OGUNQUIT — Tourists will try lobster in just about anything. (Remember lobster ice cream?)

Even so, when Charles Nedzbala, a bartender at the Meadowmere Resort, asked his boss if he could try making a lobster vodka infusion for a lobster martini, “she thought I was crazy.”

Additional Photos

Charles Nedzbala's Skittles infusions – such as the one he uses in his lemon-lime Skittle martini – pop with primary colors. Nedzbala, a bartender at the Meadowmere Resort in Ogunquit, rims the glasses with a mix of sugar and flavored Jell-O powder. Photos by Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

Charles Nedzbala, a bartender at the West Meadow Pub at the Meadowmere Resort in Ogunquit, uses his own lobster vodka to make a Bloody Mary.

Illustration by Michael Fisher/Staff Artist

Lobster vodka is used to make a Bloody Mary.

At the West Meadow Pub at the Meadowmere Resort in Ogunquit, one can order any of these Skittles martinis – orange, strawberry, or lemon lime – all creations of bartender Charles Nedzbala.

The infusion craze has Maine mixologists experimenting with all kinds of flavor combinations.

Some of them sound delicious, like the mulling spices-and-orange zest bourbon infusion made by Patrick Morang at David’s in Portland. Others, like Nedzbala’s lobster vodka or a turkey vodka for the holidays, might initially challenge your gag reflex.

But keep an open mind – some of these unusual creations might just surprise you.

I thought it would be fun to gather some ideas from the professionals for some interesting (odd?) fall infusions that reflect the flavors of the season.

Go ahead, try these at home, or visit your favorite bar or restaurant to see what they’re cooking up these days.

LOBSTER VODKA

Why lobster in a column about autumn infusions?

Well, it turns out the lobster catch is highest in Maine during September, October and November, so there’s plenty of cheap lobster around to experiment with, should you feel so inclined. And really, if you were me, would you turn down the chance to write about lobster vodka just because it doesn’t contain any apple or pumpkin?

No, I didn’t think so.

As Nedzbala started making me a Bloody Mary with his lobster-infused vodka at the West Meadow Pub inside the Meadowmere, I stopped him and said I wanted to try the straight lobster vodka first. He looked at me like I had just told him I had a tail.

Nedzbala pulled out a bottle filled with a sandy-looking liquid. It resembled the stuff that washes up on your feet at the beach, minus the foam. He uncorked the bottle and told me to take a sniff. Yes, there was definitely dead shellfish in there.

“It smells a little bit like low tide,” Nedzbala said with a grin.

He poured me a small taste, and all I can say is it was like drinking lobster. (When I’ve told people about this since, they all cover their mouths and cut me off, for some reason.) I liked the brininess, but knew immediately I would not be pouring this neat anytime soon.

The Bloody Mary, though that was an entirely different story.

Nedzbala makes his own Bloody Mary mix with tomatoes from his garden to complement the lobster vodka. He spears a piece of lobster meat wrapped in a lemon twist as garnish, and the final (kinda creepy) touch is a hairy swimmeret hanging over the edge of the glass.

But you know what? The drink was really good. It tasted like the ocean, and the lobster flavor was much more subtle wrapped in all that fresh tomato juice.

It’s been a surprising hit at the resort.

How does Nedzbala do it? He starts by breaking apart three small steamed lobsters. He uses the meat, shells and body, but cleans the body first so you don’t have to worry about tomalley floating around in your cocktail. All of that goes into an infusion jar, along with a bottle of vodka, a tablespoon of lobster base and a few tablespoons of lobster stock. Then it sits in the refrigerator for two or three days. (Some infusions take a couple of weeks. This one, mercifully, does not.)

Strain it through cheesecloth twice and serve.

“First, when it came out of the infusion jar, I thought, ‘I’m going to have a hard time selling this,’ ” Nedzbala said. “It looks like seawater.”

But as word spread, customers began flocking to the bar to plop down their $13 for one of the Bloody Marys.

“This was huge,” Nedzbala said. “I never thought it would be.”

