Delicious DIY: How to Infuse Vodka at Home

While we offer our own flavoured vodka products, you may want to experiment with creating your own variations. It’s easier than you might think, and can elevate any cocktail with a burst of flavour. Mix some of your own infused vodka into your next cocktail while you’re connecting with friends, or even bottle your concoctions up in pretty packages and give them away as memorable gifts. Here’s the 101 on how to infuse vodka yourself.

What Are Vodka Infusions?

Simply put, vodka infusions are when you take vodka and infuse it with flavour. The process requires adding natural ingredients to a container along with the vodka and letting it sit, at least overnight. The spirit then takes on the natural flavour of the ingredients you let intermingle with it.

What to Infuse Vodka With

You can infuse vodka with pretty much whatever your heart desires! Some popular flavours may include cucumber, watermelon, jalapeño and rosemary, but the possibilities are basically endless. Think about some of the complementary flavour combinations you like in your drinks, too, like cherry and vanilla, or cranberry and orange, and infuse your vodka with a couple different ingredients.

How to Make a Vodka Infusion

The steps for making a vodka infusion are really quite simple. First up, you need the vodka. Of course, we recommend an unflavoured, premium vodka to make sure the taste will really shine through.

Next, you need to choose your natural ingredients. We recommend some of the flavours above, but you can get really inventive with it. Have fun experimenting.

Then, you need the vessel you’ll use for the infusion. Because most vodka bottles have narrow openings, you probably can’t infuse it in the original bottle itself. We recommend quart-sized mason jars that you can seal tightly and use again and again.

Add your vodka and ingredients to your mason jar. Make sure you wash all produce before including. You can go heavy on the fruits and veggies, but maybe a little lighter on any spices and herbs, as those provide more intense flavour.

Then, seal the jar and set it away in a cool, dark place. Some ingredients require as little as a half-day of infusion (for example, strong ingredients like jalapeños) while others (like fruit) you can keep infusing for up to a week. A good rule of thumb is 3 - 5 days, but you can always use your nose to help you decide. Just open the jar and take a whiff — if it smells fragrant, you’re probably good to go. Don’t worry about the ingredients molding in this time period — the alcohol content will protect fresh fruits and veggies. 

Finally, it’s time to strain. Just pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or sieve into another vessel or bowl. Discard the ingredients you infused your vodka with, then pour the spirit back into the mason jar or another bottle. Et voila! You just made your own infused vodka!

How to Serve Infused Vodka

You can either drink it straight or mixed with soda to really let the infused flavour sing. Or you can add it to a recipe to amp up or complement a particular flavour. For example, mango infused vodka with a Mango Collins, lavender infused vodka in a Vodka Lemonade, cucumber infused vodka with a Cucumber Fizz or cranberry infused vodka with a Vodka Lime & Soda. One of our favourite infused vodka recipes is the Fig Reviver, which uses vodka infused with fresh figs for 24 hours.

So now you know how to infuse your own vodka. It’s simple! But if you want to keep things even simpler, you could always buy one of our flavoured vodkas, or Grey Goose Essences, which is made with vodka infused with real fruit and botanical essences. Either way, flavour awaits.