Message 21706 of 39188 in General Discussion

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> Infusing something for longer will not hurt it; it will only add more 
> flavor. 

That's debateable.  Best case scenario is that it only adds more flavor but at 
some point is going to become overpowering and be too potent to be ideal for 
use.  Worst case is that the organic material is going to break down and began 
producing some bitter, off flavors in the liquor.  While the alcohol will keep 
the mixture sterile there will eventually be a breakdown in the integrity of 
the added ingredients depending on what you're using.  I don't imagine that 
vanilla beans get too bad but if you're doing a fruit infusion it's not going 
to be pretty after a couple of weeks.  


> By the way, the olive oil I mentioned earlier was not "cut and 
> paste", it is something I've actually made based on the kind of herbs 
> and spices I like. If I post something that is not my own words, I'll 
> link to it.

I wasn't impuning upon your originality when I said "cut and paste", I was 
talking about applying the technique for oil infusion to alcohol infusion.  
The stability of the added ingredients is different and alcohol takes on 
flavors much more readily than oil which means that one cannot assume that the 
timelines for infusion are the same.  In other words, if someone asks how long 
it takes to infuse liquor with fruit or aromatics talking about herb oils 
isn't relevent to the question.  

I'm not looking to give you a bad time, it's nice of you to reply and be 
helpful, but I felt it was worth pointing out that you're talking about apples 
and oranges here.