re: [CH] Chile-head Libations?

The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sun, 19 Jul 1998 18:21:24 -0400 

In Chile-Heads Digest, v.4 #494, Paul Edson wrote:

>Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 15:38:12 -0500
>From: "Paul Edson" <pedson@pop.erols.com>
>Subject: [CH] Chile-head Libations?
>
>Howdy! New to the list, and I'd love to hear about experiments others
>have made with chile-ish alcoholic beverages. I'm experimenting right
>now with a few infusions-- one batch each of vodka and tequila with
>cilantro, habaneros and sun-dried tomatoes. Anyone else played around
>with home-brewed hot stuff in this vein?
>
>Sorry if this is a frequent topic/repeat. If so, just take it off the
>list, eh?
>
>Thanks,
>Paul Edson (pedson@erols.com)

Funny you should post this.  I was at one of the best liquour stores 
in the Boston area (Marty's in Newton) today and he had a 8" glass jug 
of pale straw colored vodka with two beatiful red serrano chiles in 
the jug.  The name of the product is "Inferno" and he was sampling 
it from the distributor -- and had decided to order it.  It will be 
in as a regular item next week.

The Time-Life "Foods of the World" series' volume on Russian Cookery 
has a discussion of the many flavored vodkas which are traditional 
in that part of the world, along with instructions.  I find the most 
interesting to be Zubrovka, which one used to be able to buy as an 
import from Poland years ago, but appears to be unavailable now.  It 
is made by placing Zubrovka grass in a bottle of vodka and allowing 
it to stand for a minimum of three days and a maximum of as long as 
you can wait before drinking it.  Zubrovka grass is the grass that 
grows on the plains of eastern Poland and Russia and gets its name 
from the European bison (Zubra) which like to graze on it.  After some 
research, I discoverd that this is the same plant as the aromatic 
"sweet grass" which is grown for hay in this country -- so if you 
know a farmer, ask for a few blades of this tall grass, dry them like 
hay, store them wrapped in plastic wrap, and place two or three 
8-inch or longer pieces in a bottle of vodka, put it in the fridge, 
wait a few days, and enjoy.

Or, I just did a search of the web and found a herb store in 
Sacramento, California which will sell you Zubrovka (Buffalo Grass)
for $1.25 per 1/8 oz. package.  Unfortunately, they have a minimum 
shipping charge of $4.25 on orders of $10 or less, so this makes 
for some pretty pricey hay.  You can check out their web site at: 
URL: < http://www.webtrak.com/bulkherbs/Order.htm >.  Please note 
that I've never ordered from these folks and just found them via 
a quick web search a moment ago. 

Cheers,
The Old Bear