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Prep: 15 mins Steep: 1 week
Yield: about 24 oz.

Pleasing Palates Straight from the Patch.

From beer, to pie, to coffee – come fall, everything tastes better with pumpkin. And now, our homemade Pumpkin Spice Infusion recipe enables this autumnal obsession to find its way into your homemade libations. Whether it’s the base to your own liquid confections or a seasonal substitute in your after-dinner drink, you’re sure to enjoy.

PREPARATION:

Gather 10 oz of Everclear®, 12 oz of filtered water, 1 baking pumpkin (or canned pumpkin – see tips below), 1 whole vanilla bean, 1 whole nutmeg (halved), 2 teaspoons of cloves and 3 cinnamon sticks.

Avoiding the stem, cut the pumpkin in half, and then quarters. Depending on the size of your pumpkin, you may only use half. So feel free to proceed with only two quarters and reserve the unused half for other purposes. You can always take more as needed.

Scraping with the edge of a metal spoon, remove the seeds and fibrous strands from the meat of the pumpkin and discard.

Once scraped, chop the pumpkin slices down to roughly 1-inch cubes. Place around 3 cups of chopped pumpkin into a large, sealable container. Make sure there’s plenty of room, as the rest of the ingredients will need to fit as well.

Now, take the whole vanilla bean and slice it open right down the middle (as depicted below). Using the tip of the knife, softly draw a line down the bean’s exterior. This exposes the interior of the bean and will help release more vanilla flavor as your infusion steeps.

Halve the nutmeg. Then combine with the pumpkin, along with sliced vanilla, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Finally, add 1 bottle Everclear® and seal tightly.

Add Everlear®.
Now your infusion is ready to steep. Find a dark, cool and dry place for the infusion to rest for a week. Shaking once per day. Infusion times vary by taste, but one week is a good starting point.

Once your Pumpkin Spice Infusion has infused to your liking, strain the infusion into a clean jar using a bar strainer, coffee filter and a funnel. After straining, your finished product is ready to enjoy.

While a large mason jar will certainly suffice, another handy storage option is an empty Everclear® bottle. Simply soak in soapy water overnight and the label should come off relatively easy. You can download our customizable label that fits perfectly.

Now, you have yet another seasonal outlet to get your all-important pumpkin fix. Try it in anything. And if you need a little inspiration, check out our Pumpkin White Russian recipe below.

PUMPKIN SPICE INFUSION

Ingredients:
3 cups cubed pumpkin (about half a baking pumpkin)
1 vanilla bean, sliced down the middle
2 teaspoons whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg (halved)
12 oz filtered water
10 oz Everclear®

Instructions:

  1. Slice pumpkin into quarters, scrape and discard fibrous strands and seeds.
  2. Cut cleaned and quartered pumpkin slices into 1-inch cubes.
  3. Slice whole vanilla bean down the middle, exposing its interior. Halve the nutmeg.
  4. Combine cubed pumpkin, sliced vanilla, nutmeg half, cloves and cinnamon in a large, sealable container
  5. Add water and Everclear®.
  6. Seal container and steep 1 week, shaking once daily.
  7. Once steeped, strain infusion into a clean jar using a bar strainer and a coffee filter.
  8. Store in a dark, cool place and enjoy.

 

Tips:
The longer you allow for the infusion to steep, the more flavorful it will be. You can vary this to taste, but allow for at least 4 days of steep time for a proper infusion.

If fresh pumpkin is unavailable, you can substitute 1 can (15 oz.) of canned pumpkin for the 3 cups of chopped pumpkin. While easier than chopping, it does add time to the straining process as it clogs the coffee filter quickly.

As always, experiment and deviate from the recipe as you see fit. But beware of the whole vanilla beans. They are quite potent and can overpower an infusion in a hurry. If you crave more spice, try adding more cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg to the equation.


Here’s a great recipe to get you and your new pumpkin infusion off on the right foot:

Ingredients:
1 oz. Pumpkin Spice Infusion
1 oz. Coffee Liqueur
Heavy Cream

Shake ingredients together with ice and strain into a fresh glass with clean ice. Heavy cream should be added to taste, and may be substituted by half and half, skim or soy milk.