Thursday, September 12, 2013

Starburst Jellybean Vodka


During my Pinterest addiction, I have come across flavoring or infusing liquor to give it something extra.  I came across the skittle vodka and decided to try something like that with some clearance candy I got after Easter.  I picked the Starburst Red Jellybeans package for their flavors: watermelon, cherry, and strawberry.  The Skittles had to many flavors and it seemed like a bigger investment if you wanted to do any size other than the travel size and I am not to on the lemon or lime flavors.  So here is how it went down:

1)      Choosing the liquor –after standing in the liquor aisle for twenty minutes I decided on the UV plain vodka for two things.  The first was the price, $10 didn’t break the bank  not the cheapest or the most expensive since it was being doctored up anyway and second was the quality- I am not in college anymore and cheap booze hangovers aren’t for me!

2)      A third bottle- since I had three flavors of jelly beans I had to find another bottle so I can split the two liters into thirds.  I decided to only buy two bottles since I only had two packages of jellybeans and wanted the flavors to be strong.  You could always buy three bottles and three packs of jellybeans when they are in season but this wasn’t an option for me.  Lastly the jellybeans take up a good 3-4 shots worth of a bottle so if you have three full bottles, drink some first to ensure you will have enough room.  (Disclaimer--drinking excess vodka first may make the sorting of colors easier or harder in the next step…) I used an empty Captain Morgan bottle from the recycle bin and cleaned it.

3)      Sort the candies into like colors/flavors.  This was more difficult with the strawberry and watermelon jelly beans because their colors where so close but I sorted then put them under a light and picked out the ones that didn’t match the others.  In the end, I am sure there were several misplaced but it just added a little extra flavor.

4)      Equally distribute the liquor to all bottles or “make room” for the candies if you have full bottles and put all the candies into the liquor.

5)      With the lid on tight, shake the bottles to start the dissolving process.  The outside coating will start to make the color turn right away and it gets darker with time and shaking.

6)      Let sit for a couple or several days until candies reduce in size by at least half or completely dissolve (with mine, the jelly beans did not completely dissolve but the distance up the bottle from day one and day six was over half what it was in the beginning.)

7)      Find tools to strain the leftover candies and bits (I used a liquid strainer, some use a coffee filter or a cheese cloth.)  Since the candies did not completely dissolve, I did loose some vodka in the beans that were stained.  I tried one of the half dissolved beans but passed on all the others. I strained the mixture three times per bottle.

8)      Label, refrigerate and enjoy.

 

End results:  2 ¼ cups cherry; 2 1/8 cups watermelon; and 1 7/8 cups strawberry. 

Each of the bottles smelled great!  I was pleased with myself for trying something new and it was pretty easy too. Now who wants to come over for a drink?

 

Thanks for visiting, Holland

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