How can I make fruit-infused grappa?
Don’t F*** with the grappa!!!!!!!! Mmmm, if you must, (sacrilege) just drop some of the flavoring bits in and let it steep, like tea, except it takes weeks or months depending upon how quickly whatever you put in releases its flavors. With citrus, the rind is important. Grate some and put it into a filter paper or cloth bag in the brew or filter the liquor later. Whole slices are great too, but you really want to release the fresh flavor from the rind. There are two schools here: put in an overabundance of flavor and pull it out when ready, or put in a bit and leave it forever. I think the first is best, when done well, but the latter provides a more complex, yet less intense, flavor profile (usually). Here is the big problem with grappa, if you use cheap grappa the result will taste like cheap grappa with fruit. If you use good grappa it can be great, but sometimes it isn’t. Good grappa costs a lot and failures are expensive. Have fun.
Fruit-infused liqueurs: made ’em. Some good, some not. Easy to make. Difficult to make well. Bad news: it usually took me at least a month–Christmas may be too soon. I always used vodka or white rum. Subtle flavors that you might associate with really good vodka or grappa would likely be overwhelmed by your flavorings. Strawberries usually worked well, but one bad bit of fruit could throw the whole batch off. Lemon or orange peel is okay. Spices will work, but only in tiny amounts, otherwise you’ll end up with tootache medicine. Anything involving fruit will need to be heavily filtered at the end to get the floating crud out.
The motherload as translated by Google. The fig grappa translated: 1 liter grappa 4 small well ripened figs 1 gram of cinnamon 1 clove 1 small piece of lemon rind (yellow part only) 4 teaspoons of honey In a hermetically sealed jar, cover the figs with the grappa 6 honey & marinate for 2 months. After this period has passed, add the other ingredients & let the mixture sit for another week. Filter the liqour & bottle it; let it mature in the bottles for another 2 months. ——————————— That’s basically what the recipe says. Ancedotially speaking, my grandfather’s recipe for a cherry liquor calls for the mixture to be gently shaken once a day, though I haven’t yet attempted to make it as I end up eating the cherries instead of bottling them…
