Skip to main content

How to Make Your Own Cinnamon Whiskey at Home

Getting bored at home? Need something to do? Have some lower quality whiskey on hand and need something to do with it that doesn’t involve simply chugging it straight from the bottle? Well, why not try infusing it? Specifically, we mean infusing it with cinnamon. It’s easy, only takes a little bit of time, and at the end of the day you’re left with a spirit that tastes delicious on it’s own or in cocktails.

The thing about cinnamon-flavored spirits, though, is that they are not all great. Chances are you’ve had a night or two that ended with shots of Fireball, which was then followed by a morning-after from hell (don’t worry, we’ve been there, too). That’s because many cinnamon liquors use a variety of additives; it’s also because a good many of those cinnamon-infused spirits just plain suck.

Cinnamon-flavored booze doesn’t have to suck, though. In fact, it can and should taste damn good. In order to get great-tasting cinnamon whiskey, all you have to do is make it yourself. It isn’t hard. You need a couple of ingredients, a bottle of whiskey you want to cinna-fy, and you’re practically there.

Read on to find how to make your own better-tasting cinnamon-infused whiskey.

cinnamon whiskey glass
bhofack2/Getty Images

How to Make Cinnamon Whiskey

Ingredients and Equipment:

  • 1 bottle of bourbon*
  • 8-10 cinnamon sticks
  • 1/3 cup raw sugar
  • 1 tbsp uncrushed red pepper flakes
  • .5 tbsp vegetable oil (or peanut oil, if you prefer)
  • 1 large resealable container
  • 1 fine-mesh sieve
  • Cheesecloth (optional)

*Note: When choosing a whiskey, there’s no need to go all out and buy a decades-old bottle from the top shelf. The cinnamon and spices you’re going to add will likely mask the subtle complexities that years of barrel aging have given the booze, so it’s okay to nab yourself a cheap bottle from the bottom rack.

Instructions:

  1. Pour the whole bottle of bourbon into your large container. 
  2. Wrap the cinnamon sticks in cheesecloth to create a teabag, then put it into the pitcher of whiskey to steep. This basically just makes them easier to remove. You can skip this step if you don’t mind fishing individual sticks out later on. 
  3. Stir in the raw sugar. Let the whiskey and cinnamon sticks steep for up to eight days. 
  4. Time for some chili oil. To make chili oil, grab a small nonstick pan and stir together your chili flakes and oil. Gently (very gently!) warm the oil and chili flakes over low heat for about five minutes. Remove from heat and allow the oil to cool completely before straining it through a fine-mesh sieve and transferring to a storage container (preferably a squeeze bottle). 
  5. Remove the cinnamon tea bag from the whiskey.
  6. Stir in two drops of the chili oil. Taste and adjust the level of chili oil to your liking. 
  7. Return the flavored whiskey to a bottle that can be tightly sealed.
  8. Enjoy!

Once you’ve made your whiskey, the final step is choosing what kind of whiskey cocktail to put it in. Do you want to spice up your Old Fashioned? Add some heat to your Whiskey Sour? With your new cinnamon whiskey, the world is your rocks glass. Need some ideas? Check out these essential whiskey cocktails.

Article first published October 10, 2016.

Editors' Recommendations

Drew Prindle
Drew is our resident tech nerd. He’s spent most of his life trying to be James Bond, so naturally he’s developed an…
This is how to make a Bloody Bull – a better, beefier Bloody Mary recipe
Here's a different version of a Bloody Mary
Brennan's Bloody Bull.

Born in the great city of New Orleans, the Bloody Bull is the beefier cousin of the Bloody Mary. Treated to some meaty broth, the drink is super savory and begging to accompany your brunch plans.

The original hails from Brennan's, a colorful creole restaurant that's been on the scene since 1946. There are riffs of course, with bartenders treating the drink to everything from a bit of Guinness to a host of different spice blends.

Read more
The best whiskey options to make your Manhattan drink recipe even better
Rye whiskey is classic, but not the only option
Manhattan

The Manhattan is one of the most well-known classic cocktails ever created. Like many famous mixed drinks, its history is a bit mysterious. One version of the story says that the drink was made at New York City’s Manhattan Club in the 1870s by a bartender named Iain Marshall. There is a mention of the drink in the later 1800s in a book written by bartender Wiliam F. Mulhall. Regardless of who created it, this whiskey-driven cocktail has stood the test of time.

Whiskey matters
This iconic drink is similar to the Old Fashioned, except instead of whiskey, sugar, water, and Angostura bitters, the Manhattan is made with whiskey, Angostura bitters, and sweet vermouth. While the other ingredients are important, the whisky is the key. The bitters add a bit of spice to the mix, and the vermouth adds a fruity sweetness, but the big, bold flavor is the whisky. The other ingredients are only there so the whiskey can shine through.

Read more
How to make the finest Tom Collins cocktail, according to experts
Take notes so you can add these cocktail recipes to your home bar repertoire
Fresh home made Tom Collins cocktails with lemon

For a drink that has its own glass, you'd think the Tom Collins cocktail would be even more popular. It's a classic, without a shadow of a doubt, but many imbibers don't exactly know how to whip one up, let alone perfect it.

The Tom Collins is a relatively simple drink. That said, you still need to do it right. All the little things become that much more important, from effervescence and temperature to the freshness of the citrus. Assemble it poorly, and the drink is just a grown-up lemonade. Prepare it professionally, and you have one of the most refreshing cocktails ever devised in your hand.

Read more