Pear Vodka Cocktail

This Pear Vodka Cocktail is made with a homemade pear and apple infused vodka, honey, lemon, a splash of pomegranate and ginger beer. It truly tastes (and looks!) like fall in a glass...agreed? While the homemade infused vodka isn't completely essential to the recipe, it's a fun project and makes for a great DIY gift!

Fall is finally here! We're in Switzerland at the moment visiting family and it's really feeling like late fall already. It's been in the low 50s every morning, the trees are starting to change colors and I'm loving it!

Cold, rainy weather is a great excuse to drink lots of hot coffee, enjoy a home cooked meal and work on a few fun projects you've been putting off. One of our favorite DIY projects is making homemade alcohol infusions.

In addition to enjoying it for yourself, infused alcohol also makes for a fantastic DIY holiday gift! Bring a bottle of this pear apple infused vodka to the host of your holiday meal - they'll definitely thank you. If you get a head start on making your infusions now, you'll have gifts ready all season.

You can infuse just about any liquor, all though some are better suited than others. Vodka is our go-to choice - it well-suited for just about any flavor combo. Plus, it's always easy to find, relatively cheap and we always seems to have an extra handle sitting around the house!

Even better, infused alcohol honestly couldn't be easier to make. Essentially, all you have to do is add your flavorings, let it infuse anywhere from a few days to a few weeks (depending on the recipe), then strain really well and store!

In this case, we used fresh sliced apple, pear, cinnamon and vanilla bean to infuse the vodka. The total infusion time is anywhere from 6-8 days, and it ends up being so flavorful that you barely even taste the vodka. I'd say I'm kidding, but I'm honestly not - it's miraculous!

In addition to adding to this pear pomegranate vodka cocktail, you could also add to just about any other fall-flavored cocktail.

Add it to this Fig Moscow Mule or this Apple Pear Martini. Or my favorite - make an extra boozy apple cider mimosa. Add a shot of this to a glass with champagne (or prosecco) and apple cider. So good!

If you don't make your own pear and apple infused vodka for this cocktail recipe, no fear! There are plenty of decent flavored vodka options on the market.

Or, you could nix the flavored vodka altogether and just add regular vodka. The infusion adds a lot more flavor, but the cocktail certainly still tastes good without it.

When it comes to mixing up the cocktail, simply shake everything up over ice for about 15 seconds. As a general rule of thumb, we shake for about as long as it takes to make the entire cocktail shaker cold & frosty.

This ends up taking anywhere from 10-20 seconds and helps ensure your cocktail will be nice and cold.

Then, top off with ginger beer for a bit of extra flavor and fizz. Alternatively, you can sub with club soda or even a flavored sparkling water.

We often use Spindrift sparkling waters in our cocktails - see here for a few easy ideas! Their lemon flavor would be especially perfect for this pear vodka cocktail.

When it comes to garnish, we like to get extra fancy with extra apple and pear slices and cinnamon sticks. It's totally up to you - there's no need to add anything (except maybe a large ice cube!).

If you'd like, you could actually multiply this recipe and make a large batch punch-style cocktail for a fall dinner party or holiday celebration.

In this case, we definitely suggest adding apple and pear slices and a few extra cinnamon sticks to the bowl. It adds extra flavor and makes for a gorgeous centerpiece for your bar/drink station!

Speaking of holiday celebrations, here's your end-of-post reminder to get started on some homemade liquor infusions! Truly the perfect DIY holiday gift for friends, family, hosts/hostesses, and anyone else that appreciates alcohol.

You can check out our full guide to infusing liquors here, but here are a few more recipes for inspiration:

• Fig Infused Vodka - another great fall infusion.
• Jalapeño Infused Tequila - this is a super easy infusion. It only takes about 24 hours to infuse, so you can make it on Thursday and have it for Friday night cocktails!
• Jasmine Tea Infused Vodka via Shutterbean - love the sound of this! Such a create use of tea.
• Homemade Limoncello via Kitchen Swagger - limoncello is a classic Italian dessert liqueur. It's quite sweet, very lemony, and surprisingly easy to make at home! We've always wanted to try it but haven't yet - maybe it will be our next project!

What's your favorite recipe for infused liquor? We'd love to hear in the comments below! If you make this pear vodka cocktail, be sure to tag us on Instagram so we can see!

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