I know the recipes on here can appear complicated at times, so here’s a simple one involving only a couple of mason jars, a strainer, and some patience.

There are many ways to flavor spirits before, during, and after the distillation process. Infusion and compounding involve modifying a base alcohol before distillation, while introducing new aromas directly into a still mid-process is called percolation. There’s a fourth method though, maceration, and since this method doesn’t involve a still, that’s where I’m going to focus! Maceration involves placing herbs or fruit into a distilled spirit so that it absorbs the flavor, and if you own any sort of sealable container, you can do this at home.

My brother actually prompted this whole maceration journey. A few weeks back, he experimented with smoking peaches and then steeping them in Buffalo Trace bourbon for three or four days. Because the alcohol acts as a preservative, no refrigeration is necessary, but since we’re from such a germ-conscious family, we kept the jars in the fridge anyway. After straining out the peaches, the resulting spirit bore a strong smoky flavor with the peaches’ sweetness resonating in the upper palate. It’s a fun and tasty ingredient that plays well with citrus and brown sugar and a wide range of bitters, so I’m grateful to have a jarful on hand. Of course, I couldn’t just return an empty jar to him, so it was time for an experiment of my own…

As many times as I’ve combined Four Roses bourbon with chocolate mint, I wondered how it would taste to flavor one with the other. I plucked the leaves from three sprigs of mint and placed them in a small jar with the bourbon, allowing it to steep for three days. There’s no exact science to the number of days; I just popped the lid periodically to test for smell. During this process, the leaves browned a bit, and the bourbon also darkened in color, much like water absorbing the taste and color of tea leaves. Once I strained out the leaves, the resulting bourbon had a lighter, sweeter character and bore that unmistakable chocolate mint aroma. I made two brown sugar Old Fashioneds with this bourbon— one utilizing sassafras bitters and the other with Angostura orange bitters. This worked out wonderfully since I preferred the sassafras while Jessi preferred the orange! I followed this formula for both drinks:

2 oz bourbon
.5 oz brown sugar syrup
3 dashes of bitters
Stir ingredients with ice ball directly in rocks glass.
Optional: garnish with orange peel.

Of course, I couldn’t just stop there. Since I already knew peaches would work, and now I knew mint would work too, I decided to combine them for a presidential-themed Impeachmint Bourbon. I placed a diced peach and about four sprigs’ worth of spearmint leaves into a mason jar and then filled it with Two Star bourbon. I used Two Star because it’s a little more neutral, and I wanted to play it safe given the flavors I was already combining. Four days later, I strained out the fruit and mint and was left with a light, sweet bourbon with a heavy peach and mint aftertaste. This stuff is just fine straight, but I also recommend it with a few dashes of creole bitters and an orange peel for a great simple cocktail.

So that’s maceration: a one-step process for tasty flavor combinations. I stuck to bourbon for these recipes, but you can do this with any spirit. Give it a try, and if you come up with any awesome combinations, let me know!