I don’t usually usually use artificially flavored vodka at my bar, but sometimes circumstances arise, and you find yourself with some. Since wasting anything is rarely an option, I wanted to see if I could make something palatable.
I had 1 bottle of Whipped Cream Vodka, 1/2 a bottle of Light Lemon Vodka and 1/4 bottle of Cherry Vodka (all were 750 mL). They were put in a plastic container together. To that I added 11 Tazo Passion Flower Tea Bags. It is an herbal tea with rose hips, orange, licorice and hibiscus. The vodka was left to infuse overnight. It took on a deep red color by the next day. The original character of the vodka was covered up, and turned into something that would be decent in a cocktail.
It was Mardi Gras, so we wanted to use this as a hurricane of sorts. For a batch we used 16 oz tea vodka, 16 oz pineapple juice, 8 oz orange juice and 1 oz blood orange bitters (Stirrings, which aren’t really bitters).
It had a deep purple color. Not a traditional hurricane, but passable. What was surprising was that we sold out if it and had to make more during service. Sometimes we surprise ourselves.
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Chris Spear
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