If you’ve gone into any liquor store in the last few years, you’d notice an explosion of flavored vodka. From the “standards” like citrus and orange, to crazy things like fruit loops, birthday cake, sriracha and Swedish Fish (sorry, renamed red licorice). Some are good (Swedish fish), some I personally didn’t like (blueberry) and some can’t possibly be good (cucumber watermelon – aka what they will serve me in hell). For bloody mary purposes I have bottle of sriracha vodka, a few different brands of hot pepper vodka, and some chipotle vodka as well. I’ve had some bloodies made with bacon vodka and I’ve seen tomato vodkas at the store which might be tasty as well.

But it’s more fun to make your own.

Enter the internet. It’s super easy to infuse your own vodka in whatever flavor combinations you might want. Some bars, like the 2 Russian bars we visited in NYC, even infuse and serve their own, although apparently this practice is illegal in California according to The Home Distiller’s Hand Book, or at least was when the book was published. But it’s totally cool to do it on your own at home, as long as you’re using already created spirits.

With my bounty of garden produce, I thought I would attempt a Bloody Mary Infused vodka from a “recipe” I found on pinterest. I filled up a small-ish jar with 1 jalapeno, 1 Portugal hot pepper, 1 tomato, 1 clove of garlic, and some peppercorns, and then filled it to the top with vodka (no celery for me!). I didn’t want to go overboard and make a giant amount in case it was terrible. I let it sit in the fridge for 2+ weeks, shaking it every once in a while.

To be honest I was sort of scared to try it. The recipe page suggested drinking it on the rocks, so that’s what I’m doing right now! And it’s pretty good! It definitely has a fresh garden smell and flavor to it, like a bloody mary lite. It turns out my jalapenos, though the biggest I’ve ever seen, are not very hot so I’m glad I threw in a Portugal pepper as well. The infusion ended up with a nice spice kick to it, though not overwhelming. I’m not one to drink liquor straight, so I probably would not consume it this way again, but it’ll definitely be good in a regular bloody mary. I don’t know how long it’ll keep, with the veggies still in it…I suppose a brave soul could eat them, but not I!

Try it, add celery if you like, the choice is yours! Cheers!