Homemade liqueurs and infusions

Making a liqueur at home is more waiting than working. You put the raw ingredient in alcohol, let it rest, and time does the rest: citrus peel gives up its oil in a few days, spices take weeks, and bitter barks can ask for a good month. The hands-on part is fifteen minutes; the rest is patience.

Two warnings that save disappointment. First, infuse each ingredient for as long as it needs rather than throwing everything in together on day one: whatever oversteeps turns bitter and there is no going back. Second, the sugar goes in at the end, once you know what the infusion actually tastes like — sweetening before that is deciding blind.