If you don’t know what musk sticks are, the flavour can be hard to explain, it’s a bit rosy and quite perfumed, a bit like Turkish Delight, but a bit different. I have a friend who gave them to some Americans on her trip to the States and they were not impressed with the flavour. One commented that they tasted ‘like a man’s cologne’. If you know what they are and love them, then this is for you.

I’ve had a fondness for flavoured vodka for quite a long time, and over the years we have experimented with many different fruits, spices and lollies. Being essentially tasteless, vodka easily draws the flavour out of whatever you put in it, allowing some delicious liqueurs to be created. Now, making these can take quite a while, but the reward is definitely worth the effort.

Musk Vodka
Makes 750ml

750ml vodka
200g packet musk sticks (I just use the home brand ones – I like their flavour better than others)

Pour about 1/4 of the vodka out of the bottle into a jug to leave room for the musk sticks. Break the sticks into pieces and drop them into the bottle. If there’s some room left, top up with remaining vodka. I never have any trouble sorting out what to do with the leftovers. Put the cap back on tightly and give it a good shake. Keep giving it a shake every other day until the sticks have all dissolved. Let it sit for about a month.

Ours sat in the storage unit like this for a year. It was still great, but the bottle would’ve required more work to clean it out than I could be bothered with, so I put ours into a decanter.

When ready, filter through a coffee filter into a jug. Clean out the bottle and then pour it back into the bottle, ready to enjoy. It’s quite sweet, so if you want to water it down, I’d suggest soda water rather than lemonade, but I just have it over ice.

I invented a cocktail using the Musk Vodka. It’s called Nana’s Knickers. Recipe here.

I’ve also made flavoured vodkas in the same way using red skins, skittles separated into their colours and toffees.