Check it out! Lemon balm schnapps!

This guy has been quietly aging in the back of the cupboard since I strained out the lemon balm leaves about a week and a half ago. The scent is similar to plain vodka at first--rubbing alcohol heaven--but has an interesting floral back note that I'm hoping will become more dominant over time. It's clearly going to require at least a few more weeks to fully develop.

After about two weeks of infusion, I strained the spearmint leaves out of my second herbal schnapps. This one had turned bright green in the first week, but later matured to a darker olive oil color. The scent is super pronounced, and in time became a little heavy; I'd almost compare it to spearmint oil at this point. Next time I might err on the side of a slightly shorter infusion, for a greener finished product.

Actually, both of these schnappses look a lot like olive oil in color (though obviously not in viscosity/etc). The lemon balm schnapps looks like a light, standard-use olive oil, while the spearmint schnapps looks like super ridiculous extra virgin goodness.

Of course, we can't drink them yet. Each taste so far has been pretty harsh; aging is the only answer. Now is clearly an excellent time to practice the gentle art of patience.