**INFUSED XO BRANDY AKA HOMEMADE “CUVEE DE CENTENAIRE” GRAND MARNIER
Boozehounds, the infusion formula below has been updated with the very happy discovery that using micro-dried fruit has resulted in an insanely fast infusion that literally took just two days to complete. You can read my updated posts below and I highly recommend using micro-dried fruit if you can find it. Be aware that it is a lot more expensive, though, than regular dried fruit which uses standard convection dehydration. If you’re not sure which type of dried fruit you’re using, here’s a good rule of thumb. Standard dried fruit looks and feels leathery and feels soft and sticky to the touch. Micro-dried fruit looks and feels extremely dry and powdery.
MICRO-DRIED FRUIT XO INFUSION FORMULA ~2 DAY MACERATION PERIOD:
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- 1 cup MICRO-DRIED unsweetened fruit
- 1/4 - 3/4 cup sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, etc.) (TWEAKED FROM ORIGINAL RECIPE TO CUT SWEETNESS; SEE POSTS BELOW)
- 1 full bottle of XO quality brandy (Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Brandy de Jerez, brandy, grappa, etc.) PLUS 1/4- 1/2 cup brandy or neutral spirit for top up (see below)
- Clean glass jars for infusing
- Just two DAYS patience!
In a clean glass jar, add one cup of micro-dried fruit, 1/4 cup of your preferred sweetener to start, and a full bottle of XO quality brandy or spirit of your choice. Add an 1/4 cup more of your choice to top up and compensate for any brandy lost to the fruit. Micro-dried fruit will absorb far less liquid than standard dried fruit and will not require as large of a top up. Seal the jar, shake to dissolve the sweetener and get the infusion going, and then let rest for just two days in a cool dark place for a full infusion. Filter and decant back into a spirit bottle and seal. Enjoy neat or on the rocks.**
STANDARD DRIED FRUIT XO INFUSION FORMULA ~2 WEEK MACERATION PERIOD:
*1 cup dried unsweetened fruit (apricots, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, black currants, pineapple, mango, kiwi, pear, apple, etc.)
- 1/4 - 3/4 cup sweetener (sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, etc.) (TWEAKED FROM ORIGINAL RECIPE TO CUT SWEETNESS; SEE POSTS BELOW)
- 1 full bottle of XO quality brandy (Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Brandy de Jerez, brandy, grappa, etc.) PLUS 1/2 - 1 cup brandy or neutral spirit for top up (see below)
- Clean glass jars for infusing
- Two weeks patience
In a clean glass jar, add one cup of dried fruit, 1/4 cup of your preferred sweetener to start, and a full bottle of XO quality brandy or spirit of your choice. Add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup more of your choice to top up and compensate for the brandy lost to the fruit (see notes below). Seal the jar, shake to dissolve the sweetener and get the infusion going, and then let rest for two weeks in a cool dark place for a full infusion. Filter and decant back into a spirit bottle and seal. Enjoy neat or on the rocks.[/b]
Boozehounds,
I just opened a brand new bottle of Grand Marnier Cuvée du Centenaire. This higher end version of the world famous orange Cognac liqueur is composed of 82% XO Cognacs aged between 12 and 30 years and the rest of their Cordon Rouge infusion. The stuff is delicious and inspired me to revisit a project I did and posted about a few years ago, making my own versions of homemade Marnier.
When I first did that project, I was barely into my Wine Berserkerdom and knew even less about spirits though I had already acquired my love of Cognac. Back then I used brandies with an average of 10 years of age on them. I also used two bottles of Bourbon. One of the brandy bottles I knew for sure was just 7 years old. None of the bottles cost more than $50 - 60 CDN that I recall. The end results were pretty comparable to a standard bottle of classic Grand Marnier which also costs $50 CDN. No coincidence I’m sure.
This time, my intention was to go just as high end as the Centenaire and make something really special. So I culled my collection of spirits for some XO level brandy. Once I selected the bottles and put them aside, I bought some dried fruit from a specialty store in the famous St. Lawrence Market here in downtown Toronto and then got to work. I poured the dried fruit, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of Stevia, and a full bottle of brandy in each jar. Then I topped up the jars with a bit of leftover grappa and Metaxa 12 star, sealed them, and put them away to let them infuse. The combinations I chose were as follows:
- Mazzetti XO 20 Year Old Brandy and dried California peaches
- L’heraud L’Oublié No. 48 Cognac and dried Peruvian pineapple
- Bache-Gabrielsen XO Fine Champagne Cognac and dried tart cherries
- Christian Drouin Le Venerable Calvados and dried wild Canadian blueberries
- Torres 20 Brandy and dried California apricots
- Torres 20 Brandy and dried black currants
I’ll check in with everyone and let you know how the end results turn out in two weeks. For anyone interested in their own infusions, I’ve got some notes below to keep in mind:
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Feel free to infuse grape based spirits, rum, Bourbon, eau de vie or even vodka but I would probably stay away from Scotch and Irish whisky as I can’t see the barley flavor mixing well with fruit flavor but feel free to prove me wrong. I would also avoid Brandy de Jerez that has been aged in PX sherry casks as PX tends to overpower other flavors. Just try some next to some regular brandy and you’ll see. I use the Torres brandies as they are one of the few Brandy de Jerez brands that do not use PX sherry casks for aging.
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I’d advise starting the infusion with just 1/4 cup sweetener. Remember, the dried fruit also adds sweetness even if you used unsweetened dried fruit as I did. You can always add more sweetness later to the finished infused brandy. You can only take it away, however, by diluting it further which also dilutes the fruit flavor. Better to start with less and then add more later.
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Other sweeteners add their own distinct flavors as well so keep that in mind when using honey, maple syrup, agave syrup or Stevia as I did. You might want to cut back a little when using them.
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Just how sweet is the final product supposed to be? That depends entirely on your taste. You might not want to add any sweetener at all or even more than I recommend in my recipe. Entirely up to you. The Centenaire itself has a whopping 237 g/L of residual sugar. To place that in perspective, that’s twice the sweetness of a standard icewine or Sauternes but only half of a Pedro Ximenez based Sherry.
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The infusion giveth… in the form of the added bonus of brandied fruit when the infusion is done. The leftover fruit is perfect for baking and dessert making. Feel free to store the leftovers in the fridge or even the freezer.
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… and the infusion taketh away. Remember that the dried fruit is not just infusing the spirit but also rehydrating itself in it. That’s why you need the top up spirit. You’re going to lose some spirit to the fruit and if like myself you’d like a full 700 - 750 ml bottle of finished homemade Marnier, you’re going to need that top up. Note that the top up doesn’t even have to be the same type of spirit as the base spirit as long as it doesn’t clash with it. As noted above, I used leftover grappa and Metaxa 12 star brandy.
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Did your spirit come in a nice decanter style bottle? Yes? Good. Keep it. After all, you’ll want something nice to store your high end XO infused brandies in. Afraid those labels might confuse your guests? Here’s a trick to removing them easily. Boil a large pot of water. As the boil rolls, stick the label side of the bottle in for a few minutes. It will heat up the glue and allow you to peel off the labels. Depending on what kind of glue was used, this will then be quite easy as the label peels off or you may still have to use a scraper or a knife to help out. But rest assured, one way or another they will come off.