{"id":34180,"date":"2017-02-23T16:47:16","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T16:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/?p=34180"},"modified":"2017-02-23T16:47:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-23T16:47:16","slug":"recipe-how-to-make-gin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flubu.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/23\/recipe-how-to-make-gin\/","title":{"rendered":"[Recipe] How to make gin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gin is a neutral spirit flavoured with botanicals. The easy way to think about it is vodka with added flavours. An EU definition states that gin is a juniper-flavoured spirit drink (where juniper must be the predominant taste) and must be a minimum of 37.5% ABV. There are further stipulations given, but these apply to specific types of gin: distilled gin, and London Dry Gin. So, to be a gin in its simplest form the spirit has to be at least 37.5% and it has to taste junipery.<\/p>\n

Whilst most commercial gins use distillation to extract the flavour from the botanicals (with or without steeping), it is possible to produce a tasty gin without taking the final distillation step. It\u2019s technically called a compound gin, and it\u2019s therefore more than possible to make your own gin in the comfort of your own home. Hurrah!<\/p>\n

One thing to note though, if you don\u2019t re-distill your gin won\u2019t be perfectly clear. But it\u2019ll still taste like gin, which is the important bit! The colour of your gin will depend on the botanicals you use, but is generally going to have an yellow or amber-orange hue. I\u2019ve heard that you can put it through a Brita filter if you want to remove some of the colour. Or you can stick it in the freezer, then filter through muslin cloth which will lighten the colour a little. But as I say, whatever the colour, the stuff will taste like gin, so I\u2019ve never bothered! And if you\u2019re going to go down the Brita filter route, I wouldn\u2019t run it through too many times, as I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll take some of the flavour of the gin, and therefore your hard work, away with it.<\/p>\n

What you\u2019ll need<\/strong><\/p>\n

a glass receptacle to infuse your spirit in. A bottle or a large glass kilner jar or similar should do it
\na 750ml bottle of base spirit
\nbotanicals
\na sieve
\na jug
\na funnel if you\u2019re messy<\/p>\n

Base spirit<\/strong>
\nRemember I said the easy way to think about gin is vodka with added flavours? You\u2019re going to need some vodka as your base. Don\u2019t go for the cheap nasty stuff, buy a decent vodka. If you wouldn\u2019t drink the vodka as it is, why would you use it as the base for your fantastic home-made gin? It\u2019s not worth your effort.<\/p>\n

Botanicals<\/strong>
\nThe best thing about making your own gin, is that you get to choose the botanicals, and the ratios of the botanicals, that are going into your gin. There are hundreds of options available, more than is possible to list. Other than juniper, you can put whatever you want into the spirit, however I\u2019ll start with the more traditional botanicals in detail to give you a good idea of where to start. The descriptions below apply to the botanicals once distilled, however they\u2019ll give you some indication of what to expect if you add them to your compound mix:<\/p>\n

First up the \u2018holy trinity\u2019, pretty much all gins include:<\/p>\n