Fruity Gin Time

As autumn rolls in on us and the nights draw in, thought turn to fruity drinks to sample when huddled round the fire.. a classic being Sloe Gin.

Sloe Gin

The fruits of the blackthorn bush (Prunus spinosa), commonly found in hedgerows and wooded areas through out Britain are known as Sloes and complement the flavour of gin surprisingly well. So add a quick berry picking section to your morning constitutional and make your own.

Ingredients:

• 200g (8 oz) Sloe berries
• 200g (8 oz) Caster sugar
• 70cl gin (1 bottle)

Method:

1. Select a suitable container with a capacity >1 litre. I typically use a 1.5l plastic drink/water bottle.
2. You can either:
1. Add the sugar and pricked fresh berries to the container (labour intensive, but somewhat zen, can be a fun social event)
2. Avoid pricking by freezing the berries. My preferred method is to add the berries to the container, along with the sugar and then pop in the freezer overnight. The sugar will absorb the leaking juices when the mixture is thawed making it easier to see if the skin of the berries has been broken enough to let the gin in.
3. Add the gin to the mixture and shake gently to dissolve the sugar.
4. Let the mixture infuse for at least 3 months, giving the mixture a gentle shake daily (or whenever you remember)
5. Decant, filter and bottle

If you fancy something a bit different, you can add other botanicals (e.g. orange zest) or essences (e.g. almond essence) to make the flavour all your own.

Cranberry Gin

Looking forward to the Christmas season, a fun variation of the same concept is Cranberry Gin. Also a handy option to use that a bag of cranberries you discovered at the back of the freezer.

Ingredients:

• 200g Cranberries
• 200g Caster sugar
• 70cl gin (1 bottle)

Additional ingredients to spice your gin:

• Zest of 1 small orange
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 Anise

Method:

1. Select a suitable container with a capacity >1 litre. I typically use a 1.5l plastic drink/water bottle.
2. You can either:
1. Add the sugar and pricked fresh cranberries to the container (labour intensive, but slightly zen)
2. Avoid pricking by adding the cranberries to the container and then freezing overnight. Thaw them in the container, then add the sugar and freeze and thaw again. My experiments found that two rounds of freezing worked best, probably because cranberries are pretty frost tolerant.
3. Add the gin to the mixture and shake gently to dissolve the sugar.
4. Optionally add the zest, cinnamon and cloves to the mixture (alternatively if you want to try different versions and have a little more control over the spices, cranberry infuse the gin first, then add the spices after)
5. Let the mixture infuse for at least two weeks, giving the mixture a gentle shake daily (or whenever you remember)
6. Decant, filter and bottle

The leftover, gin infused, cranberries and spices can be used in other dishes, for example in making cranberry sauce to go with your Christmas dinner.

Blueberry Gin

Another interesting one, is using blueberries... since the berries are softer the infusion time is shorter, but it does need a little bottle aging to mellow out the earthy taste you can get with blueberries.

Ingredients:

• 200g blueberries
• 200g Caster sugar
• 70cl gin (1 bottle)

Method:

1. Select a suitable container with a capacity >1 litre. I typically use a 1.5l plastic drink/water bottle.
2. You can either:
1. Add the sugar and pricked fresh berries to the container (labour intensive)
2. Avoid pricking by freezing the berries (let the freezer do the work). My preferred method is to add the berries to the container, along with the sugar and then pop in the freezer overnight. The sugar will absorb the leaking juices when the mixture is thawed making it easier to see if the skin of the berries has been broken enough to let the gin in.
3. Add the gin to the mixture and shake gently to dissolve the sugar.
4. Let the mixture infuse for at least 2 weeks, giving the mixture a gentle shake daily (or whenever you remember)
5. Decant, filter and bottle
6. Age in the bottle for about a week

The infused blueberries are suitable for use in baking should you want to use them too.

Mixed Berry Gins

Since berry picking seldom ends up with the exact amount of berries corresponding to a bottle, mixing different berries is a handy way to minimise waste, and an opportunity to experiment with alternative blends. As a starting point there are two general rules for the berry:sugar:gin ratios:

1. one weight berries : one weight sugar : 1 bottle gin => 200g (8 oz) berries, 200g (8 oz) sugar, 1 bottle gin
2. two weight berries : one weight sugar : 1 bottle gin => 400g (1 lb) berries, 200g (8 oz) sugar, 1 bottle gin

To tune the recipes to your taste try experimenting with smaller bottles of gin (e.g. 35cl) so you can use variations and compare flavours.