Fight me all you want, but it ain't a party without alcohol—whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party, dinner party, or even a damn wedding. (If you think that people will stick around after dinner for a dry wedding, then you're sorely mistaken.)
And while we'd all love to cheers to the new year with Cristal or sip Macallan in our smoking jackets, not all of us are ballers... and almost every single one of us appreciates a good way to improve our enjoyment of booze, whether slightly mediocre or just plain shitty.
So here's to you, our intelligent fellow hackers, and here's to a lifetime of good drinks.
From sake to Amaretto to jalapeño liquor, stock your liquor cabinet with homemade brews and infusions.
1. Turn Juice into Booze with a Yeast Packet
Measure out the amount of yeast you'll need for the amount of juice you're using, then add it to the juice and wait for 72 hours. Boom, baby: homemade booze!
2. You Can Make Your Own Sake with Yeast, Too
Cook some sticky rice, then layer it with powdered yeast from the Asian supermarket and let it sit for a few days to make sake.
3. All You Need to Make Kahlua Is Vodka & Your Favorite Coffee
Combine your coffee grounds and vodka (or whiskey!) in a 1:4 ratio for 14 hours, then add vanilla and sugar to make a tasty homemade Kahlua.
4. All You Need for Bacon Bourbon... Is Fresh Bacon Fat & Bourbon
Mix the two together for 14 hours, then freeze the mixture to solidify the fat and separate it from the liquor. Mmm, bacon booze.
5. Skittles Vodka Is... You Guessed It, Skittles & Vodka Only
Just fill a bottle halfway with Skittles, then fill the rest of the bottle with vodka and let it sit overnight.
6. Lemonheads Vodka Is Easy to Make at Home, Too
Soak Lemonheads in vodka overnight, and you're good to go.
7. Hell, Make Any Kind of Infusion You Want—Jalapeños, Fruit, Anything
Just "marinate" anything you want your alcohol to taste like for a few days, filter, then enjoy.
8. Amaretto Is Easy to Make, Too
Combine almonds, dried cherries, dried apricots, brandy, and vodka together, then—you guessed it— play the waiting game to allow the flavors to really infuse. After 3-4 weeks, your homemade Amaretto will be delicious and well-worth the wait.
Here are a few nifty hacks to save you from making that awful shot face.
9. Fix Your Shitty Vodka with a Water Filter
Just run your awful vodka through a water filter pitcher (like Brita or Pur) 4-5 times and you'll immediately taste a difference.
10. And Bad Beer Tastes Better with Some Bitters
Add a few drops of your favorite bitters to any skunky or low-quality beer to vastly improve its taste.
11. You Can Also Infuse Beer with Fruit Using a French Press
Place the beer with whatever you'd like to infuse it with in a French press for 3 minutes, then press the plunger down and enjoy.
12. If You've Got Really Shitty Wine, Try Throwing It in a Blender
30-60 seconds of hypercanting will aerate your wine in a flash.
13. You Can Mull It, Too—Cook It for Hours with Delicious Spices
Add fruits like apples and oranges to get that delicious mulled wine flavor that screams of cold weather and cozy nights.
14. Liquid Smoke, Vanilla Extract & Sherry Can Improve Your Bourbon Immensely
These flavors mimic an aged bourbon, aka a bourbon that doesn't taste like crap.
15. Stuck on a Plane with Bad Booze? Bring Your Own Mixers
You don't have to settle for a cranberry vodka if you come prepared.
16. Maybe You Just Need to Learn How to Find Better Booze
These cool phone apps for both iPhone and Android make it a snap to find decent drinks.
17. True Story: Best Way to Avoid Crappy Wine Is to Buy Good Wine at Good Prices
We've got 8 smart ways to get your wine fix without breaking the bank.
18. Add a Few Drops of Water to Your Whisky to Make It Taste Better
Less is more with really good whisky—just a few drops will open up the nose and vastly improve the flavor.
It turns out that vodka is the wonder liquor you need and deserve.
19. Alcohol Undrinkable? Make Baking Extracts with Your Bad Vodka
Just let your mint, vanilla, or whatever you want to make extracts out of steep for a few weeks, then use in recipes as desired.
20. You Can Make Liquid Smoke with Crappy Vodka, Too
Simmer vodka, oil, and smoked salt for a few minutes, then steep it for an hour. After it's been strained, you can use your new liquid smoke in anything that could use that tasty grilled flavor.
21. Get Rid of (Your) Stank on Clothes with Vodka
Put some of your crappy vodka in a spray bottle, then lightly spritz your clothes. When the alcohol evaporates, it'll take the smelly odor with it.
22. And Apparently, Vodka Removes Stains, Too
We tried removing red wine, chocolate, and bacon fat stains with vodka as a stain remover and it worked wonders.
23. Did You Know That Vodka Makes an Amazing, Flaky Pie Crust?
Just use vodka instead of water in your favorite pie crust recipe and prepare to be amazed.
24. Damn, Vodka Makes Great Ice Packs, Too?! Vodka Is the Best!
Mix a 2:1 ratio of water to high-proof vodka (such as Everclear), then double-seal the resealable bag with another bag. Ta-dah!
Alcohol makes everything better, and that includes food.
25. Liquor Up Your Citrus Fruit to Get Drunk in Public on the Sly
Inject the fruit with liquor at lots of different angles to evenly distribute the alcohol, then let it sit overnight and enjoy your secret drunken fruit the next day.
26. Cooking with Alcohol Enhances the Smell of Your Food—It's Science!
The strong smell of alcohol evaporates quickly because of its volatile molecules; because of this, the fragrance of whatever it's mixed with reaches your nose faster than it would without alcohol.
