Rinse Empty Vanilla Extract Bottles With Booze
Vanilla is an important ingredient, a difficult ingredient, an expensive ingredient. Even if you’re not a big baker, vanilla pods and their extract can be used to add hue, depth, and sweetness, but not flavor, to any food or drink. In addition to sweets, baked goods, and more, I love using it in my lemonade , salad dressings and, unsurprisingly, cocktails.
Like bitter ones, vanilla brings something extra alcoholic to the drink, seasoning it and rounding it up with warmth and depth. Also, as with bitters, you don’t need much; a few drops are enough. In fact, the tiny nugget left in the “empty” bottle of vanilla extract is the exact amount of extract needed to flavor an old-fashioned dark rum cocktail or a simple serving of some chilled bitter. (Fernet is the obvious choice, but vanilla does wonderful things with burnt orange in Campari.)
I usually use this technique with darker perfumes, but there is no reason why it cannot be applied to something colorless. A little vanilla goes well with citrus gin; vodka with this flavor will certainly be preferable to those sugary, artificially flavored vodkas that are produced by average spirits producers. (And frankly, vanilla extract is essentially super concentrated vanilla vodka – why not dilute it with a lot of vodka?)
Simply pour 30 grams of booze into a bottle, shake well to get every last drop of extract, then pour into a cocktail shaker, stirring glass, lowball, or directly into your open mouth.