Vodka Infusions - Soak Technique: Coconut and Mango

Alcohol infusion is a simple technique that can give your booze a delicious flavour without buying artificially-flavoured liquor. It also lets you try anything you can think of.

For this technique, which I'll call "soaking", you simply put a chunky ingredients into the liquor and let it soak for a length of time. Depending on the ingredient, you might let it soak for 4 days or 2 weeks. Other techniques may be faster, but we'll just focus on soaking big, chunky ingredients for now.

The two variations in this Instructable are Mango and Fresh Young Coconut. Fresh ingredients are always best - if you don't want to try mango or coconut, pick another flavour.

In addition, you will need a bottle of vodka and some kind of container. I used mason jars, but you can use regular tumblers or glasses and cover them with plastic wrap.

For coconut, open your coconut using a knife. Slice off the top, then chop it open. This is difficult to explain, so search on YouTube "How to open a fresh young coconut". Set aside the coconut water (which is very healthy to drink), and scoop out the coconut meat.

Cut the mango into chunks. If you need help with this, there are lots of videos on YouTube.

Pretty easy, right? Don't fill it up too much. Your ingredients will soak up the alcohol, so just use enough to give it the flavour. Put the infusion ingredient in first, then fill up the container with the vodka. Cover the container with the lid of the mason jar, or plastic wrap, then set it aside in a cool, dark place.

I originally meant to make this a Coconut-Mango recipe, but then decided to make them separately before combining them.

Leave the infusion to sit up to two weeks, then strain out the fruit. You can serve the resulting infused vodka on the rocks, mix with soda, or use in a cocktail.

Delicious!

Footnote: A few other flavours I've tried with this technique: cranberries, apples & cinnamon sticks, oranges. There is another technique for ingredients like coffee or peanut butter, but I'll get to that in another Instructable. Have fun!

Bonus: If you've got any leftover mango and coconut, make a smoothie. I added almond milk, a frozen banana, and some vanilla protein powder. It was awesome.