Making Mediocre Marnier

We are not big drinkers but I have found that adding small amounts of alcohols to various foods, at different points in the prep, can greatly improve the flavours. ( flavour esters tends to be soluble in water, fat or alcohol so hitting all 3 means you get more of them in the final product)
Also, it can be a good carrier for lots of flavour depth without much volume or calories.
One we use quite a bit of has been Grand Marnier. A bit added to macerated strawberries is amazing. It also works well with bananas and lots of other fruits. And is a great addition to fruit glaze, jams, sauces and custards.
Lots of ways to use it, so we would go through most of bottle every year or 2. Especially as I was getting more fruits from the garden to process. The price was also going up so last year I decided to try making our own version.
My first attempt used Canadian whisky, since we had been given a couple of bottles and we wouldn't drink it. I went with cleaned peel from organic oranges ( and one bit of lemon peel) and an older vanilla bean we had on hand. Let it soak for 4 months and then filtered it out.
It was very good and while not an exact match, it does the same kind of job in our cooking and baking. The peel is also great chopped and added to muffins/ sweet breads.

This year we had access again to a bottle of proper cognac that was bought many years ago and this was a way to convert it to something we would use.
This time I went with clementine peels, another vanilla been and a couple of black peppercorns. After 4 months of soaking I am shocked at how close it is to the real thing. It smells and tastes pretty much exactly the same!
I now have the equivalent to a $60ish bottle by using up some "garbage" peel, a few spices and a bottle of booze we've had sitting around for almost 20 years!
Next project is several vanilla extracts. ( I bought some b grade beans that were very reasonably priced)

Anyone else doing culinary extracts?

very cool! i’ve been playing with extract making for a couple years. i’m part owner of a nut-processing facility, so several of the extracts i’ve done came from nuts - black walnut kernel, hazelnut, and a toasted hazelnut. probably will try to do a hickory kernel one before long….

the one that i really love that i make more of every year is spicebush berry. trial and error has taught me that the seeds make the extract bitter, so it involves the very nearly nonsensical task of de-seeding several hundred fairly tiny berries. i can usually start stratifying the seeds once it’s done, so that takes some of the sting out of it.

i tend to use vodka so the flavor isn’t too effected by the alcohol.

I have cooked with wine all my life for specific recipes, the one that comes to mind is beef bourguignon.

I believe I remember some sauces too.

I got out of the habit of using wine after we sold the homestead due to finances.

I now live a frugal lifestyle that leads to not cooking with wine, etc,

I do tinctures with Vodak

I have no experience making extracts as I rarely use them.

When a recipes call for vanilla I always leave it out.

Orange extract sounds heavenly.