Trend: House Infused Vodkas

I noticed infused vodka sitting on the bar when I was at Mortons, and after that, I caught notice of it a few other places as well. Enough places as I’m looking at the drink menu at the Seattle restaurant I’m meeting Gary Vaynerchuk at, I noticed immediately that they use House Infused orange vodka.

It made me perk my ears up enough to ask the bartender about it. While the infused vodka thing isn’t new really, people are certainly trending away from the more fruity, artificial colours and going back to classic cocktail world. Using gin as the base because it’s got more of a complex structure that supports the more complicated drinks.

Here, they’re experimenting with a black truffle infused grappa, and rhubarb gin. Sage and other savoury flavours are coming to the forefront and leaving the super sweet spirits in their dust.

Now, I want to try my hand at infusing some vodka with something yummy. The general rule of thumb is t let your infusion sit for about a month, but you’ve really just got to play around with it. Sometimes, the flavours can turn bitter or can change the overall flavour of the vodka. Much like other wine, spirit or beer tasting, just experiment and play around with it.