Another year is drawing to a close AKA the holiday season is upon us. As the usual holiday hustle and bustle settles upon us like a layer of fresh snow, our thoughts have turned to all things Christmas. This includes thoughtful gifts, delicious feasts and family visits. While Everclear may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas, the creative uses of this versatile and high-proof spirit will have it become your secret ingredient for making this holiday season extra special for the cannabis lover in your life (yes, that includes you!)

With an odorless, flavorless and colorless composition, Everclear offers a blank canvas with which you can let your imagination run wild. The clean palette of this American-made, 190-proof grain alcohol encourages you to unleash your creativity and concoct a range of creations in the kitchen—and beyond. Everclear can also be used for many other purposes in your home, from making your own perfume to cleaning and more.

In this article, we’ll unwrap the magic of Everclear and explore five creative uses that will transform your Christmas celebrations.

Maximize Your Recipes

Christmas is often synonymous with indulgent feasts—and Everclear can be your culinary ally in the kitchen. With its high alcohol content, Everclear is an excellent choice for extracting flavors from herbs, spices and fruits, creating vibrant extracts that elevate your recipes. Whether you’re infusing holiday cookies with a burst of citrus zest or crafting a homemade vanilla extract for your cakes and desserts, Everclear’s neutral flavor profile and exceptional extracting power make it a valuable addition to your holiday baking arsenal.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ditch the canned berries for delicious, homemade cranberry sauce. In this recipe by acclaimed cannabis chef Vanessa Dora Lavorato, Everclear softens berries and captures their sweet/tart taste in this fresh take on the seasonal sauce.

Ingredients:

• 24 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 tbsp Everclear
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 orange peels, pith removed
• Juice of an orange
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Instructions:

1. Combine cranberries, Everclear, sugar and orange peel in a bowl. Let macerate overnight.
2. In a saucepan, add macerated cranberries with orange juice and salt. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce thickens and cranberries pop.
3. Remove from heat and mix in pomegranate seeds.

Clean Your House for Guests

Preparing your home for holiday guests can be daunting, but Everclear is here to help. Its potent disinfectant properties can be harnessed for creating DIY cleaning solutions that leave your home sparkling and fresh. From sanitizing countertops to reviving dingy glassware, Everclear-based cleaning solutions are effective and eco-friendly, ensuring your home is a welcoming and pristine haven for your loved ones. It also helps to eliminate the smell of cannabis, too.

Create Thoughtful Gifts

The creative uses of Everclear can bring a delightful and personal touch to your Christmas presents. Consider gifting homemade liqueurs, flavored extracts or even handcrafted cocktail kits featuring your favorite Everclear-based concoctions. The pinch of effort and a sprinkling of love you’ll put into creating these thoughtful gifts will surely warm the hearts of your recipients, making the holidays feel even more special. Get some inspiration here.

Everclear Odor-Fighting Spray

One of the most straightforward and efficient ways to neutralize cannabis odors is by making an Everclear spray. You’ll need a spray bottle, Everclear (preferably 190 proof) and water. Mix equal parts of Everclear and water in the spray bottle, shake it well and you have a powerful, odor-fighting solution at your disposal. Everclear will eliminate persistent cannabis scents from your home thanks to its high alcohol content, which acts as a potent deodorizing agent. 

Create Thoughtful Gifts

Everclear can bring a delightful and personal touch to your Christmas presents. Consider gifting homemade liqueurs, flavored extracts or even handcrafted cocktail kits featuring your favorite Everclear-based concoctions. The pinch of effort and a sprinkling of love you’ll put into creating these thoughtful gifts will surely warm the hearts of your recipients, making the holidays feel even more special. Get some inspiration here.

Produce Effective Tinctures

Tinctures have been used for centuries to extract the beneficial properties of herbs and spices—and Everclear makes the ideal base. Cannabis tinctures are traditionally made with food-grade, high-proof grain alcohol to remove terpenes and cannabinoids from the plant’s foliage. With a concentration of 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof), Everclear is one of the best choices for making tinctures. That’s because the higher the alcohol percentage, the more effectively it dissolves the plant’s compounds—resulting in a more efficacious end product. Ed Rosenthal has an easy-to-follow technique for making tinctures you can read here.

Elevate Your Cocktails

The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a proper old-fashioned toast to good times. Everclear can be your secret weapon for crafting signature cocktails to impress your guests. From vibrant fruit punches to festive flavors, the high proof of this grain alcohol allows you to create bold libations that will add joy to your celebrations. And of course, you can always add a drop or two of your cannabis tincture if you prefer.

Holiday Highball Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz. Fall Flavors Infusion
• Club soda
• Slice of Red Delicious apple
• Slice of Granny Smith apple

Instructions:

1. Combine Fall Flavors Infusion and club soda in a highball glass full of ice
2. Stir briefly
3. Garnish with both apple slices

This Christmas, let Everclear be your versatile holiday helper. The creative uses are endless!

PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. Everclear® Grain Alcohol is 75.5%-95% Alc./Vol. (120-190 Proof), ©2023 Luxco®, Inc., St. Louis, MO.

The post 5 Creative Uses for Everclear This Holiday Season appeared first on Cannabis Now.

Ah, fall! The time of year when Mother Nature paints the landscape in shades of russet and ruby. We start pulling on our coziest sweaters, the air becomes fragranced with all things cinnamon, and crispy fallen leaves crunch underfoot. You have an overwhelming urge to visit a pumpkin patch or go apple picking.

The changing of the seasons also activates our taste buds to start craving foods that are warm, comforting—and pumpkin-spiced. And if there’s one thing cannabis lovers know, it’s that delicious recipes are always in season. By adding a splash of Everclear grain alcohol to your cooking, your fall recipes will pop, and flavors will flicker like Jack-o’-lanterns.

Four Delicious Recipes for Fall

If you’re unfamiliar with Everclear, it’s not just any spirit. The clean palette of Everclear can be used as a blank canvas for creating your own kitchen concoctions. This versatile grain alcohol packs a punch but serves as an ideal base for infusions, tinctures and a zesty spin on beloved autumn recipes. Its subtle flavor expertly enhances flavors and spices rather than overshadowing them. It adds a little extra magic—a hint of something you can’t quite place but keeps you coming back for more.

These four delicious fall recipes all use Everclear to enhance the flavors of fall, but you can enjoy them all year round.

Fall Flavors Infusion

Prep: 15 minutes

Steep: 24 hours

Yield: 24 oz.

Whether it’s fall or you’re just hoping to elicit fond memories of costume parties, comfort food and football, this Fall Flavors Infusion recipe will do the trick. It uses apples, cranberries and spices to create what should be dubbed as the official taste of autumn.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup chopped Granny Smith apples
• ¾ cup chopped Red Delicious apples
• ¾ cup chopped cranberries
• 2 allspice berries
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 oz. Everclear
• 10 oz. filtered water
• 4 oz. simple syrup

Instructions

1. Chop cranberries and apples with a food processor or knife, then measure ¾ cup of each.
2. Combine chopped fruit with Everclear, allspice, cloves and cinnamon in a large, sealable container.
3. Shake thoroughly.
4. Let steep in a cool, dark place for 24 hours.
5. Strain out all solids with a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter.
6. Add simple syrup and water.
7. Stir, bottle and enjoy.

Tip: Fresh cranberries are certainly preferred, but frozen will also work in a pinch or if they’re out of season.

Harvest Spice Infusion

Prep: 15 minutes

Steep: 14 days

Yield: ~500ml

A cornucopia of autumnal flavor. After all, it’s just not fall without a little harvest spice infusion.

Ingredients

• 500ml butter washed Everclear
• ½ c. fresh ginger
• ½ c. whole nutmeg
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ c. whole cloves

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a sealed mason jar.
2. Place in refrigerator and store for at least two weeks. Shake occasionally.
3. Pro tip: Place ingredients in a spice bag for easy removal

Sweet Preserved Pears

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Steep: 4 weeks

Yield: 1 qt

Extend pear season into the entire year with this sweet recipe. Inspired by the German fruit-preserving tradition of “rumptof,” the resulting pears have a slightly more complex flavor owing to the dried fruits and vanilla. This makes them a perfect complement to baked desserts and ice cream alike.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. pears (halved, peeled and cored)
• ½ lb. dried fruit (such as apricots, peaches or prunes)
• 2 ¼ c. white sugar
• 1 vanilla bean (cut in half)
• the peel of 1 orange (with all pith removed)
• 1 ½-2 c. Everclear

Instructions

1. In a 1-quart mason jar, stack the pears, alternating with dried fruit and pieces of orange peel in between. Add in vanilla bean.
2. In a pot, combine the sugar with just enough water to wet thoroughly (about 1/4 to 1/2 c.) and heat. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved, or about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. Pour sugar solution over the pears. Top with enough Everclear to fill the mason jar. Close tightly.
4. Store mason jar in a cool, dark place for at least one month. Pears will be ready to enjoy in a month.

Pumpkin Spice Shake

No self-respecting fall recipe list is complete without a delicious pumpkin spice drink. Shake it up with this boozy confection.

Ingredients

• ½ oz. Harvest spice infusion
• 3-4 scoops vanilla ice cream
• 2 tbsp. pumpkin puree
• ½ c. milk or milk alternative
• whipped cream
• ground nutmeg, for garnish

Instructions

1. Place Harvest Spice Infusion, ice cream, pumpkin puree and milk in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into glass.
3. Top with whipped cream and freshly ground nutmeg.

If you enjoy spiciness in your cannabis from terpenes like caryophyllene and myrcene, try whipping up these delicious fall recipes to enhance your season.

PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. Everclear® Grain Alcohol is 75.5%-95% Alc./Vol. (120-190 Proof), ©2023 Luxco®, Inc., St. Louis, MO

The post Everclear-Infused Recipes for Fall appeared first on Cannabis Now.