LILAC INFUSED VODKA
Lilac infused vodka preserves the most enchanting scent of summer into a bottle for later enjoyment! Lilac vodka takes only a few days to make and easily transforms into lilac liquer with the addition of lilac syrup. If you are a fan of lilacs like me, what are you waiting for? The season is soon over…
Lilac alert!
I’ve been hearing the lilac alert for a while now. The scent of the lilac growing next to our balcony is telling me there’s no time to waste, the lilac season is almost over! It’s now or next year, if I want to preserve some of this beauty for later days.
Ever since I discovered that lilac blossoms are edible, I’ve been making something out of lilacs each year. Usually I’m making lilac syrup or lilac sugar, or simply adding some of the floral scented blossoms into my salads. But this year I thought of experimenting a bit further… and made some lilac infused vodka!
LIlac infused vodka
In the recent years I’ve experimented with infusing alcohol, mainly vodka, whisky and gin. I’ve made Bloody Mary vodka and olive oil gin among other things, and have loved the results! That’s how the thought crossed my mind: maybe lilacs could be infused into vodka too?
A quick online search reveals that YES, lilac infused vodka is a thing and an easy thing too! All you need to do is fill a bottle with fresh lilac flowers and top it off with vodka. After steeping it overnight in the fridge you can sieve out the spent flowers and add a fresh batch of flowers to repeat the process and intensify the floral flavor. You can repeat the process as many times as you want, but for me the flavor was just right after two rounds of infusing.
“Lilac” vodka
By the way, the lilac flowers turn brown in the vodka and the vodka takes on the color of black tea, and that’s totally normal! The color of lilac infused vodka is unfortunately NOT lilac… Oh well, I guess you can’t have it all.
If you want to take it a step further, you can add lilac syrup to your lilac vodka. Ta da, you’ve got yourself some lilac liqueur!
Lilac infused vodka
Equipment
- fine mesh strainer
- sterile glass bottle or mason jar with lid
- funnel
Ingredients
- 1 part vodka
- 1 part lilac flowers (green / brown parts, bugs shaken off)
Next day:
- 1 part lilac flowers (green / brown parts, bugs shaken off)
To make lilac liqueur:
- 1 part sugar
- 1 part water
- 1 part lilac flowers (green / brown parts, bugs shaken off)
- 3-5 blueberries or red currants ((optional, they add color to the syrup)
Notes:
- Pick the flowers early in the morning and from a clean, unpolluted area.
- Try not to wash the flowers, washing removes some of their delicate aroma. Simply shake off bugs and dirt and hand pick the flowers off the stems without breaking them.
- Try to avoid getting too many green parts in with the mix, they impart bitter flavors to the vodka (or so I've read).
Instructions
- Remove the stems and green parts from the flowers. Shake off bugs and pick out possible brown parts. Don't wash the flowers (washing removes some of the delicate flavor of the lilacs)
- Add the flowers to a sterilized glass bottle. Fill with vodka. Close the lid and shake, infuse in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
- Strain out the spent flowers, pressing on them to extract all the infused liquid from the flowers. Add a batch of fresh flowers to the vodka, close the lid and infuse again for 12-24 hours.
- Repeat the process a third time if you want a more pronounced lilac flavor.
- Strain the vodka once more. Store the lilac infused vodka in the fridge.
Lilac liqueur:
- If you want to transform the lilac vodka to a lilac liqueur, season it to taste with lilac syrup!
- Lilac syrup is easy to make. Add equal parts of sugar and water to a pot and bring to boil. Add one part of lilac flowers and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer for about ten minutes. You can add a few berries along with the flowers to add color as you begin to simmer the syrup. You can steep the flowers in the syrup overnight in the fridge, or strain out immediately. In either case press the flowers against the strainer to extract all the flavor out of them.
- The ratio of lilac infused vodka to lilac syrup is totally up to you. I liked the ratio of about ⅓ syrup to ⅔ vodka!
Sources: urbanhuntress.com + moodymixologist.com
Ps. Some of the recipes I was researching said that you should infuse the vodka for a month. The recipes I used as a guide advised however to remove the flowers after 12-24 hours. Apparently longer infusion might bring out more of the vegetal notes and bitterness from the flowers? Since I’ve made lilac vodka for the first time this June, I have no first hand experience yet of how a longer infusion changes the flavor. If you have some knowledge on the matter, please let me know what you think!
Pps. If you own a sous vide circulator, you can also make a batch of lilac vodka with it! See instructions in Anova’s sous vide -lilac infused vodka/gin recipe.
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