HALLOWEEN

Why should the kids have all the fun on All Hallow’s Eve?

Scott Galbiati, president of Northern Maine Distilling Co., the maker of Twenty 2 Vodka and High Proof Spirit, suggests experimenting with infusions using Halloween candy for an adult treat that’s a lot more exciting than a Snickers bar.

Galbiati has made bubble gum infusions using various brands of bubble gum, including Dubble Bubble and Hubba Bubba, and has used them to create specialty cocktails (garnished with a bubblegum-flavored Dum Dum lollipop). You can view his creations at highproofspirit.com.

Galbiati uses his High Proof Spirit product for his infusions, but you can use regular vodka too. It just takes longer. (High Proof Spirit is only available to bars and restaurants.)

Candy corn seems like a natural infusion for Halloween, but Galbiati advises against it, unless it’s flavored candy corn.

“Candy corn itself is really just sugar on top of sugar,” he said.

Galbiati has tried apple and caramel separately, but this fall plans to make a caramel apple with coconut infusion.

Having a Halloween party? Try Nedzbala’s Skittles infusions. The colors are bright and beautiful in his orange, strawberry, lemon-lime and grape Skittles cocktails, which he serves at the pub. He rims the glasses with a mix of sugar and flavored Jell-O powder.

Add a touch of Frangelico to the grape Skittles cocktail, and it tastes like a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich.

Nedzbala uses four big bags of Skittles for a batch. It’s tedious separating all the colors, but that’s what kids are for, right?

Whatever you do, don’t pour all four colors into one bottle of vodka. It will just turn brown and look like monster vomit.

Here are Nedzbala’s recipes:

ORANGE

2 ounces orange Skittles vodka

1 ounce Cointreau

Splash of sour mix

Rim the glass with orange sugar

STRAWBERRY

2 ounces strawberry Skittles vodka

Splash of strawberry liqueur

Splash of sour mix

Rim the glass with strawberry sugar

LEMON LIME

2 ounces lemon lime Skittles vodka

1 ounce lemoncello

Squeeze of fresh lime

Rim half the glass with lemon sugar, the other half with lime sugar

GRAPE

2 ounces grape Skittles vodka

1 ounce Chambord

Squeeze of fresh lime juice

Rim the glass with grape sugar

(To make a peanut butter-and-jelly cocktail, replace the Chambord with 1 ounce of Frangelico.)

THANKSGIVING

If the idea of drinking poultry gives you the dry heaves, stop reading here.

But it can be done.

Galbiati road-tested the idea once by infusing vodka with a roasted chicken from the deli. It turned out so well, he plans to try it again this fall with a turkey. (It would probably pair well with his sage vodka infusion if you like a little dressing on the side.)

If you want to try this yourself, Galbiati has some tips.

Use the turkey skin, the drippings and the wingtips, if they get nice and crispy in the oven. No bones or meat.

“All of the flavor that we want is going to be in the skin, and the fat especially,” Galbiati said. “That’s what we’re going to extract it from. In the past, when using meats, you get more of an iron flavor that’s pulled out of it. The meat itself isn’t as flavorful as the seasonings and the fat around it.”

Using regular vodka, the infusion should take a couple of weeks, so be sure to keep it in the refrigerator.

For dessert, try a pumpkin spice infusion, made with chunks of baked or boiled pumpkin and whole spices.

“I wouldn’t start with pumpkin pie,” Galbiati said. “That would make a mess, basically, in the infusion. Start with the cinnamon, the cloves, allspice, the ginger, as whole as possible. You want to keep the essential oils locked in. The ethanol will get in there and pull them out, and keep them trapped.

“Even grinding (the spices) fresh, you’re opening up the cinnamon stick or the whole clove berry so much, all of those volatile essential oils are all going out into the air. By keeping it whole, the ethanol will get in there, it will dissolve them out, it will keep them trapped, and really keep your flavor robust and amazing.”

Let’s all give thanks …

Staff Writer Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at: mgoad@pressherald.com

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