Thursday, May 31, 2007

Be sure to drink it gingerly

This week's vodka infusion is ginger. We used part of a fresh ginger root, though we are not sure of the exact amount used. It's about half of one of the ginger roots you can buy in your grocery store's produce section.

Wayland whittled away at the skin of the root, removing it to expose the yellow ginger. With the other half of the root, he made a neato soap carving of a bear.



The next step required a bit of a judgement call. We did some research on ginger-infused vodka, and found that some prefer to slice their ginger thinly, while others grate it. The more surface area is exposed, the stronger the flavor will be and the faster the infusion will be complete. Since we also learned that ginger can be a slow infusion, we opted for coarse grating.



The amount of grated ginger root rendered was enough to just cover the bottom of the science jar.



Grating the ginger caused it to release some juice, so when the ginger and vodka were combined, the vodka immediately attained a yellow haze.



We are, of course, hoping that we made the right choice in grating the ginger, and that it won't be overpoweringly tangy. If you are following us at home and prefer a lighter flavor, we recommend you slice the root thinly. We'll find out soon enough whether this turns out well.

4 comments:

Scott said...

This is looking like another marinade infusion, or something to sip slowly like the garlic vodka.

Unknown said...

I've just gotten into infusing vodkas, and ginger is so far my favorite ingredient. For my second attempt, I used about a whole ginger root. The flavor to me has qualities of lemoncello, and gives a nice nasal burn that I enjoy. lovely by itself.

Anonymous said...

This looks like it could be excellent. The aphrodisiacal qualities of the ginger will give me a fabulously large erection and the vodka will give me the courage to use it.

Anonymous said...

I can report great success using a garlic press to crush the ginger. I let the juices/oils drip into the science jar for extra goodness. It's also fast and easy.