I made a goal this year to do at least one infusion post a month. Three months in and I'm not doing so well. I never thought I'd say, "I need to drink more!" Our most recent infusion (and one of our most popular) is an apple cordial. It's a strong and sweet sipping drink that tastes like apple pie. Trust me, you want to make this:
6 granny smith apples, peeled
1 vanilla bean, split
2 cinnamon sticks
750 ml bottle of Everclear (yes, Everclear)
simple syrup
Chop the apples into medium sized pieces. Place in a glass container with the vanilla and cinnamon. Pour the Everclear in, making sure the apples are completely covered. Store your container in a cool dark place for two weeks, occasionally giving the container a shake to mix things up a bit.
Strain the liquid through a sieve, and again with a paper coffee filter and funnel to remove any tiny bits of vanilla. The funnel/coffee filter step takes awhile, and sometimes requires using multiple filters. Even with this step, later on you'll still see some settling at the bottom of the bottle after a few days. This is okay.
Wait. You are not done. Do not drink the apple Everclear.
At this point, we'll be adding the simple syrup. Due to the strength of the Everclear, the recipe calls for at least 1.5 cups of simple syrup. It sounds like a lot, but this is a liqueur. It's meant to be consumed in small doses. If you don't want to go the super-strong-super-sweet route, you could use vodka instead, and less syrup.
Of course I forgot to write down how much simple syrup we used. I kept adding a little bit at a time until the mixture tasted good and not like the Everclear was going to kill me. Once you find your personal ratio of syrup to the apple alcohol, store it again for another week. This allows the flavors to meld and mellow out a bit.
This can be sipped on its own over ice, or a little mixed in with other drinks. It's still deceptively strong, so be careful! Now drink your apple pie in a glass.
