World Gin Day is finally upon us, and I promise this will be the last of the ginspiration posts for a while. And what delight do I have for you today? Well, gin itself obviously.
You’ve probably never thought about making your own gin, for very sensible reasons, and of course what follows isn’t instructions for actually making gin from scratch. For a start you’re not actually allowed to do it. Plus, it’d be way too time-consuming and require loads of stuff so, legalities aside, it’s really not an option.
Essentially this is a “recipe” for gin-flavoured vodka, vodka not being a million miles away from the base spirit which is how commercial gin starts out. The key to turning that spirit into gin is juniper which is what makes gin reminiscent of Christmas trees. As long as your base flavour is juniper you have gin. What makes every gin different is the choice of botanicals, all of the extra bits that go in and impart their flavour to the spirit. The possibilities are pretty much limitless as far as I can see but you don’t want to overpower the base juniper flavour and you don’t want anything so harsh that it clashes with it.
I’ll be honest, the end result won’t look like the bottle you have on the shelf. You’re not going to be distilling your creation, or commercially filtering it, so it will be yellow as it takes on the colour pretty much as soon as the juniper goes in. Filtering through a water filter may help, so may sticking it in the freezer and then re-filtering through muslin but you’re not going to get a clear drink even with these additional processes. But who cares, right? You are going to get a great tasting bathtub gin, and one you can tailor it to your own specific tastes.
The better quality vodka you use, the smoother your end product will be and you’ll need a jar or bottle to steep your botanicals in as well as a piece of muslin for filtering.
INGREDIENTS
750 ml Vodka
2 tbsp juniper berries (at least)
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
3 allspice berries
1 tsp coriander seeds
4 green cardamom pods
4 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of lavender
1 sprig of rosemary
A sliver of pink grapefruit peel
A sliver of lemon peel
METHOD
Give the juniper berries a bit of a bash to start the release process then put them in your jar or bottle. Fill it with the vodka, seal and leave it for 12 hours. Taste it, if you want a bigger hit of juniper, add some more berries and leave it for a few more hours, up to 12 I’d say. When it’s right, strain it and discard the juniper berries, their work is done.
Juniper gone, the rest of your botanicals need to go into your bottle, then pour back your juniper-infused spirit. Now for patience. Leave it for 36 hours. After that though, you’re done. Filter, bottle, and enjoy.
Bet you didn’t think it would be that simple huh? Please don’t be put off by the colour, it really is just because of the lack of filtering, it doesn’t affect the taste in any way.
Experimenting with your botanicals is great fun. Why not try a Thai-inspired gin, with lemongrass, galangal, star anise, coriander root, lime peel and a dried chilli. Perhaps Moroccan; think cumin seeds, orange peel, cinnamon, maybe a tiny dash of rose water. Or, how about a Chai gin with green cardamom, fennel seeds, cinnamon, peppercorns, lemon peel and ginger?
Just go for it and see what you get. And if you come up with a winning combination, don’t keep it to yourself!
Stay chilled x
Surrey Hills Chills 