Lately I've gotten into creating infused Vodka. This basically means adding fruits, herbs, and spices to Vodka in order to create a uniquely flavored liquor.

There are plenty of sites out there with tips for infusers, recipes for infusions, and cocktail recipes. However, if you're the experimental type, you can skip the lectures and get started immediately.

You can make an infusion out of any liquor, but Vodka typically has the most neutral flavor, so its least likely to clash with your other ingredients. Rum is too sweet, whisky is too sour, and gin tastes too much like pine trees. Plus, you can buy a 1.75 liter bottle of Skyy at Costco for about $25... and it gets smoother as you infuse it.

You do not need sophisticated equipment to make infusions. My tools are as follows:

• One liter capacity air-tight Mason jars
• One liter capacity air-tight bottles
• Funnel
• Sharp pearing knife
• Muddler
• Sharp vegetable peeler

UPDATE: If you want to make infusions with Espresso or other small-grained food, you'll also want a French press... A press is cheap, and by far the best way to make fast vodka infusions with ground herbs.

Anyway, place the ingredients into the mason jar, and fill it with 1/2 to 1 liters of vodka. After the infusion is complete, you can spoon out the ingredients, and pour the infusion into the bottle. Sometimes you may want a cheesecloth, or other strainer, if your infusion has small chunks.

The first step is to choose what kind of infusion to make. If you are new to this, and not comfortable with experimenting in the kitchen, I'd start with fruit. Later, you can move on to infusions with herbs like basil, ginger, Thai chilies, or muddled cucumber peels.

Be sure to use fresh, organic fruit, preferably stuff that was never in your refrigerator... This is mainly for taste purposes.

Remember: the goal of any infusion is to extract the good flavors, while leaving the bad. Typically this boils down to good timing. Some fruits take longer than others. Some can be left in for a very long time, whereas others need more care. Frequently you should remove the undesirable parts of the fruit to ensure none of the bad flavors are infused.

The rest of this article contains a handful of infusions that I have enjoyed, along with some drinks I invented.

Lemon Infusion

Citrus fruit is excellent for infusions. The best flavor is in the skins of the fruit. You want to extract the oils from the skins, and avoid using the juice or the pith.

1. Get 4 large, thick skinned lemons
2. Use the potato peeler to remove the very outer layer: avoid the white pith
3. Place the peels into a jar
4. Fill the jar with 1/2 liter to 1 liter vodka
5. Infusion takes 1-2 weeks

Most of the infusion will be complete after 2 weeks. You can infuse the lemon peels for longer, if you wish. However, do not leave them in there after they have become stiff. That means there is no oil left in the skins, and the process is pretty much finished.

I like to freeze the lemon infusion, and serve a little bit in a cordial glass. Its like a dry lemoncello...

Strawberry Infusion

Strawberry is a bit trickier than lemons:

1. Obtain 1 package of organic strawberries (they need not look pretty)
2. Slice them into quarters
3. Remove the white center of each slice -- anything that is not pink
4. Place 1 cup of strawberry slices into a jar
5. Fill the jar with 1/2 to 1 liter vodka
6. Infusion takes 12-24 hours

These are fun to infuse, because the strawberry chunks actually turn white in the jar rather quickly. At this point, you are pretty much done. This yields a vodka with a powerful strawberry flavor. Oddly enough, it almost tastes artificial. I don't usually drink this one straight, I usually mix it with other liquids to reduce the sweetness.

Vanilla Infusion

Do not attempt this one unless you have an organic food store nearby where you can purchase whole vanilla beans. The beans must be still gooey. Whole Foods sometimes has gooey vanilla beans, but your smaller hippie shops and co-ops are a better bet.

1. Slice one bean in half, the short way
2. Split each half the long way, using caution not to spill the seeds inside
3. Place the quarters into a jar
4. Fill the jar with 1/2 to 1 liter vodka
5. Infusion takes 2-4 weeks

This infusion will quickly turn brown. The darker it gets, the better it tastes. If you use two beans instead of one, it can get quite flavorful. So much so, that you can use it as a replacement for vanilla extract in recipes. Weird, but true.

Cocktail Recipes with Infusions

I'm an adherent to the Dale DeGroff school of cocktails: fresh ingredients, the right balance of flavors, and small glasses! Only alcoholics want martinis the size of their head... aficionados want small cocktails so we can appreciate a variety of them. Like appetizers.

Anyway, here are two infused vodka cocktails that I invented. Feel free to share your recipes in the comments.

Cream Soda

• One shot vanilla infusion
• One-half to one shot simple syrup
• Four shots seltzer water

Pour the ingredients in order into a Collins glass filled with ice. The stronger the vanilla infusion, the better this tastes. If you use store bought soda water instead of seltzer water from a charger, use less syrup so its not as sweet. Yes, I'm really that fastidious when it comes to cocktails...

The Neapolitan

• One shot vanilla infusion
• One shot strawberry infusion
• One shot Godiva chocolate liquor

Shake vigorously, so that it gets slightly foamy, and has tiny ice chips in it. You may want to hammer the ice cubes a little first. Serve it straight up in a martini glass. This one is my wife's favorite.

Enjoy!