Flavoring spirits by soaking herbs, spices and fruits in them is nothing new. In fact, the practice is almost as old as distilling itself. But in the last four or five years, since cocktails went craft, infused booze (flavored with anything and everything, including meat) is big and getting bigger. It's not a flash-in-the-pan fad but a keeper for one simple reason: infusions add complexity to a cocktail.
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When it comes to infused booze, Searsucker in Scottsdale has got it going on, offering eight infusions on its cocktail menu, many of them making their way into signature cocktails ($12), all of them available to be sipped neat or mixed in other boozy beverages for an extra flavor dimension ($11). The infusion that got my undivided attention? Buttered popcorn tequila, which falls into the super-trendy subcategory known as "fat-washed."
