This is raw mango juice with a lot of Indian spices in it, vodka and some lime juice. Since I find the aftertaste of raw mango to be a little bitter, I added a tea spoonful of Triple Sec to cut the bitterness.

In anticipation of the Brooklyn girl coming home, made a Brooklyn for the evening. Rye Whiskey, dry Vermouth, sweet Vermouth, orange liqueur and maraschino liqueur.

Took Mike Sweigart and Hunt Jackson’s advice and did a half and half Old Fashioned today. (Half Rye Whiskey and half Bourbon). Have to say, I liked this more than the straight up Bourbon variety. Lot more complexity on the nose.

These days, I like my Old Fashioned a little sweeter. It used to be that I preferred it with extra bitters in the past.

Couple of twists in this drink – I used Old Fashioned sugar cube (you can get it from “The Bartender Atlanta”) and dried orange pieces to do the initial muddling. Bulleit Bourbon and Fee Brothers Old Fashioned bitters.

Gin, Green chartreuse and lime juice. The nose is all chartreuse but the palate had fairly strong notes of juniper. Good length too.

Elderflower liqueur, champagne and lemon juice

Strawberry Liquor and Vodka. If are wondering why the Texas vodka looks like an aged drink – this is the infused vodka that I made (with Tito’s).

Finished the full cycle of infusing vodka with grapefruit and ginger. Decided to try out some vodka tonic with it. Can’t say it was a big hit. The bitterness showed thru too much and the ginger in tonic water mixing with ginger in the infusion was not a good idea. Will try with soda water tomorrow.

Used the grapefruit and ginger infused vodka to make the first cocktail. The color difference will tell you it is infused vodka and not flavored vodka – which would have been clean in color. Also, Tito’s does not have a brown color – that happened to be an empty bottle I had handy.

So, this has my first ever infused vodka with Angostura bitters, lime juice and tonic water.

As I watch my vodka get infused, made a Rye Whiskey cocktail. Is it a crime that I did this while talking to my dearest friend – Mark Meade from Lexington – the Mecca of Bourbon Whiskey?