Frugal Fritz and I like to indulge in the occasional vodka drink, and have found some nice places to sample quite a few varieties of these libations -- our favorite happens to be Red Square in Atlantic City.  Of course, this is only when we’re not feeling especially thrifty or frugal. We have also grown very fond of the many flavored vodkas that are out there, such as Van Gogh's Double Espresso Vodka, Three Olives Root Beer Vodka, and my personal favorite, the subtle flavor of Bison Grass Vodka (which I can finally get through the SAQ!).

However, keeping things on budget is something we strive for everyday. As such, Frugal Fritz decided to create his own flavored vodkas this week.

He started this experiment with three 13 oz (375 ml) bottles of Finlandia vodka that he picked up for about $11 each, and added the following ingredients to each bottle:

• Bottle A: one dried chipotle chili pepper that was crushed by hand and broken into several small pieces, plus one teaspoon of ground chipotle
• Bottle B: six squished blackberries and their juice, plus six halved blackberries
• Bottle C: a tablespoon of roughly crushed coffee beans, one teaspoon of ground coffee, a tablespoon of brewed coffee, and half a teaspoon of instant coffee

Each bottle was then sealed up, shaken and set aside in a cool dark place that draws very little sunlight. Shaken for a few seconds about twice a day for about a week, the flavors added "infuse". After the week was up, we strained the vodka through a coffee filter to remove any sediments.

The results? Bottle A became a superbly spicy vodka, absolutely perfect for a spicy Bloody Caesar. Bottle B was very subtle and not as enjoyable as I would have hoped. I have seen infusion of gummy bears, which I think would have been better. Bottle C, the coffee flavored vodka, was pretty good, but I still prefer the Van Gogh Double Espresso.