Dubonnet is one of those somewhat old-fashioned drinks that I heard about when I was first old enough to drink but never really made it to my glass. Queen Elizabeth's favourite drink was reportedly a Gin & Dubonnet (and the Queen Mother's as well). What is Dubonnet? It is a sweet, fruity, aromatic wine-based aperitif with a thick, almost syrupy texture, that is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices. It is similar-ish to sweet vermouth (and perhaps campari): a touch sweet, a little … [Read more...]
Homemade Ginger Liqueur Recipe
I have recently been making a range of different fruit liqueurs with my homemade neutral spirits and fruit from my garden. Whilst not a fruit, I definitely couldn't go past trying a homemade Ginger Liqueur recipe when harvesting my ginger this year. This recipe certainly has a good level of gingery spiciness but the vanilla and orange, along with the brandy, add complexity and mellowness to the flavour. It is very definitely more-ish. 100g fresh ginger root 1 vanilla bean 1 cup … [Read more...]
Distilled Liquorice Liqueur (Ouzo) Recipe
Earlier this year I made Homemade Pastis (Liquorice Liqueur) where I infused the spices into vodka and added a simple syrup. This tastes divine (although a bit sweet for my taste) but was a somewhat cloudy and coloured liqueur. I decided to make a distilled version of this to attempt to get closer to an authentic ouzo - and was delighted with the result: a clear and flavourful spirit that isn't too sweet. Unfortunately it still doesn't have the signature white cloudiness when water is … [Read more...]
Orange Liqueur Recipe
Over the past several weeks I've shared my forays into combining seasonal fruit from the garden with my efforts at making my own alcohol. This time it was using oranges. I've previously made a Homemade Grand Marnier recipe that infused oranges into brandy so this time I decided to try infusing the oranges into neutral spirit first and then distilling it to produce a clear spirit (or so I thought). 6 oranges 1L neutral spirit (vodka or preferably for more flavour using 'eau de vie' spirit … [Read more...]
Lime Gin and Lime-cello
Over the past several weeks I've shared my forays into combining seasonal fruit from the garden with my efforts at making my own alcohol. This time it was using limes. Lime Gin In my first attempt I sliced 9 limes and added them to a litre of my favourite citrus spice gin and left it to infuse for a month. The result was a bit cloudy and it was quite bitter (from using the pith of the limes). This wouldn't be to everyone's taste, but I actually quite like the result especially with an … [Read more...]
Feijoa Gin Recipe
As you will have seen in earlier posts, now that I am making my own alcohol (see Making Alcohol: 3 Ways) I decided that it would be fun to try making some different fruit liqueurs. I have previously made Feijoa Vodka by macerating the feijoas in the vodka for several months. This time I added gin botanicals to the macerating feijoas, however the result was a rather unappetising brown colour. So the time had come for me to experiment with distilling after maceration which would give a clear … [Read more...]
Blackberry Liqueur Recipe
Having made raspberry liqueur and blueberry liqueur using essentially the same recipe, I was keen to try something a bit different for this Blackberry Liqueur. The use of red wine turns this more into a 'port' or fortified wine with a lower alcohol content than the liqueurs made wholly with vodka. This was a pleasant drink but didn't have the rich berry fruitiness that the other liqueurs had. 700g blackberries 750ml bottle of red wine 1 cup sugar 1 cup vodka or neutral spirit Mash the … [Read more...]
Blueberry Liqueur Recipe
Having started to make my own alcohol (see Making Alcohol: 3 Ways) and with a freezer full of my summer berries, I decided that it would be fun to try making some different fruit liqueurs. This one is a Blueberry Liqueur. You can swap out the fruit in the recipe for whatever you have on hand (or perhaps even make a mix). 2 cups blueberries, frozen* 1L vodka or neutral spirit 1 cup sugar *freezing breaks down the cell walls, allowing you to get more juice You can experiment with adding … [Read more...]
Raspberry Liqueur Recipe
Having started to make my own alcohol (see Making Alcohol: 3 Ways) and with a freezer full of my summer berries, I decided that it would be fun to try making some different fruit liqueurs. This one is Raspberry Liqueur. You can swap out the fruit in the recipe for whatever you have on hand (or perhaps even make a mix). 700g fresh or frozen raspberries* 1L vodka or neutral spirit 1 cup sugar *freezing breaks down the cell walls, allowing you to get more juice Pour raspberries, vodka … [Read more...]
Making Alcohol: 3 Ways
When I was first looking to buy a still, I decided that my interest was primarily in making smaller amounts of things using botanicals (preferably from my garden). So I bought the smallest 2.5L copper still and have it in my kitchen/dining area as it is a beautiful piece of art as well. Although it is possible to make alcohol in this still rather than my primary use of flavouring gin, the amounts that it makes are very small. I wasn’t intending to make very much so simply buying vodka to use as … [Read more...]
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