Several years ago we made a pear infused tequila. It was a cordial which I felt was so good, I did not want to drink it. I wanted to save it, cherish it, hold onto it. Well, it is gone. It was consumed and happily I may add, as a digestif at the end of several dinners we cooked when we were in Colorado. We sent it out as a way to soften the arrival of the bill.
Today rain is in the air and Aki's dreams of fall weather are looking promising. Our kitchen is slowly coming together and the flavors and aromas of fall are in my mind. Yesterday yielded a maple streusel and this rain flecked morning triggered the memory of our pear tequila. That memory in conjunction with my want to make our kitchen both more efficient and user friendly led me to infused-vodka.com, where they sell an array of glass jars perfect for the storage of cordials, infusions and vinegars.
And as quickly as I do childhood math, two and two became four. I am about to order my first bottle from infused-vodka. When the bottle arrives I will have some pear cider on hand that we can blend with fresh pear juice and then with our other live vinegars about hopefully have a pear vinegar start. If this fails, I may have to add some of our tequila vinegar to the pear base to kick start the action. In fact, I may do that just for flavors sake. As I noted the pear tequila was amazing, pear-tequila vinegar could not be that bad.
*As I get ready to start this project, many more vinegar ideas are pouring through my mind so I thought I would share: bacon, toasted almond, pistachio, walnut, peanut, ginger, pumpernickel (I'm sure you saw that coming), rye bread, blood orange, vanilla-rum, pumpkin, honey-lime, yogurt....