What do you get when you add flavors and sweetener to vodka, brandy, whiskey, or rum? Homemade liqueurs! You’ll be delighted by how easy it is to make your own versions of popular brands such as Bailey’s, Triple Sec, and Kahlua, as well as dozens of original flavor combinations.
Andrew Schloss shows you the basic techniques for making a liqueur – typically as simple as combining fruit with liquor and sugar, letting the mixture sit for a week, straining, and enjoying – and then provides more than 150 recipes organized by types of flavoring, which include fruits, herbs, spices, nuts and seeds, vegetables, coffee, tea, chocolate, cream, caramel, honey, and butterscotch. Schloss also shows you how to make infused spirits, which are flavored but don’t contain sweeteners.
And finally, he offers 80 recipes for irresistible cocktails you can make with your homemade liqueurs and infused spirits. Cheers!
The basic concept is simple: combine one or more flavoring agents, one or more distilled liquors or wines, and one or more liquid sweeteners. This book just provides a 100 or so permutations on this formula. The combinations sound as though they would be successful, though I haven't yet put any of them to the test. The author also provides some of the history and science behind making liqueurs, which lifts the book above the mundane.
A simple proposition: make your own liqueurs and other infused spirits at home, whether original creations or versions of popular brands such as Bailey’s and Kahlua.
After the usual introduction and a fairly helpful, interesting overview to the basics behind the subject it is straight to the recipes, split into different types such as fruit liqueurs, floral liqueurs and infused spirits. There are certainly many, many recipes to choose from.
For some reason the design of this book just grated at times on this reviewer. The slightly fake handwriting-artistic font selection, bizarre use of colours and elements of design must take a share of the blame. It proved to be a distraction, something harder to read and possibly sufficiently annoying to have led to this book being put back on the shelf if one was browsing at a bookstore. That would be a shame since if you need this kind of information this is otherwise a great book. Once you get to the meat of the book the recipes are quite easy to follow and in a strange way this could be a good thing to do with a special person in your life - and then drink the results!
Kudos must be given to the author for managing to balance the needs of the total beginner and the more experienced "liqueur cook" in one comprehensive book and certainly this feels to be a well-considered, thought out work. The combination of price, accessibility of information and range of recipes could make this a fairly clear purchase decision, the book is more than capable of standing on its own merits so the bizarre "design choice" is even more of a mystery as there was no need to try and wrap things up with a cutey-folksy design.
This won't clearly be a book for everyone but it does lift the curtain on a fairly fascinating side of "cooking" that you might not have considered before.
Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits, written by Andrew Schloss and published by Storey Publishing. ISBN 9781612120980, 272 pages. Typical price: USD18.95. YYYY.
This book is absolutely beautiful! I don't know which liqueur I want to make first. The layout is very attractive, the photos are amazing, and the recipes are a wonderful collection of interesting beverages. The tips and introduction is instructive and easy to follow. I can't wait to try the fruity recipe for In Praise of Fraise, La Peche, and Summer Cantaloupe. For the vegetable drinks I think I will try out Garden Mint. The author gives a short summary on the famous Absinthe, and follows up with recipes featuring Anisette and Orange Rosemary. For the nutty flavors she features favorites as Bitter Almond and Chocolate Coconut. Interesting twists are the floral liqueurs like Lavender White Tea and Raspberry Rose and Hibiscus Citrus. Followed bu coffee liqueurs like Cafe Nola and Chocolate Orange Peel. Not to forget about White Russian and Eggnog recipes for the creamy ones! The book is complete with a introduction to cocktail making and recipes follow for well known favorites and many other recipes using the liqueurs form this wonderful treasure of a book.
Mr. Schloss’s understanding of how flavors work, his detailed knowledge of food and spirits, along with his suggested flavor combinations, make for an extraordinary book. The cocktail recipes at the back – where he shows you how to use the spirits you’ve concocted, along with a brief overview of particular glasses and mixers – are a crash course in mixology that will inspire you to pick up the shaker with confidence even if you’ve been intimidated in the past. I highly recommend this book to no matter your skill level; the techniques are simple, the instructions are clear, and the book is a treasure trove of information that makes for a fascinating read and an unusual kitchen adventure. For a more detailed review, see my blog: http://www.christinesilk.com/blog/art...
A very well laid-out liqueur and infusion recipe book, starting with descriptions of the basic ingredients (where does rum come from? What is demerara sugar? What types of flowers are edible?) followed by easy-to-follow recipes for various syrups, fruit liqueurs, flower/nut/herb/vegetable(?!) liqueurs and infusions, and then instructions for several cocktails at the end. Some liqueurs are purported to be dupes of name-brand products such as Limoncello and Bailey's. I'll verify this and report back once I've actually made and tried some of them, but a lot of them certainly sound pretty good. It only took me almost 6 months to finally go through this, but hopefully it will only be a matter of weeks before I make an attempt or two (perhaps a liqueur and an infusion, if possible). A very vocal voice in my head really wants me to just go out and finally buy my own copy of this, for reference purposes at the very least.
