I want to make vodka or liquor which tastes similarly to Brennivin. The taste which dominates Brennivin is cumin so you can say that I can basically want to prepare cumin-flavored vodka or liquor.
The question is how should I process vodka to achieve such taste?
I would try Dave Arnold's cream whipper infusion method. It is very fast and flexible, which will allow you to experiment to find your ideal flavor. You'll want to play with the ratio of cumin to vodka, whether you toast the cumin first, and and whether you lightly crush it. After you depressurize the vodka, be sure to strain it and let it sit about 10 minutes before judging the flavor, it seems to take a little while to settle. And of course if you overdo it a bit, you can always dilute the output with more unflavored vodka.
In Sweden we have a long tradition of herb and spice infused spirits, or "snaps" as we call it. Many of these are made with caraway and/or dill seed, which are also the ingredients which characterize the Aquavit type of spirit, common in both Sweden and Denmark. I have only made it myself once, but it was quite successful and extremely easy to make. I cannot remember the exact recipe I used, but the ingredients were dill seed, caraway seed and lemon zest. I think the proportions (to one standard bottle of vodka, 700 ml in Sweden) were something like a table spoons each of dill and caraway seed, and lemon zest from about 1/4 lemon. All of this was just combined in a jar and left to steep for a couple of weeks.
Alton Brown did an episode in which he feature flavor infused Vodka, I suspect the Pepper Vodka recipe would work for your purpose, though you will probably need to experiment with ratios. If you need any help 'experimenting' let me know, I volunteer to help :oD !
