Just a short, quick note today.
I’ll be in Las Vegas for the weekend of the 21st of June for a party at a friend’s house. I like parties. I like hanging out with bunches of people, chattering, dancing, and – of course – having a cocktail or two.
For this particular party (a birthday party of sorts), I figured I’d do something special. Seeing that the guest list would be rather heavy with people of the female persuasion, and knowing that our hostess is a fan of flavored rums, AND being inspired by the explosion of fresh, beautiful berries and other fruits in my produce aisles, I came to the conclusion that some infusing needed to happen.
After much debating of pineapple or strawberry (neither of which I have ever used for infusing before), I decided, “Why not do both?”
So last night I blended some Matusalem Platino and J. Wray & Nephew Overproof in one of my fancy jars, sliced up an innocent pineapple, and deposited the chunks in the jar until they wouldn’t fit anymore. I then added a tablespoon of Demerara sugar because I’ve decided that every RumDood infusion should have Demerara sugar because Demerara sugar is proof that God loves us. That and it’s just fun to say “Demerara”. Go ahead and try it for yourself. See what I mean?
The pineapple experiment sealed in its container, I then filled a second jar with Flor de Cana White and again blended with the JW&N Overproof. I use the overproof to bring up the total ABV of the rum, creating a larger chemical surface area for drawing out the flavors of my infusing agents. Sounds impressive doesn’t it? Makes me sound 3 different kinds of smart. I’m not, I’m really just regurgitating what people who actually do this for a living have told me.
The new blend in the jar, I sliced up a handful of strawberries. I tried to slice them so that they were fairly thin, thereby creating more fruity surface area again, so that I will be able to (hopefully) draw out more of the berries’ sweet flavor into the rum. Again I added a tablespoon of Demerara sugar. I’m not really too concerned about this being too sweet…I know it’s going to be used in cocktails and I think my target audience in this case will not be looking for dryness as an attribute.
I sealed up the second jar and sat it next to the pineapple jar. Now we get to play the waiting game. Based on my research (mostly reading Infusions of Grandueur), I think that 10 days each should work perfectly…which is doubly perfect since that will take me to the day I leave for Vegas.
I’ll be sure to let everyone know how they turn out.