Are you ready to take your cocktail game to the next level? With a DIY cocktail infusion kit, you can create deliciously unique flavors at home, transforming your favorite spirits into personalized concoctions that will wow your friends and add a special touch to any gathering. Making your own infused spirits to add flair to your cocktails is simple and fun!

A mason jar with infusing orange slices, cinnamon stick and cloves

I love playing in the kitchen—being able to coax out intense or subtle flavors from high quality ingredients lets you taste the herbs and spices in new ways! Infusing spirits feels like magic to me…

And magic is always a good gift to give!

Remember to save a jar or two so you can gift yourself as well. 😉

I’ve gotten rave reviews from friends who’ve sipped the results of these infusions so far. They are simple to put together and fun to give—and better than the store-bought versions in so many ways (especially because you can pronounce all the ingredients!). Plus, they can shine bright in their presentation, or be as homey as you like!

For more holiday gift ideas visit my Gift Guide to give from the heart

Gather Ingredients for Your Cocktail Infusion Kit

Tray of dried ingredients to make DIY cocktail infusion kits. Cherries, cloves, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks and star anise.

Similar to mixing and matching herbs for teas from dried-up leaves, infusing imparts flavors (or healing properties like in calendula oil for making salve) without the heat. Letting herbs and spices impart their flavor at room temperature takes longer—but also brings with it subtler scents and layers of flavor.

I have just started seeing these kits in a few specialty shops and farmers markets and they are not cheap! But luckily, making them at home is quite inexpensive.

If making for yourself, you can use fresh ingredients (fresh orange or apple slices and cherries), but these make really fun gifts when fully dehydrated ingredients are added to the jars. Gifting dehydrated ingredients lets the person who receives the gift choose when they want to make the infusion themselves. You can gift with a bottle of spirits or without.

Dried orange slices, cherries, and cinnamon sticks arranged on a countertop and placed in glass jars to make DIY cocktail infusion kits.

Dehydrating

Just a note on how easy it is to dehydrate citrus and apple slices…

Rack of drying orange slices in an oven.

Slice thin, and use any number of ways to dehydrate. The length of time it takes to dehydrate correlates to how thick the slices are.

  • An oven at 225F for a few hours
  • A dehydrator for 5–10 hours
  • On top of a wood stove for 6–8 hours

I will also say, these kits make great teas too. I’ve added the cocktail infusion kit contents to a teapot of hot water and simmered for a few minutes, similar to chai tea. The Citrus + Spice is my kids’ favorite winter tea!

You can mix and match ingredients up to a certain point… staying in the same flavor families will help!

I’ve got a great article on Harvesting and Preserving Herbs as well.

Cocktail Infusion Kit Recipes

Sweet Citrus + Spice
2–4 Orange slices
3–4 Cherries
1 Cinnamon stick
3–5 Whole cloves
1 Star anise
2 Sugar cubes

Mulling Time
2–3 Apple slices
1 Cinnamon stick
2 slices ginger
2–3 whole cloves
1–2 Sugar cubes

Whole Lotta Hygge
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Cardamom pod
2–3 slices ginger
1/4 vanilla bean

*Recipes amounts are per 12 oz. Glass Jar*

If you have extra ingredients, many of these same items transfer to other winter favorites. My Chai Tea Recipe is simple and delicious, or my Stovetop Potpourri Recipe that I shared with Hobby Farms Magazine.

Jars of infusing whisky with orange slices, cinnamon stick, dried cherries cloves and star anise.

Infusing

To let the flavors release and meld takes a little time. And while you’re waiting, you can always sip and see if you like the flavor. You’ve got complete control here, so if you want more or less of something in the final flavor, add or remove ingredients at any point.

Presentation

Jars of DIY cocktail infusion kits. With tags and Cherries, cloves, dried orange slices, sugar cubes, cinnamon sticks and star anise.

Once you’ve added dry ingredients to jars, you can give as is, or dress up the jars with fabric on the lids, cute tags, and ties.

Make sure to include instructions on how to make the infusion.

On my most recent tags I wrote:
HOLIDAY CHEERS!

Add whisky/bourbon to cover ingredients. Replace lid. Let infuse at room temperature for 3–6 days. Strain + Enjoy!

Strain + Sip

I prefer adding hot water (not quite boiling because we don’t want to burn off the alcohol) and the infused whisky to a mug and sipping by the fire for full enjoyment.

Pair this with a good (but not the finest) whisky, bourbon, or spirit of your choice and whoa, you’ve got yourself a delicious, homemade concoction unlike anything you can buy in the store.

Two jars containing a cocktail infusion kit before and after infusing whisky.

And while I haven’t tried adding smoke to these yet, that may be my new way to play with my drinks next winter. Always good to have something to look forward to!

If you’ve got some whisky that was just so-so, this could really spice it up, and is actually what lead me to try different infusing recipes…

Holiday Cheer + Cheers to you and yours!

-Michelle