Adding Natural Flavours to Vodka

You want to add some flavours to your original vodka? Infusing your own vodka is the best way to add a twist and have a story to tell with every cocktail when entertaining. With plenty of your favourite vodka, a jar, some fruit, a discerning palate and spare time, you can customize vodka and make it your own.

Steps

1. Choose a flavor. Decide how you want your vodka to taste, and get plenty of the desired fruits, berries, peppers or herbs. Use the following guidelines for infusing about 1 liter of vodka:
If infusing fruit, use 1-3 pieces, depending on their size. Aim for about two large apples' worth; one is usually enough for larger fruits (i.e. grapefruit), but you'll need 3-4 for smaller fruits (apricots, plums, etc.)
If infusing fresh herbs, use 1-2 fists filled with the herb, depending on its potency. Use about half as much of dried herbs or spices.
If infusing berries, use 2-4 fists filled with the berries.
If infusing peppers, use as many as you want. The more you use and the longer you infuse, the spicier the end product will be.

2. Prepare the ingredients. Wash all fresh ingredients thoroughly. Slice fruits finely to increase their surface area and speed up the infusion, removing any pits, seeds, or stems. Leave berries whole, but bruise by very gently squeezing them and remove any stems. Crush herbs gently, as it will help to release their flavor. Place all of the ingredients together in a clean, airtight container (glass works best). The relative proportions of each ingredient, if you're using more than one, are a matter of personal preference.

3. Infuse! Fill the container with vodka, seal it, and put it some place safe and away from direct sunlight.

4. Wait. The timing isn't scientific but most recipes will infuse within two to five days. Generally, citrus fruits or strongly flavored ingredients will infuse more quickly, but softly flavored or fibrous ingredients (vanilla beans or fresh ginger) may need up to a week or more. Luckily, you need not do anything but ignore the jar. Some advice will recommend two weeks or more infusion time, but this is only necessary for a large restaurant-size batch. A week is plenty of time for a liter of vodka to infuse properly.

5. Sample and enjoy! The first few batches you make may not taste the best, but with practice you will get the hang of it. Drink, adjust, and try again!

Tips

If you find your infusion too strong, dilute it with more vodka and allow it to infuse a little longer.
Be creative! There's a wide range of fruits and herbs you can infuse, each with their own characteristics. Experiment and enjoy:
Generally well liked: Melon, cantaloupe, peach, strawberry, cherry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, pineapple, mango, vanilla
Sharp: Lemon, lime, grapefruit
Bold: Fresh ginger, lemon-grass, mint, garlic, chili peppers
Use fresh fruits and ingredients and not canned or prepared items.
Don't add sugar to your infusion unless it is necessary to offset an extremely bitter ingredient. The natural flavors usually don't need it and you can always add a mixer when serving if you prefer.
Try two sticks of cinnamon and half a vanilla pod. After two weeks you will get a deep orange color and a full, rich spicy flavor. Try it with homemade ginger beer in the summer.
Use a medium-grade vodka, one that could be served straight up. Bottom-shelf vodkas can add an unpleasant aftertaste and there's no reason to break the bank for premium vodkas when most of the flavor will be coming from your ingredients.
In Sweden, herb-infused vodkas are known as schnapps, and are a customary part of the Christmas smorgasbord.
Fruits will continue to ripen while infusing. Remove fruits before they get overripe or brown, as this will impact the flavor of your recipe. Replace them with fresh fruits for decorative purposes.
Make a wonderful Christmas vodka using cranberries (which make the vodka turn pale pink) and a vanilla pod for flavor.
Try using nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds. To enriched the flavor and release their natural oils, toast in the oven before adding to your vodka.

Warnings

Make sure there is no odor or residue in the infusion jar. You don't want it to pick up whatever was in there before, such as soap or pickles!
If you crush the berries before adding them, it will cloud the liquid and look quite unappetizing.
If you're displaying the infusion jar, be prepared for the color to leave the fruit over time. Thus, your strawberries may turn a ghostly white!

Experience a room underneath the ocean for a night

Here is Pemba Island in Zanzibar. The Manta Resort’s new room  styles on this Island are fascinating. The island is a tropical island with hotel rooms like any other – except that it floats anchored above a shallow coastal coral reef.

The bedroom, which was opened just this month, is located in a room below deck that has large viewing glasses offering guests a view of the colorful aquatic world outside. Above deck, a three-story structure gives guests all the amenities of a regular hotel room, albeit with an incredible view.

By day, tropical fish and other sea organisms float and swim by the window. At night, lights illuminate the water outside the windows, attracting squids and other otherwise shy sea creatures. The whole thing is anchored about 250m from the coast. Can you imagine being rocked to sleep by gentle waves, waking up in the morning and diving in to swim with tropical fish? If so, you also better imagine shelling out $1,500 USD a night for two or $900 USD for a single occupant.

The creator of the floating room, Mikael Genberg, first created an underwater hotel room in Sweden called Utter Inn (Otter Inn). The single room floats in the middle of Lake Mälaren and, like at the Pemba Island room, gives occupants an enchanting underwater view of the lake’s fishes from its under-water bedroom.

Colorful Storm over Texas

Cute little puppies out for a walk for their first time

These cute eight little puppies are out for the first time , having their first walk and they are wondering who this lad might be!?

Weird Bridal Photography

This is in Tehran. An Iranian couple decided to take some odd places into consideration for their bridal set of photos. 

Top 10 Horror Movies of All Time

It might not be an easy task to list these films easily and exactly according to a criteria. However these are no doubt some of the best and highest ranked movies which one must see if he/she is a "Horror Movies Fan". 

A Famous Scene from "The Shining"

1. The Shining (1980)

A Masterpiece of horror movies by Stanley Kubrick. No doubt it will bring you to the edge of your seat without showing you that much of cinematography effects or ... It will give you a feeling you will never forget experiencing it! A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.



2. Psycho (1960)

This is perhaps way too famous not to be seen by anyone as the best movie of Alfred Hitchcock. A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.



3. The Thing (1982)

What you fear most... is among you.Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.



4. The Exorcist (1973)

Poster of "The Exorcist"

A great movie and memorable one by William Friedkin. When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.





5. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

A former child star torments her crippled sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.



6. Alien (1979)

This is one of the greatest movie of all time by director Ridley Scott. The commercial vessel Nostromo receives a distress call from an unexplored planet. After searching for survivors, the crew heads home only to realize that a deadly bioform has joined them.

Poster of "Rosemary's Baby"

7. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

One of the early works of Roman Polanski. A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.








8. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall. 




9. Let the Right One In (2008)

A Scene from "Let the right one in"

This movie is in this list mainly because aside from the elements of a classic horro movie it has many additional emotional moments of touch which is a new experience all in all. Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.






10. Kandisha (2008)

Shattered by the loss of her child, Nyla Jayde, a brilliant criminal defense attorney, takes on a case involving a 14th century Moroccan legend, a vengeful spirit named "Kandisha".

The Great Powers of the World & Their Nuclear Weapons

Have you ever wondered where are those nuclear weapons that they all fear and talk about?