by Dinah Wulf
Written By David Edessa
Candy Infused Booze- Cause the Candy Man Can!!!
This is great for Memorial Weekend… Especially since infusion has to be made at least two to three days prior.
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How to Make Candy Infused Alcohol
WARNING- Not for the under aged!!! Or the completely immature!!! 
Infusing alcohol candy and creating a candy flavored drink is nothing new. However, it always has been a fun thing to do for parties and the holidays. You can even create color matching with your party’s decor by separating the colors of the candy. There are two colorful candies that I personally find easiest to work with…. Skittles and Jolly Rancher, however, there are many more listed below. For the recipes I will be using Jolly Rancher (Skittles & Jelly Bean candy will also use the same procedure).
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Candies that can be used and flavors are…. (All flavors are not represented)
Jolly Rancher candies come in many different flavors, including:
Blue Raspberry, Watermelon, Cherry, Sour Green Apple, Sour Watermelon, Raspberry, Wild Strawberry, Raspberry Lemonade, and Peach.
Help Bring back Lemon Jolly Rancher -Unfortunately in 2004 lemon flavored Jolly Rancher was discontinued. It was one of my favorite flavors as a child. I believe that the Lemon Jolly Rancher would have made a great lemoncello like infused liqour.
Another great alternative is Jelly Belly Gourmet Jelly Beans and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. And if you are looking for a candy to use that is Kosher or Halal, then look no further….JELLY BELLY gourmet jelly beans.
Jelly Belly flavors:
Bubble Gum, Cantaloupe, Chili Mango, Juicy Pear, Kiwi, Mango, Orange Sherbet, Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Jam, Toasted Marshmallow, Tutti-Frutti, Wild Blackberry, Apricot, Chocolate Cherry Cake, Super Fruit Mix with Açaí Berry, Grape Crush, Orange Crush, and Pomegranate Cosmo.
Jelly Belly Sours flavors:
Sour Lemon, Sour Orange, and Sour Apple
Original Fruit Skittles:
- Blackcurrant (purple)
- Lemon (yellow)
- Lime (green)
- Orange (orange)
- Strawberry (red)
Tropical Skittles typically have two flavors in one skittle:
- Banana Berry (yellow)
- Kiwi Lime (green)
- Mango Tangelo (orange)
- Pineapple Passion fruit (blue)
- Strawberry Star fruit (pink)
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One 1.75 liter bottle of rhum or vodka. Do yourself a favor and utilize a reasonable priced liquor and always a clear liquor. There is no need to purchase an expensive vodka or rhum (nothing above 80 proof), but avoid utilizing rough cheap booze. Remember that the infuse liquor will still need to be mixed or shaken with something(mixer or liqueurs) to take that burn flavor from the alcohol away in your cocktail recipes.
Infusion Procedure:
I tried to be as generic as possible on main ingredients in the infusion procedure. The purpose is that you can utilize vodka or rhum and different candies based on your personal taste, yet the process is always the same. I used Jolly Rancher Sour Watermelon, Raspberry, Cherry, Wild Strawberry, and Peach for the cocktail recipes. And as for the booze I used rhum (rum).
Five empty plastic water bottles to split the liquor equally yet do not fill to the top. Also, if you do not have five containers you can purchase five pint flasks of vodka or rhum and pour into a bowl a quarter to half the liquor.
- 1.75mL Bottle White Rhum
- 3.75 lbs. bag of mixed Jolly Rancher hard candy.
- Five empty plastic water bottles
- A funnel
Make sure to cover your work area with newspapers or plastic, I also like to use rubber gloves. When infusing with candy it can get messy and stain your surface and hands as well.
Candy Ratio:
- 10 Skittles to 1 oz. of Booze
- 2 Jolly Ranchers to 1 oz. of Booze
- ¼ Cup single flavored Jelly Beans to 8 oz. of Booze
Separate your candies into five groups based on flavors. Set up your Infusion Bottles and fill your bottles with approximately 6 ounces of rhum or vodka in each. Pour the candies of one flavor into one bottle, and then repeat process until you have all five bottles filled with candy and liquor. Make sure your hands are dry before handling candy. You might have to top off containers with more booze, make sure to leave room in the bottle for agitation when shaking sealed bottles. You will see that the colored candy coating has already rubbed off into the liquor quickly, but the core of the candy still have a lot of dissolving to do. Let candy soak for 48 hours (Jolly Ranchers 24 hrs.) while shaking containers vigorously 2 to 3 times a day. Once they’re all dissolved, you’ll notice a lot of white muck or other particles floating at the top (depending on candy being used). Then strain and filter liquor after forty-eight hours using a dampened coffee filters and funnel or sieve (wetting the filter before putting it into the funnel and straining allows you to retain more of the liquor). Place four to five coffee filters in the funnel or sieve over a measuring cup. Then remove top filter every time you feel the filters are clogging from the candy particles. Some colors will need to be filtered through the process twice. Then I took the liquid from the measuring cup and poured it into a clean flask using a clean funnel. Repeat this process for each flavor. In the end, you’ll have about 5 containers holding 8 ounces of candy infused liquor in each. Place finished flasks in cooler to chill before serving.
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Cocktail #1
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Infused Strawberry or Raspberry Rhum
- ¼ oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
- 5 oz. Sprite
Instructions:
Pour lemon juice and rum over ice in a tall glass. Fill with Sprite.
Cocktail #2
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Infused Watermelon Rhum
- ½ oz. Peach Schnapps
- 5 oz. Sprite
Instructions:
Pour lime juice and rum over ice in a tall glass. Fill with Sprite.
Cocktail #3
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Any Infused Flavored Rhum
- 4 oz. Sprite
Instructions:
Add 2 oz. infused rum to tall glass filled with ice. Fill with Sprite.
Cocktail #4
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Any Infused Flavored Rhum
- 4 oz. Seagram’s Ginger Ale
Instructions:
Add 2 oz. infused rum to tall glass filled with ice. Fill with Ginger Ale.
Cocktail #5 (martini)
Ingredients:
- 1½ oz. Any Candy Infused Flavor Rhum
- ½ oz. orange liqueur (Triple Sec, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, etc.)
- 1 teaspoon superfine sugar or ½ oz. simple syrup
- ¾ oz. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Instructions:
Mix the infused booze, orange liqueur, sugar, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice; shake vigorously. Pour strained liquor into sugar-rimmed martini glass and garnish with a twisted peel of lemon. To create a sugar-rimmed glass, take a lemon wedge and rub the drinking surface of the glass so it is barely moist or flat plate of triple-sec. Dip the edge of the glass into a flat plate of superfine sugar. I recommend keeping plenty of room between the mix and the sugar rim (also avoids spillage on your carpet)
Cocktail #6
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. Raspberry or Cherry Infused Flavored Rhum
- 4 oz. Coca-Cola
Instructions:
Add 2 oz. infused rum to tall glass filled with ice. Fill with cola.
Shooter #1
Ingredients
- 1 oz. Any Candy Flavored Infused Rhum
- 8 oz. can Red Bull energy drink
Instructions:
Pour a small can of red bull into a tall glass. Add infused liquor and serve.
Shooter #2
Ingredients
- 1 oz. Any Candy Flavored Infused Rhum
- ½ oz. Triple-Sec
- 1 oz. Sour Mix
Instructions:
Pour all ingredients with ice into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously then strain into shot glasses.
The best thing with this infusion at a party setting is to keep it simple….. Even just straight as a shooter.
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DRINK RESPONSIBLE & DRINK SMART!!! And always follow the rainbow