27. And Adding Liquor to Your Fried Chicken Batter Makes It Extra-Crispy
The alcohol cooks off immediately when introduced to heat, leaving a drier, crispier crust.
28. Throw Bitters into Fruit Pies to Bring Out Their Vibrant, Complex Flavor
Just a dash of bitters can brighten the flavor of anything from rhubarb to apple pies.
29. Don't Forget That You Can Deglaze Your Pan with Wine or Beer
Just pour a little wine or beer on your pan to scrape up the caramelized drippings from your sautéed meats or veggies to deglaze it (and make a freaking delicious base for your pan sauce).
30. You Can Poach Your Eggs in Beer—& It Is Awesome
Just poach your egg with beer and a bit of butter to kick up that humdrum Eggs Benedict.
31. Love Brunch? Then Make Red Wine Syrup for Your French Toast or Waffles
This red wine syrup only requires red wine, sugar, and water.
32. Reduce the Carcinogens in Your Grilled Meat by Marinating It in Beer
Researchers in Portugal found that pork marinated in beer before being grilled had less carcinogens in it afterward than pork that wasn't marinated at all.
33. Have Your Shots & Eat Them, Too—With Edible Shot Glasses
Meatballs, fruits, and even cookies make this yummy list of what foods you can (and should) turn into shooters.
There's a special place in heaven for cool, refreshing (alcoholic) drinks.
34. Speaking of Brunch, Keep Your Champagne Bubbly by Keeping It Extra Cold
No, the spoon trick doesn't work. The only thing that will is to keep your leftover champagne in the fridge or on ice to preserve the carbon dioxide gas (and therefore, the bubbles).
35. And Chill a Cocktail Correctly by Shaking It, Not Stirring It
James Bond was right: shaken, not stirred cocktails can be up to 10 degrees colder.
36. The Best Way to Make Wine Slushies Is to Freeze the Wine in Cubes Beforehand
Once your cubes are totally frozen, just pop them in the blender and pulse for cool, refreshing wine slushies.
37. Make Smoked Ice to Give Your Cocktail Complexity
Just smoke your ice on the grill with the lid on until it melts, then put the water back into your ice cube tray and freeze it. The smoky flavor will add tons of interesting complexity to your everyday cocktails.
38. Mix Ice, Cold Water & Salt for Super-Cold Beer in Mere Minutes
This is really helpful when you need cold beer ASAP (which is all the time, basically).
39. Use a Binder Clip to Store Your Beer in the Fridge
I think the picture says it all.
40. Extend the Life of Your Opened Wine by Putting It in the Fridge with a Cork
The cold air in your fridge cuts down on the oxidation that occurs to your opened wine (which eventually causes that sour, flat taste we all know and hate).
Where the glasses clink and we never stop at one drink.
41. The Perfect Ratio for a Cocktail Is 2:1:1
This magical cocktail ratio stands for 2 parts liquor, 1 part sour, and 1 part sweet. Time to create new cocktails named after you, am I right?
42. Don't Have a Shaker? Use a Mason Jar Instead
A pretty straightforward (but genius) use for your everyday mason jar.
43. Slap the Herbs You're Adding to Your Cocktail for Better Flavor
That singular slap breaks open the outer cell structure of the herb, releasing its aroma. And our sense of smell has a really strong effect on our sense of taste. So slap away!
44. Use a Rolling Pin to Muddle Your Cocktail Herbs & Fruits
No need for fancy bar equipment when you've got a rolling pin.
45. Grenadine Syrup Is Just a 4:1 Ratio of Pomegranate Juice to Sugar
Don't buy that corn syrup-laden junk at the store. Just add the ingredients together over heat and reduce the liquid until it becomes syrupy.
46. Throw Beer into Your Cocktails for an Extra Punch of Alcohol (& Flavor)
Margaritas, for example, are twice as nice with Corona. Mmm... beertails.
47. Here's How to Make Alcoholic Butterbeer—For the Wizard in All of Us
Graduate from Hogwarts with these adult twists on butterbeer.
That these random hacks with alcohol are awesome.
48. True Story: You Can Turn a Watermelon into a Keg
It's as simple as digging out the watermelon flesh and drilling a hole for the spigot at the bottom of the rind.
49. For the Best Tasting Beer, Let It Sit Out of the Fridge a Few Minutes
Too-cold beer can disguise the more subtle flavors brewed into your favorite drinks. So let it sit out for a few minutes, then drink it.
50. You Can Open a Beer Bottle with a Spoon, Keys, Paper, a Shoe, a Machete...
Yeah, you heard that right. And the list goes on.
51. And You Can Open a Wine Bottle with... a Blowtorch?!
52. Amber Bottles Are Better for Beer Than Clear or Green Bottles
Amber bottles block out the most UV rays, which can make for some seriously skunky beer.
53. Beer Can Also Polish Wooden Furniture, Copper Pots & Remove Stains
Beer is truly a magical elixir with many non-drinking uses.
54. Soak Melon Slices with Margarita, Then Put Them on Popsicle Sticks
This is a super-cute, summery way to enjoy fruit and alcohol by the pool.
55. Hate Waiting? Make Sangria in 5 Minutes with a Wine Saver
Put all of your ingredients in a bottle, then furiously pump your vacuum wine saver to draw out the air and encourage the fruit inside to soak up the wine.
56. Stay (More) Sober by Eating a Teaspoon of Yeast Before Going Out
Play it cool while looking like a tank by putting a teaspoon of yeast in a yogurt cup (or something similarly good at disguising flavors) and downing it before you go out.
So get your drink on, and pour one out for your homies here at Food Hacks Daily.
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