DIY Gin

[ducati_EL34]

Being a Gin drinker, and a Vodka hater, I just cannot envision, in any way shape or form, and no matter what you add, will somehow magically convert a Vodka into a real acceptable Gin.

+1 it would be better to make your gin using Everclear, and you can get the 86 proof version.




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[Ohighway]

That's some really good sounding gin.

I love gin. However, it 'hates' me. It will give me weird urinary tract problems faster than a West Dayton hooker.

I never had a taste for gin until I had Hendrick's.

Hendrick's is a small-batch Scottish gin with the distinction of a light cucumber flavor. It's been called "gin for people who don't like gin", but it got me started as a gin drinker, and now I'll happily drink many kinds of gin, mostly as G&T's, gimlets, and bucks.

The only problem is that cheap gin still tastes terrible to me, and we don't have the budget to browse the top shelf as often as we'd like.

Our solution has been to go DIY. Gin is the original flavored vodka, and you can make a perfectly acceptable gin yourself by infusing ordinary neutral grain spirits with the right botanicals. The whole process takes about fifteen minutes of work and two days of waiting.

The result will be be a yellowish liquor called "compound gin". A clear commercial gin has undergone a final redistillation after infusion.

We continue to refine our cucumber-infused recipe, but after several batches, the results have been quite encouraging.

Ingredients:
750 mL vodka
2 tbsp juniper berries
3/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp fennel
1/4 tsp rosemary
3 green cardamom pods
2 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1/8 lime peel (fresh or dried)
1/2 cup fresh cucumber (peeled, cored, and diced)

Don't spend too much on vodka. Luksusowa or Smirnoff are fine. If you're feeling fancy, run the vodka through a Brita filter once or twice before using it.

All spices should be whole, not ground. Finding them all can be expensive or outright impossible at the supermarket. Instead, visit local Middle Eastern and Indian groceries for vastly cheaper spices.

One night, pour the vodka into a large glass or stainless steel container and add the juniper berries. The next morning, add the rest of the ingredients. Stir occasionally.

The next night, a full 48 hours after adding the juniper to the vodka, funnel it back into the bottle using cheese cloth as a filter. Cotton cheese cloth can be bought inexpensively at the hardware store.

The gin is then ready to enjoy in a mixed drink or sip over ice. Ours tends to disappear startlingly quickly.

 

[ducati_EL34]

I certainly wouldn't mind trying redistillation of the finished product into a "real" distilled gin. Too bad it's illegal. :sigh:

Technically redistilling alcohol that you have BOUGHT, and paid taxes on, would not be illegal.

You are not making alcohol and avoiding paying the liquor tax.


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[audiotemp]

I've had most of a bottle of some very average vodka sitting on my shelf for ages and tonight I decided to try making some gin out of it. I put some juniper berries and some fresh-cut rosemary in the bottle, let it sit a bit, and voila! Gin, or something like it. I added some ice and some fresh squeezed lemon and it was quite nice, actually.

Has anyone done this more seriously? Recipes?

 

[audiotemp]

After tasting what I had yesterday, I removed the rosemary from the bottle but left the juniper berries in for another day. There is now a stronger "gin" character...after all, gin is about juniper. There's also a slight cast to the liquid from the infusion but it is not so much as to be objectionable. Wikipedia seems to think that green berries rather than the dried, ripe juniper berries I used (and which are sold as a "spice" used in meat recipes) are called for, but I'm not finding that to be an issue as any lost "piney-ness" is more than made up for by the rosemary.

There are some recipes online and coriander seeds, peppercorns, licorice root, cinnamon stick, and orange peel are some other suggested ingredients to add. I may try adding the coriander seeds next but I'm liking what I have already. I mixed it again with some fresh-squeezed lemon juice and with some ice.

Apparently juniper berries are not recommended for some folks, read this and/or ask your doctor, I guess.

 

[audiotemp]

Just to finish this up...rather than adding coriander seeds as mentioned above, my final addition to the mix was some bay leaf. After one day in the bottle, the effect of the bay leaf seemed to be to add a subtle layer of complexity to the flavor. After two days, the flavor change from the bay was a bit more noticeable but still below the surface.

The experiment as a whole was declared a success. Over the weekend, the experimental liquids disappeared, so that's it for now.

 

[ducati_EL34]

Every drop of gin you've ever consumed started out as a neutral spirit - vodka, essentially.

Your inability to wrap your head around that fact doesn't make it any less true. You're falling prey to a logical fallacy called "argument from incredulity".

Your loss.

Never mind.

 

[daveshel]

I discovered Tanqueray in around 1982, and it was my drink of choice for several years. At some point I decided it was time to dial it back a bit, and for decades I was more of a beer drinker. Then during the pandemic shutdown I rediscovered gin via big bottles of Bombay Sapphire at Costco, so these days I generally have a gin night once a week.

 

[audiotemp]

Finally a worthwhile thread gets its corpse revived by "similar threads"!

edit: After seeing this revival, I asked that the.3 posts above from 2018 be moved here. They had been marooned alone in a thread that was called "Bathtub Gin". Thanks, mods.

 

[ducati_EL34]

I discovered Tanqueray in around 1982, and it was my drink of choice for several years. At some point I decided it was time to dial it back a bit, and for decades I was more of a beer drinker. Then during the pandemic shutdown I rediscovered gin via big bottles of Bombay Sapphire at Costco, so these days I generally have a gin night once a week.

I tried Bombay Sapphire. I did not like it, because of the forward licorice flavor. However, I do like the regular Bombay gin, and while it has licorice flavor, it is not as forward. It makes a very good Gin & Tonic, with lime. I use to think any gin makes a great G&T and that is true, but Bombay makes it even better.

In fact I am in the mountains drinking a G&T.

 

[jocko_nc]

I was always told that Bombay Sapphire was the gin for non-gin drinkers. That is The Lady's thing now, only in moderation. I dig it, and I was NEVER a gin drinker. Now, we stock up on "handles" of the Sapphire and Luksusova. I won't spoil, and it is the only way I know to earn 10-15% interest on my investment, guaranteed. We filled a closet going into Covid. Wish we had filled two.

 

[ducati_EL34]

I was always told that Bombay Sapphire was the gin for non-gin drinkers. That is The Lady's thing now, only in moderation. I dig it, and I was NEVER a gin drinker. Now, we stock up on "handles" of the Sapphire and Luksusova. I won't spoil, and it is the only way I know to earn 10-15% interest on my investment, guaranteed. We filled a closet going into Covid. Wish we had filled two.

Why did you fill a closet full of liquor? I just went to the liquor store when I needed more.

I will drink any decent gin, as long as it is not Bombay Sapphire.