The traditional basis of gin is grain alcohol and juniper berries, but almost every manufacturer tries to highlight their drink by adding other ingredients to the composition for flavor. The proposed recipe is basic, any components (except for the alcohol base and juniper berries) can be excluded or added to create a unique blend.
Instead of alcohol, vodka or well-purified moonshine is suitable. Herbs and berries can be purchased at a pharmacy or in the market. Since some varieties of juniper are poisonous, when harvesting raw materials on your own, the main thing is to choose the right berries:
- must be blue;
- odorless turpentine;
- contain three bones;
- the leaves of the plant are like needles, not scales.
Pre-treat orange and lemon zest with hot water and wipe dry to remove any preservative residue. Remove only the top layer of the peel without white pulp, which gives bitterness.
Ingredients:
- alcohol 40-45% (vodka or moonshine) – 1 liter;
- common juniper berries – 25 grams;
- coriander seeds – 5 grams;
- cinnamon (in sticks) – 1 gram;
- fresh lemon zest – 1 gram;
- fresh orange peel – 2 grams;
- anise, hyssop, fennel, licorice – 1 pinch each.
gin recipe
1. Crush cinnamon, seeds and berries with a wooden rolling pin, put all the ingredients in a glass container for infusion. Pour in the alcohol base, mix.
2. Close tightly, leave for 7 days in a dark place at room temperature. Shake once a day.
3. Filter the resulting infusion through several layers of gauze, squeeze the hard part dry.
4. Dilute the tincture with water up to 18-20%, overtake on a classic moonshine still (possible with a steamer). Collect the first 20-30 ml separately and pour out, this fraction contains too many essential oils that spoil the taste of homemade gin.
5. Select the product until the appearance of turbidity or drop of the strength in the jet below 45%, and then finish the distillation.
Toward the end, it is advisable to collect the distillate in small batches in a separate container so as not to miss the moment when the output becomes cloudy.
6. Measure the strength, dilute the homemade gin with water up to 45-48%. It is better not to lower the fortress to 42% or less, otherwise the citrus notes will disappear.
7. Pour the drink into bottles for storage, close tightly. Leave for 7-10 days in a dark, cool room to stabilize the taste. Homemade gin has an unlimited shelf life.
