Fruits in alcohol, what are you busy concocting?

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Jupiter Jean

Member
Feb 6, 2017
13
2
Kent
The local damsons weren't quite ready before the Moot so I hoped there would be some left by the time we came home. Yippeee, there are plenty.

I picked some Sea Buckthorn at the Moot which is busy infusing into white rum.
Damsons & cinnamon in gin.
Experimental- strawberries in white rum, I've put a small jar in the fridge. I'm assuming strawberries might deteriorate more quickly than other fruit.

Anybody else dabling?
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I like dry vermouth over ice as a slurp while I'm preparing supper. I like Navel oranges best of all.
From time to time, I'll zest some Navel orange peel to add a different flavor to the vermouth.
So I zested a whole big Navel orange and stuffed it all into a new bottle of DV.
Will wait a few days.

Vanilla beans are good in dark rum.

Vodka soaked cherries are a popular treat here.
Seems to take months for the booze to perfuse the fruit.
 

nitrambur

Settler
Jan 14, 2010
759
76
53
Nottingham
Cherry tree is in it's second year, so not enough of a crop to do much with...except cherry vodka. 1.5 litres soaking up all the nice cherry flavour :)
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I find that Strawberries do indeed break down to mush and lose all colour, the little wild ones give loads of flavour first though.

I have orange slices sitting in sweetened vodka (mind and scrub the skins really well first to get rid of wax and assorted agricultural chemicals…..answer No 6, https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/63105/lemons-and-oranges-coated-with-imazalil )

I made noyau in spring from the beech leaves, so that's sitting mellowing for later on in the year.

I have raspberries soaking in vinegar just now, I'm quite fond of fruit vinegars.

Haven't spotted any sloes yet, it's not a good year in our usual spots, but I made both sloe gin and whisky last year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: punkrockcaveman

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I bought some raspberry wine vinegar before the maker had a chance to toss a failed fruit wine. Wish I had bought it all.
I made lemon salt one time. Maybe 50g coarse salt & all the zest of a lemon. Eh! OK but the lemon oils decomposed (6 weeks?)
I like pickles. Olives, cucumbers, eggs, beets, green beans and tomatoes, those kinds of things.
Another 6 weeks and I hope to be able to boil peanuts and also roast/salt some others.

We have Canadian Gin. "Ungava." From up north, flavored with a variety of herb things from Nunavut.
Big bottles and costly, wish they had little ones like 375ml.
 

Buckshot

Mod
Mod
Jan 19, 2004
6,466
349
Oxford
We've got pickled onions in balsamic vinegar and runner beans in normal vinegar
Just started the blackberry whisky yesterday
 

baggins

Full Member
Apr 20, 2005
1,563
300
49
Coventry (and surveying trees uk wide)
plenty of sloes around us, pretty much ready for collecting now. as are the elderberries. got some elderflower concentrate made in the spring and going to combine it with the berries and gin, should be interesting.Mushroom vodka (Amethyst Decievers) gives it a lovely warming taste.
 

mousey

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 15, 2010
2,210
254
42
NE Scotland
We got some reduced apricots awhile ago they are in a rumtopf with some brandy.

Went on a walk to find a local stone circle but found loads of raspberries, these are in another rumtopf with vodka.

Today the missus has put coconut into some jars with vodka.

She's thinking of straining the fruits off too leave the infused alcohol and use the 'puree' to make ice creams... The last time she made alcoholic ice cream they didn't set properly as the alcohol content was a wee bit too high - although that didn't spoil the flavour in any way :)


She also want to do dome blackberry whisky - just need to wait a little for the blackberries.
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,447
3,652
50
Exeter
Have a small bucket of Elderberries , all plump and glistening .

What alcohol goes well with the berry?
 

bobnewboy

Native
Jul 2, 2014
1,292
847
West Somerset
We have some of our early forced rhubarb in some nice vodka as a test. I prefer rhubarb a little sharp so I didn’t add much sugar. We shall see.

The sloes are looking good, if a little small, on the bushes round here. However this year I think I will try making some sloe jelly, by following Hugh’s YouTube video… ;)
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Himself has been foraging plums this week :) small, dark purple, beautifully sweet and tasty plums. Some of them are a little hard yet, and bearing in mind how soggy fruit can go in alcohol, I'm trying some of those firmer ones in brandy with a bit of vanilla pod and some dark brown soft sugar.
I'm aiming for something hearty enough to stand up to black, black chocolate :)
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
I just did my Raspberry Vodka and Blackberry Vodka ... now to wait until Xmas to try them!
I still have some of the Blackcurrant Port, Raspberry Port and Blackberry Port and a bottle of Sloe Gin from last year to keep me going until then ....
 
  • Like
Reactions: TeeDee

punkrockcaveman

Full Member
Jan 28, 2017
1,457
1,512
yorks
Just about to put some sloe gin on after finding blackthorn nirvana yesterday.

Has anyone ever tried using crab apples? Worth a go? Got a bunch of them yesterday too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TeeDee

daveO

Native
Jun 22, 2009
1,453
513
South Wales
Went on a walk to find a local stone circle but found loads of raspberries, these are in another rumtopf with vodka.
She also want to do dome blackberry whisky - just need to wait a little for the blackberries.
I really want to try doing a proper rumtopf one year.
This year I have gone with whimberry whisky and I'm contemplating making some blackberry as well. The new minimum alcohol pricing has put me off a bit as I can't get whisky under £20 a litre now.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
We have some of our early forced rhubarb in some nice vodka as a test. I prefer rhubarb a little sharp so I didn’t add much sugar. We shall see.

The sloes are looking good, if a little small, on the bushes round here. However this year I think I will try making some sloe jelly, by following Hugh’s YouTube video… ;)
Sounds good that vodka. I have a mate, Glaswegian, who’s not averse to dissolving rhubarb and custard sweets into his bottles. Or cola cubes, pineapple chunks, sour apple sweets.

I’m picking more sloes and damsons this week and eying up the glut of chillis.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE