Apple Infusion, Take: 1

     Through mostly trial and error, I’ve been learning how to make delicious homemade liqueurs and infusions.  It’s been a side hobby for a few years now, with several of my experiments just finishing the infusing or aging process recently.  I’ve had great success with my simple pear infusion, a combo of fresh pears and grain spirits.  I buy the fruit at peak season when it’s on sale, slice, and cover with high-proof liquor.  The hardest part is leaving them alone to infuse, so I’ve taken to hiding the jars in the basement where I can forget all about them.  After about two years, I have a mellow, high-proof liqueur that tastes as fresh as the fruit that went in.  After straining the pulp, I’m free to adjust with spices, honey, and other flavorings, should I wish.  I’m currently waiting on the peach and cherry versions from 2014, and put up plums this summer.

     With bags of Macoun apples sitting on the counter, my mind started to wander to the delicately sweet and exceedingly fresh flavor of apple schnapps.  No, not that cheap syrupy crap we make here in the US, but good German Obstwasser.  Since I don’t have a still (yet), and with real schnapps being exceptionally rare here, I wondered if I could capture the flavor of fresh apples in an infusion.  Same time, same place, 2017?