Krueger's Burrberry Brew

So it has been roughly 5 months since Christmas, and even more since this project started, and I still haven't talked about it. With the NYC wedding and work and the holidays, I just completely forgot about it. After finding the pictures last night, I decided now is a perfect time to discuss the Christmas present for BK's parents.

A common thread between me and BK and his family is our love of tequila. On multiple occasions a bottle of something nice has been gifted to someone on their birthday. As part of our "Homemade Christmas" I decided to kick it up a notch and come up with something new. I hear ab out infused vodkas all the time. So what about tequila?

Vodka is easy, it has very little natural flavor besides that of the alcohol. Tequila comes in a range of flavor profiles, from the smokiness of aged oak to a spiciness that gets added to some along the way. All on top of the unmistakable agave flavor. I thought finding a combination of ingredients to compliment the natural tequila flavor was going to be a problem. So I took to the internet. I was surprised by my findings and overjoyed as well.

After finding a simple recipe using a simple method, we came up with Burrberry Brew. After playing around with some apothecary style labels and trying to find something with a kitsh/vintage flair, I started to "name the product". I took what I saw in other labels, and made my own using photoshop. The name itself plays on several aspects of BK and I and his parents.

Not only did his parents love the label, they loved the gift as a whole. The tequila turned out wonderfully and it was loved by all. I plan on trying other infusions once the money situation is not as tight. To cut down on space and long, long posts, the recipe can be found here, but some of our project is below.

We steeped the tequila for approximately ten days in a old plastic juice jug that I normally use for sangria. By this point the tequila is a bright pink from extracting juices from the raspberries.

To strain, I put a wet coffee filter in the bottom of a small hand held colander. I poured a third of the jug into the colander at a time. Half way through you may need to poke small holes in the bottom of the filter or replace depending on how many berries broke down during the steep.

Once the first straining was complete, I took the coffee filter out of the colander and added a fresh, damp filter. I strained the tequila a second time without poking the holes in filter. Although this method is time consuming using the coffee filter allowed the tequila to soak through without fruit remnants getting through as well, resulting in a mostly translucent, bright pink product. After the second strain, it was ready to go.