sweet tea liqueur and limoncello

Update: Both the rum and the ginger beer turned out fantastic. The rum is pretty lightly flavored. I steeped one bottle with vanilla, allspice, clove, and cardamom. The other bottle was flavored with the same, plus peppercorn and orange zest.

This summer has been more about experimenting with booze flavors than food flavors. I decided to try my hand at infusing some stuff. I can't get everclear, or anything of that proof, here in Washington so I use 100-proof vodka. Here are recipes for limoncello and sweet tea liqueur.

Sweet Tea Liqueur
750 ml vodka or neutral grain spirit
3 T loose black tea
38 oz sugar
38 oz water

Steep tea in alcohol for 3-4 hours. Filter out tea leaves, discard. Combine sugar and water in small pot over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves to make simple syrup. Allow simple syrup to cool to room temperature. Combine simple syrup and tea vodka. Allow to chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Limoncello
750 ml vodka or neutral grain spirit
10-12 lemons, depending on size
38 oz sugar
38 oz water

Zest lemons using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, being very careful to get little to no pith (the white part beneath the thin yellow outer layer). Place lemon zest in alcohol, and let steep for 1-2 weeks. Make some simple syrup, as detailed in the sweet tea liqueur recipe. Combine simple syrup and lemon vodka. Allow to chill at least 2 hours before serving.

I plan on adding the sweet tea liqueur to whiskey, and either drinking the limoncello straight or combining it with gin and maybe a bit of rosemary syrup.