EE was making dinner last weekend, her first Sunday chili of the colder months, and I was puttering around in my mixology cabinet, trying to create a chili-friendly cocktail.  EE had left some New York sharp cheddar cheese on the counter cut and waiting to garnish our bowls.  The temptation was too great: I infused something with cheddar.

Infusing liquors sounds a bit intimidating, you say?  It sounds complicated and technical, not something for the casual home mixologist?  No!  Infusions are incredibly simple.  Put something in a sealed container with a liquor and voila!  A custom drink and flavor that you can’t get anywhere else.  This allows for incorporating local, seasonal ingredients, and for creating something really unique without having to pay a fortune for a rare bottle of X.  Given the simplicity, the ability to custom-craft flavors, and the cost-effectiveness of the deal, you can expect to hear me suggesting infusions frequently.

I poured about a cup-and-a-half of Sazerac rye whiskey over about one cubic inch of cheese broken-up into smallish chunks.  Whiskey seemed like the natural spirit for a cheddar flavor.  Rye seemed like it had the best balance of earthy, sweet, and cutting notes.  Sazerac seemed better to risk on this venture than my Rittenhouse because Sazerac is sweeter, and honestly, I don’t like it as much.  The concoction sat for three days, and on the third day the cheese was strained.

Opening the infusion, tasting the cheese (blech), and straining.

I was a bit surprised by the fat floating on the top of the rye, and the cheese chunks were like an inedible whey (new rule: don’t eat anything that has been the infuser, ever).  However, after I poured the rye through a tea strainer and a coffee filter, the Sazerac had a pleasant umami flavor that wasn’t present before.  More importantly, the finish on the whiskey was unmistakably cheddar flavored.

Chedda Rye getting strained through a coffee filter.

Chedda Rye is worth having as a stand alone drink – sip it on the rocks when you want whiskey with a little more body.

Not being content to let such a creation go undisturbed, I decided to create a cocktail with it as well.  EE made the brilliant suggestion of doing something with apples, but we have zero in the apple department (this is such a good idea, though, that I saved some Chedda Rye for future creation).  Lacking apples, I created an evening sipping drink that is pretty good.  It is sort of like a Bloody Mary, but not as sharp.  We’ll call it the Chedda Rye Mary

Ingredients

3/2 Chedda Rye

1/3 Dubonnet

2-3 grape or cherry tomatoes

dash Tabasco

Cut the tomatoes in half.  Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake.  Strain well to avoid tomato seeds.  Garnish with a cheddar cheese twist.

Maybe this is an unexplored area of mixology for a reason, but the results weren’t bad.