Deanne on 
Paul Dicken on 
Madeleine Boivin on 
Brian on 
Naomi Wilton on 
Michael on 
Ameena Sethi on 
Sh Saqi on 
“Have you ever had yukkaflux?” Colette asked me one day.
I definitely had not. Turns out it’s a kind of liquor concoction favoured by high school and college kids in the Prairies.
Spelled yukkaflux, yukaflux, yuccaflux and yuckaflux, it even has a website dedicated to it.
Colette’s version involves dumping whatever leftover hard liquor is at hand into a big container (vodka, rum, tequila etc.) and then adding fruit to it for days.
The fruit stews in the liquor and absorbs all the alcohol, while also adding its juices into the mixture.
Colette, a true Saskatchewan girl, brought a cooler of it to a backyard barbecue — and YOWZA. It packs quite a punch.
Jason, however, also informs me that back in Grande Prairie, they used to put a hole in a watermelon, pour a bottle of vodka into it, and leave it in the fridge for a while. Then they would have a nice summer snack.
Since I’m all old and very much not in college anymore, I only had one cup of Colette’s yukkaflux. And it was good, all potent and fruity — though I wouldn’t stand above the cooler and inhale the fumes too much.
We’ve done the watermelon with vodka before (very tasty) but that yukkaflux…..I don’t know. It reminds me of my friends Sangria that she just kept adding to all summer long. By the end of August you could get tipsy just by smelling it.
Where I grew up in, in NW Indiana, the event where this concoction was drunk was called a “hairy buffalo party” and I’m pretty sure the drink was called a hairy buffalo.
Another good option:
Take a can of sliced pineapple (the whole rings work the best).
Pour out the pineapple juice (you can save it for pina coladas later or other tropical beverages). Then, into the hole in the middle of the pineapple rings (you can keep them right in the can) pour Malibu Coconut Rum until it covers the pineapple. After a few hours, the rings of pineapple have been infused with the sweet rum, and also pack quite a punch. Delicious!
how long do you have to let the fruit sit in the alchol
Angel: I think overnight at the very least.