Forgo Christmas shopping by making your own liqueur and bottle it at home. Buy a couple huge bottles of neutral liquor. I find Bacardi is most affordable in my area, but vodka works as well. Don't buy budget brands here. This will still end up being affordable. Throw some herbs/spices/dried flavorings into the bottles. I have used cacao nibs, coffee, cinnamon, chai. Sweet things are easiest, bitter herbal liqueurs are harder to figure out.
You'll have to make room in the bottle for whatever flavor element you add (shucks you'll have to drink some rum), and you'll have to taste it occasionally to make sure it's strong enough. Leave the bottle for between a day and a month depending on how the taste is coming along.
Now strain the infusion through some cheesecloth squeezing the cloth after straining is done to get all the liquid out.
Boil up as much simple syrup as you have infusion after the straining in a stock pot. Simple syrup is a mixture of equal parts sugar and water boiled just till it's all dissolved. Let it cool for a few minutes so it's not steaming so strongly and then add the infusion. Taste to make sure it's sweet enough, if it isn't mix in some honey till it's as mellow as you'd like.
Finally bottle for your friends. If have a long gift giving list to take care of I suggest the bottle I used last year. If you don't have to give quite as many gifts then I'd recommend the bottle I'm using for my liqueur this year. The second bottle isn't quite as attractive, but it is much larger and more affordable.
I recommend throwing the bottles in the dishwasher right before using them and putting your precious liquid in while the glass is still piping hot. You mix will be roughly 40 proof, but it still never hurts to use good process. Ideally you want the bottle to sit for a month or so before you drink it. Things mellow a bit. Not sure of the chemistry, but it's true. So that's why I'm posting this so early.
All in all this year I'm going to end up with 12 giftable bottles of liqueur for roughly $70. These are really exceptionally luxurious gifts as well.
Every day we can do things that cut into the structures in our society that move money upwards. Having worked in high end kitchen retail though I can tell you that many business operate at a loss all year, and depend on the ridiculous consumer culture that has grown up around the holidays to make their entire business model profitable.
If society were distributing money to everyone then that really wouldn't be a problem. In a world where all the money flows to the top though sooner or later people are going to start doing for themselves again and the people at the top are going to have to remember that they NEED us to buy goods from their precious corporate stores. I say why wait till you have no choice. Learn how to make a good stuff now.
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