Seasonal Grapes in Cocktails
Grape season can peak depending on where you are in the world, and once they do they become a very economical ingredient that can add layers of flavor to your cocktails.
Cocktails that use grapes are usually muddled or shaken, but in this post I’ll show you how to infuse them so that they can be poured as an ingredient.
Grapes aren’t usually the main ingredient in a drink, and instead, serve more as a secondary flavor that brings all the other ingredients together.
In their fresh state, they typically add a refreshing flavor with a crisp aftertaste, like in the classic Enzoni which is basically a Negroni meets a Gin Sour.
Once you try this classic you’ll realize its potential, and once you try caramelizing or dehydrating them, you’ll see how far you can go with recipe creativity
Caramelized Grapes
Grapes are one of those fruits that don’t often get used in cocktails, but that’s because they’re not being used to their full potential behind the bar.
In culinary practices, grapes taste best when they are cooked. Their flavors are much more concentrated, sweeter, and they become easier to turn into jams, syrups, and infusions.
A grape that has been cooked carries much more complexity than a regular fresh grape, releasing caramel-like toffee notes into your cocktails.
This is a great way to add more umami and caramel flavors to a cocktail!
Dehydrated Grapes
There are pros and cons to dehydrating your grapes into raisins.
The PROS are that:
- They’re cheaper to buy than raisins.
- They have more flavor which means you don’t have to use as many for infusions.
- They preserve your grapes for future seasons.
Depending on the size and amount of water that your grapes hold, it can take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.
When being infused with a spirit, the final result will taste strikingly similar to a caramelized grape infusion. This means that if you’re looking for an infused product, you might as well go with caramelized grapes since they’re faster to make.
Part 1:
Caramelize
To caramelize your grapes, all you’ll need is:
Oven
Parchment Paper (I’m using a non-bleached recycled one which is compostable)
Grapes
Aged Spirit of choice (for optionally infusing)
Set your oven at 350F or 180C. You could even go higher than that.
Get your grapes and poke them with a knife just to break their skin. Only 1 or 2 small pokes is enough (this will help them caramelize faster).
Wrap them up in the parchment paper until they are completely covered. This so that they retain all of their juices (you don’t want all that delicious flavor to escape)!
Once your oven is done preheating, stick them in and wait. The process of caramelizing them can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, so just be sure to check on them every 5 minutes to make sure that they don’t burn.
I like to use my sense of smell to find out when they’re ready. You will start to smell a caramel-like flavor, just like when you brown sugar. That’s pretty much when they’re ready!
Take them out of the oven and unwrap them. They will be SUPER HOT so be sure to use gloves. Let them cool before using them.
Once they are cooled down, you can refrigerate them and use them in classic cocktails.
Having been caramelized into more concentrated flavors, you’ll only need to use 1 or 2 per drink (as opposed to 5 or 6 for fresh grapes).
For example, the classic cocktail known as the ‘Enzoni’ uses about 5 fresh grapes, but with your caramelized grapes, you’ll only need to use 2 or 3 because of their more pronounced flavors (which also means more bang for your buck)!
If you want to learn how to infuse them you can skip down to Part 3.
Part 2:
Dehydrate
To dehydrate your grapes, you’ll need:
Grapes
Dehydrator or Oven
Pot of Boiling Water
Instructions:
The first thing you should do is to bring a pot of water to boil, and plunge your grapes into the water. Let them sit in boiling water for 1 minute, but keep a careful eye on them. As soon as you notice that their skins crack open, take them out and plunge them into some ice cold water to prevent further cooking. Once cooled down, dry them and place them in your oven or dehydrator at 160C or 320F for 12 hours.
Even after 12 hours they won’t be completely dry inside, but just enough that they will still preserve for a long time and even have the concentrated flavors that you’re looking for in a raisin.
Part 3:
Infuse
Whether you have your dried grapes (raisins) or caramelized ones, now you can infuse them with your favorite aged spirits like Cognac, Rum, or Whisky.
For every raisin or caramelized grape, I like to combine 2 ounces or 60ml of the spirit. Let that sit between 2 to 4 days before straining.
Once strained, you can use your infused spirit for just about anything.
I usually use my infusions for the stirred-down boozy drinks like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds.
The rich notes from the infusion can typically disappear if shaken vigorously with a bunch of citruses, so opted for more spirit-forward drinks.
Also, be sure to keep the leftover soaked raisins from the post-infusion. They will have absorbed all of the flavors from the booze and rehydrated themselves into perfect garnishes.
Drop them into your Manhattans, Amaretto, and Whisky Sours as opposed to using cherries!
As mentioned before, the final result that you will get from this infusion whether it be with caramelized or dehydrated grapes will be strikingly similar.
The only big advantage is that caramelized grapes are faster to make.
Conclusion
To Sum it Up
Cocktails
Enzoni v2
- 2 Caramelized Raisins (Muddled)
- 30ml Gin
- 30ml Campari
- 22ml Lemon Juice
- 15ml Simple Syrup
Other Cocktails to Try
- 50ml Raisin Infused Bourbon
- 7.5ml Apple Core Beer Syrup
- 2 of Fee Brothers Walnut Bitters
- 60ml Raisin Infused Rye
- 20ml Sweet Vermouth
- 2 Dashes of Coffee Peanut Shell Bitters
- 50ml Raisin Infused Cognac
- 20ml Cointreau
- 30ml Lemon Juice
- 7.5ml Apple Core Beer Syrup
