The penny has dropped....

[Clint]

A few weeks ago I cut a load of rhubarb from the allotment and flavoured some gin for the Mrs. Having tried various others from the shops her and her gin swilling friend have pointed out the home flavoured stuff is miles apart and more should be made. ..
We have loads of soft fruit in the freezer...Tay berries, raspberries, currants...Mrs says "I need to plan in advance and get a load made..."
Dejabloodyvu....and she used to bleat on about my beer making activities.

 

[GhostShip]

I'd love to know how you went about this - preparation, quantity, etc. I have rhubarb in the garden and also plenty of gin!

 

[IainM]

Home-made rhubarb gin is lovely. I made a litre not long ago and the wife and her mates made short work of it. Mine started with a litre of cheap Eristoff vodka in a 1.5L kilner jar, into which went a heaped tablespoon of quality juniper berries (fat round ones that smelled of juniper, unlike some of the wrinkly little things that smell of nothing that you get from the supermarket sometimes). A couple of days later I roasted about half a kilo of rhubarb with some sugar, then added the rhubarb and juices that came off it, along with some botanicals; a third of a teaspoon each of barely crushed coriander seed, shredded dried lemongrass and dried curacao orange peel. The rhubard wasn't very red, so for colour and extra flavour I also added half a teaspoon each of hibiscus and rose petals. Another two days later, I strained and voila! A litre of light pink rhubarb gin.

 

[Clint]

Recipe found online...half kilo diced rhubarb,half kilo sugar,litre of gin. Mix and leave for a few weeks...shake it up from time to time. Strain back into the bottle.

 

[GhostShip]

Thanks, guys. I'll give it a go!

 

[GhostShip]

Recipe found online...half kilo diced rhubarb,half kilo sugar,litre of gin. Mix and leave for a few weeks...shake it up from time to time. Strain back into the bottle.

Is that raw rhubarb, or did you cook it first?

 

[MmmBeer]

Tayberry vodka is awesome, same method, berries in Kilner jar, half cover in sugar and top up with vodka. Shake daily until sugar dissolved then strain into bottles. Make it now and it should be ready for Xmas.

 

[Clint]

Raw.

 

[BarnBrian]

Made the rhubarb gin almost a month ago. Filtered and bottled it yesterday, very nice although I think I’ll reduce the sugar to 400gms next time.
Making strawberry gin this week. 750 mls gin, 100 gms sugar and 400 gms strawberries, English ones of course.

 

[terrym]

Redcurrant Gin...
750 ml Gin (Tesco does for me)
300g Redcurrants from the Allotment (freeze first)
140g sugar
On the go at present

 

[goodolpete]

Redcurrant Gin...
750 ml Gin (Tesco does for me)
300g Redcurrants from the Allotment (freeze first)
140g sugar
On the go at present

How long do you steep the fruit?
Do you need to filter?

 

[terrym]

How long do you steep the fruit?
Do you need to filter?

About the same as sloe gin, which is about 6 to 8 weeks but tbh it probably doesn't need that long. The first 2 weeks it get turned once per day, therafter twice a week.
Yes it does need filtering. I do it in two stages, first through a very fine kitchen seive to get rid of the larger bits, followed by one sheet off a two ply kitchen roll and a funnel, classic chemistry class stuff, which takes an age but is effective. But if you don't mind a few bits at the bottom of the bottle you could probably not do the second stage.

 

[Gerryjo]

About the same as sloe gin, which is about 6 to 8 weeks but tbh it probably doesn't need that long. The first 2 weeks it get turned once per day, therafter twice a week.
Yes it does need filtering. I do it in two stages, first through a very fine kitchen seive to get rid of the larger bits, followed by one sheet off a two ply kitchen roll and a funnel, classic chemistry class stuff, which takes an age but is effective. But if you don't mind a few bits at the bottom of the bottle you could probably not do the second stage.

A fine denier pair of tights are also great.Make sure their clear/opaque and boil for a few minutes.

 

[An Ankoù]

A fine denier pair of tights are also great.Make sure their clear/opaque and boil for a few minutes.

.... if they've been used.

 

[xozzx]

Coffee filter paper work great too

 

[DavieC]

I did gin with damsons last year, same method, it was lovely,as were the alcohol infused damsons,(pips removed) with
Ice cream.

 

[hop-a-long]

This also works with young beech leaves. The only problem is that the leaves need to be very young end stil soft when making the infusion. You'll also need a lot of them. Pick them late april/early may (in Holland anyway), pack them tightly in a stone jar and cover over with gin. Leave for about 10 days, then strain of the liquid.
The resulting liquid shoud be bright green (will fade over time). Add sugar to taste.

 

[GhostShip]

My rhubarb gin is currently sitting in a large Kilner jar and I'm trying to remember to shake it daily. I followed Clint's recipe above as it looked nice and simple. Will report back in a few weeks once I've tasted it!

 

[Dexter101]

Best flavoured vodka I ever made was using earl grey tea bags for a couple of days.

 

[BarnBrian]

Rhubarb gin, as per Clints recipe has turned out brilliant.
Followed up with strawberry gin, 400gms strawberries, 150gms sugar, 750ml gin. And then blackberry gin using same quantities as for strawberries.
All three have been amazing.