Make Your Own Gin
You can make a simple version of gin at home without the effort of creating a mash and distilling, or anything at all complicated. Just steep a variety of botanicals in a base spirit with juniper berries. This is the ‘bathtub’ gin you hear about during the Prohibition-era 1920s.
Here’s a simple recipe for you.
- 750 ml bottle of vodka (good stuff, or you’ll ruin the gin)
- 2 – 3 tbsp of juniper berries (dried or fresh)
- 2 green cardomom pods
- 2 black peppercorns
- 2 pieces of orange peel (scrape off the white pith)
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- Variety of other botanicals you may like to add
Here’s what you do.
- Add juniper berries, cardomom, peppercorns, orange peel and coriander to a sterilised bottle and fill with the vodka
- Let it steep in a cool dark place for 24 hours
- Taste the gin. It’s at this stage you can add any additional flavoring you feel your concoction needs. Consider cinnamon, lavender, lemon, rosemary, allspice or anything that grabs your fancy
- Infuse for another 24 hours
- Strain into another sterile bottle. If there is sediment, try straining it through a coffee filter, but it’s OK if the gin is not completely clear
- Enjoy
