Elderflowers make a wonderful fragrant cordial that you can add soda water to for a refreshing summer drink, splash into fruit salads or or add to wine, prosecco or champagne for a stylish cocktail. In countries such as the UK, elder trees can be found everywhere in hedgerows, scrub, and woodlands but without that option here in Auckland I had to plant one in my garden. At the beginning of summer I regularly rushed out to see whether it would flower this season and whether I would have enough … [Read more...]
Ginger Beer Recipe (non-alcoholic)
I have previously tried brewing my own ginger beer (Ginger Beer and Apple Ginger Beer) but they have always been recipes for alcoholic ginger beer. This recipe is for a non-alcoholic version that you make without the first ferment that produces the alcohol but rather just ferments in the bottles with a small amount of sugar to produce the fizz (and a very small amount of alcohol if you are being pedantic). The fermenting jar is just used for mixing in this case so you can use another large … [Read more...]
Homemade Grand Marnier Recipe
If you have enjoyed your own homemade Limoncello then why not try this homemade Grand Marnier recipe. Although it probably won't appease the purists, it does make a very acceptable orange liqueur that I'm sure you will enjoy - and it makes a great gift. It is really easy to make but it does have a long waiting time: 2 months minimum and it gets better with age so give it 6 months if you can bear to wait. You will need: 8-10 oranges (I used navel oranges from my garden) 1 cup sugar 1 … [Read more...]
Hopped Pear Cider
It was a while since I made this one but I'm finally catching up on some posts that I didn't get time to add previously. This one is for Hopped Pear Cider - I really liked the way the slightly bitter hoppy flavour balanced out the sweetness of the pears to give a very refreshing summer drink. If you have followed my blog previously you will know that I love making things and trying different flavours and combinations particularly where plants from my garden and other botanicals are involved. … [Read more...]
Homemade Campari Recipe
I have become quite partial to drinking Campari and soda since being introduced to it by my godmother when I visited her in the UK. During lockdown it became very difficult to obtain in New Zealand so I decided that I'd have to have a go at making it myself - this is my homemade Campari recipe. Campari is a dark red Italian alcoholic liqueur, used as an apéritif or as a bitters (digestif). It was invented in 1860 by Gaspare Campari. The recipe contains more than 60 natural ingredients … [Read more...]
Homemade Kombucha Recipe
Fermented foods and beverages are becoming increasingly popular, adding variety, new flavours and interesting textures to our diets. However for many people it is the potential health benefits that are the main reason for consuming them. My sister-in-law Bronnie gave me a kombucha scoby so that I could try making homemade kombucha. Kombucha is full of living organisms to help feed and develop healthy gut bacteria, helping to improve digestion and immunity, and eases the symptoms of … [Read more...]
Two Homemade Tonic Water Syrup Recipes
With all this experimenting with making gin, I thought it would be fun to see if I could make tonic water to go with it, particularly as tonic water has botanical ingredients as well. Here are my learnings around making homemade tonic water syrup. The main ingredient of tonic water is quinine. Quinine is extracted from the bark of cinchona trees, which was used as a medicine by Quechuan tribes in the South American Andes to treat shivering and fevers. They mixed the bitter powder with … [Read more...]
Simple Homemade Infused Gin Recipe
I appear to be a bit gin-obsessed at the moment (see my earlier posts on Making Gin at Home, Learning about Distilling Workshop, Gin Immersion Workshop and lots of different infused gin recipes) but it seems that I'm not the only one! Everyone I speak to at the moment is making gin, has a still, is thinking of getting a still, or just enjoys trying different gins. One of my colleagues, Barry, used to work for a company that sold distilling equipment and now has his own at home. We have a 'gin … [Read more...]
Gin Immersion Workshop
As well as the Distillation Workshop that I attended recently, I also attended a Gin Immersion workshop that was a really good follow on course for me but could be attended as a stand alone course. We learnt all about key aspects of gin making, including understanding the key botanicals that can be used, how to go about creating a blend of the botanicals, and the base alcohol or neutral spirit to use as the starting material. In NZ to be called a gin it must contain at least 37% alcohol by … [Read more...]
Lemon Lime & Bitters Cordial Recipe
My lemon and lime trees produce copious amounts of fruit so I am always looking for different ways to use them. I've previously made various combinations of lemon, lime or lemon and lime cordials and even lemon barley water cordial. This time I decided to make a lemon, lime & bitters cordial recipe. 2 cups fresh lemon juice 1 cup fresh lime juice 3 slices lemon rind 3 slices lime rind 2 cups white sugar 1 tbsp Angostura bitters fresh mint, finely chopped … [Read more...]
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