I like that the entire process is explained, from the equipment, the glasses, simple syrups, etc. I tried two recipes from the book. The first was a cucumber mint. It was ok, but not quite what I had hoped for. I have much higher hopes for the blueberry balsamic I have brewing right now.
These were amazing! I can't wait to try the herb and spice liqueurs this fall and winter.. I know a few people who will enjoy the pepper one. For anyone interested in making their own liqueurs, this book is loaded with great recipes.
When I first glanced at the cover of this book I knew I must have it. I'm that person that loves to throw a party and wow the guests with my wide array of talents. I'm all about going above and beyond to have a spectacular end result. This amazing and beautifully produced book allows me to take my parties to a whole new level. The concept of infusing your own spirits and making liqueurs at home is awesome. If you are the type of person who truly enjoys serving an organic menu, you will be delighted with this book.
The book is detailed, artfully designed, and easy to navigate. I adore the time and energy that was spent to produce a book that I will gladly display in my kitchen. The recipes are straight forward and easily followed however they take some time to produce. This is not a book you want to grab the night before a party and figure out what you are serving. The recipes can take weeks to cultivate, but it's worth every ounce of effort.
I'm looking forward to serving some of these amazing drinks at our next family gathering. I believe some of these will become a family tradition, and can't wait to hear what friends and family have to say! This book releases November 5, 2013 and I cannot wait to purchase a copy for my kitchen library.
What a great book if you're looking for ways to experiment and make your own flavored liqueurs. It is nowhere near as difficult or mysterious as it seems it would be. I'm excited to try a couple of the recipes - Strawberry Rhubarb? Ginger Cardamom? Really? Sign me up!
The recipes are a good mix of "favorites" and creative ideas. Some seem pretty "out there" (I won't be first in line to try the Artichoke Liqueur...), but the cocktails in the back give you drinks to try them out on.
Lots of great info on liquor and liqueurs, flavors and ideas. Great gift idea, or book for adventurous people who are tired of browsing an expensive, limited selection at the local liquor store. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the shelves.
My opinion: I loved this book!! These recipes were so unique and FRESH. Utilizing fresh fruits, veggies, spices and herbs, the author expertly offered instructions that any novice mixologist could accomplish. This book wouldn't be limited to the novice mixologist though. Consumers pay some big bucks for commercially prepared liqueurs that are present in this book. Liqueurs that can just as easily be prepared at home with a little bit of time and preparation.
Yes, it is another one on my cookbooks to purchase list.
Another absolute winner from Storey Publishing known for their unique line of cookbooks.
Absolutely loved this book! There are so many recipes, I'm not sure where to begin. I loved the pictures, I loved reading the history of the different liquors and I loved the way the book was set up and organized. Each liqueur recipe has suggestions on the bottom of the page for how to use the recipe in different drink mixes, etc. Not only does this book provide great ideas for gift giving, it would also be a great gift to give as a book because of all the pretty pictures and overall style. Highly recommend! *ARC courtesy of Storey Publishing, provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!!*
A completely expected delight from Storey Publishing, my favorite diy publisher. I fell in love with the idea of making liqueurs when a friend served me her homemade limoncello and made my own first batch around 3 years ago, but beyond that I never pursued the idea, thinking it must be too complicated to make creme liqueurs. Not so! This book explains the theory in detail in the first portion, then moves to specific recipes for the remainder. It's great to have both theory and practice in one handy volume, and I am excited to give some of the recipes a whirl in these summer months.
This book is a welcome addition to anyone's cookbook shelf and yet it is so much more than a cookbook. It is certainly a much needed resource for those who like great drinks with true natural flavorings.
We've made our own limoncello as well as our own strawberry infused liqueur and homemade vanilla extract. This book will allow us to bring our drinks to a whole new level and there will be lots of forthcoming experiments this summer with our garden produce, herbs, and fruit.
This was an impulse purchase, and I haven't regretted it. It's easy to follow and produces some tasty beverages. I've had a few duds, but those happened when I didn't follow the instructions and winged it (or let the batch sit for too long). Plus there a few very informative chapters that will help you in branching away from this book to make your own concoctions.
As much a cocktail book as it is guide to infusing vodka and spirits with interesting flavours and spices. The recipes are easy to follow if you have the time an patience for them.
Really enjoyed this, found great recipes I used for Christmas gifts, (and myself). Only wished their were more recipes of things using the liqueurs. But really good stuff.