Ava's Thyme Infused Rum Technique
From the Lady herself!
I have tried two techniques for infusing thyme into rum.
I prefer a light rum with a little funk so I used Plantation 3 Star rum.
The first technique is allowing the thyme to sit in the rum and the second is with a sous vide.
For the first option:
Using a scale, weigh out 75 grams of thyme.
Empty an entire 750ml bottle of white rum into a cambro or any container with a cover that will hold the liquid.
Do not throw out the empty rum bottle.
Place the thyme in the container with the rum and allow it to sit covered for 24 hours.
I find that 24 hours is perfect for this herb. It shines through the rum but doesn't dominate. I also used 100 grams of thyme once, and I felt that it was too overpowering, so I cut it with another half bottle of rum.
Once the 24 hours have passed, use a chinois with a coffee filter to remove all the plant matter from the spirit.
The rum will have changed color and might continue to change, but this is natural.
It is important to remove as much of the thyme as possible. Once you have strained the rum, place it back in its original bottle and label "Thyme Infused Rum."
With a sous vide:
Dump a whole 750ml bottle into a vacuum sealable bag.
Add 75g of thyme to the bag.
Seal the bag.
Using a deep metal pan or pot, fill it with warm water.
Secure the sous vide to the edge of the container, and set to 140 degrees.
Once the water has reached the desired temperature, place the vacuum sealed bag of thyme and rum in the water.
Allow to "cook" for 1 hour.
Prepare a second large container with ice so that once the hour is over, you can transfer the bag to the ice bath to stop the "cooking" process and begin the cooling process.
Once the rum is cooled, use a chinois with a coffee filter to remove all the plant matter from the spirit. Place the strained rum back in its original bottle and label "Thyme Infused Rum."
This process doesn't change the color of the rum as much, so don't worry if the color isn't very dark. The flavor will be there!