Best Alcohol-Infused Fruits & Vegetables

No room for a photo booth in your studio apartment? Take your party to the next level another way: with booze-infused fruit. Though most people might be familiar with sticking a bottle of cheap vodka into a watermelon, there are plenty of other fruits and even vegetables that work just as well (and taste much better).

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These boozy party favors are easy to make at home; simply soak your mixture of choice overnight in a mason jar or tightly closed container and store in a cool, dark place until it's time for the main event.

Here are seven homemade sweet and savory spirits to kick your summer up a notch.

Those leftover berries from your strawberry shortcake can also be used to make another sweet treat: boozy chocolate-covered strawberries. Put a lively spin on the classic by marinating strawberries in Champagne overnight, and then dipping them into melted chocolate. 

Grilled pineapple is one way to the enjoy this fruit, but better yet, use it to make homemade pineapple rum. One approach is to simply let chunks soak in your favorite rum for about a week, strain and discard the fruit, and then use the liquid in a summer cocktail. But you can also turn your experiment into a display by layering pineapple slices in a large glass jar, adding the rum and letting people mix the juice with other ingredients.

Turn summer's juiciest fruit into a festive cocktail mixer by soaking sliced peaches in bourbon. Remove the skin, slice the flesh and store in a mason jar with bourbon for about three days. Nothing says summer like a refreshing peach cocktail. 

Another way to beat the summer heat is with a refreshing cucumber cocktail, so take it to the next level by serving homemade cucumber gin. Simply slice cucumbers and add them to a jar with a few leaves of basil and the gin of your choice. Your work here is done.

If spicy cocktails are more your speed, you're going to be all over this jalapeño-infused tequila. Slice the peppers and let them soak in the liquor for a few hours up to a week depending on how hot you like it. Make sure to strain the peppers and seeds before adding to your margarita.

These tiny berries pack quite a punch—once you soak them in alcohol, of course. Make homemade blueberry vodka by lightly muddling the fruit in a jar with vodka and letting it sit for a few days before straining and adding to your favorite cocktail. You can also make a boozy dessert garnish by soaking halved berries for a few hours in the alcohol, then topping off your favorite scoop of ice cream or tart.

Infusing bourbon with cherries adds a slight sweetness to whiskey and is easy to do at home. Cut the cherries in half (pit removal optional) and leave them to soak in bourbon for at least a week, so all of the flavor is extracted. Enjoy on its own or combine with bitters and an orange peel for an elevated take on the old-fashioned.