Giant jar
- 6 pears, cut into 1/4-1/2" slices.
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 8 slices ginger, 1/4" thick
- 40 cloves, whole
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 7 cups vodka (the cheap stuff will do)
Instructions
- Throw everything into your giant jar.
- Close the jar and swirl it gently to combine the ingredients.
- Put jar in the pantry for one week to a month.
- After the jar is done infusing, strain the liquid (optional: reserve fruit and serve over ice cream).
- Bottle.
Notes
Infusion time: 7-30 days.