Sloe Gin Alternatives...

[Geoffrey_Bubbles]

Hi all,

Anyone got any good drink recipes that I can have a go at with either Vodka, Gin or Southern Comfort?

I wanted to make sloe gin, but of course can't get sloes at this time of year (though I have found them growing locally now and just have to return end of summer, but thats ages away!).

Anybody tried Gin with any other fruits? Not looking for a drink I can knock up and drink straight away necessarily, I've bought some good 1litre sized bottles to make something up for longer term storage and I have a lot of the above spirits sitting in my cupboard that have been there for some time without being touched...

Cheers in advance

Geoff

 

[scanker]

All the vodka recipes you need here:
http://www.danish-schnapps-recipes.com/schnapps-recipes-a.html

I've made all sorts, but highlights include cinnamon, raspberry, lemon and extra strong mint. They're separate recipes. Not a cocktail.

 

[Wavey Davey]

I can thoroughly recommend blackberry vodka. You'll have to wait for July/August though. Last time I made some I had 1.8Kg blackberries (frozen - to get more of the juice out), 2.5 litres vodka and 450g sugar. All put into a gallon winemaking demijohn on the 15th August. By November it was coming along nicely and my neighbours still talk about Christmas that year when a good bit was drunk. If you're making smaller quantities you'll have to alter the amounts accordingly but the recipe does work well. Also if you like things more or less sweet change the amount of sugar. I always put less in at the start anyway and put more in later if it needs it, 'cos you can't take it out if it's too sweet.
Cheers, Wavey.

 

[Paganwolf]

Buy a bag of worthers and a bottle of vodka swig about 2 inches off the top then push the worthers one by one into the bottle as it fills keep swigging a little off the top till you have poked all the worthers in, then shake and leave, keep shaking every couple of hours till all the worthers have melted. Not very bushcrafty i know but nice all the same lol

 

[Geoffrey_Bubbles]

Cheers peeps,

Will give some of those a go, anybody got anymore.

Will give a few vodka recipes a go, but also looking for something to do with this Gin...

Cheers
Geoff

 

[scanker]

Slice of lemon and a dash of tonic? Angostura bitters if it floats your boat!

 

[Davros]

Blackberry whisky is sometimes made up here in Scotland. I like it a lot. I have made some and it was pretty good. I got some ripe blackberries mixed them with brown sugar (half the weight of the berries) and covered with cheap whisky.

I left it for a month before drinking. The time is quite important as the seeds in blackberries will start start to impart a woody bitter taste to the drink. I am not sure of the optimum time. This problem occurs in other fruit liquers as well

You could also try a Drambui or Glayva type drink with whisky and honey. I will have a go at that soon.

I have also made cherry vodka (use small wild cherries). Strawberry vodka and damson gin. All were very good. Plus a spiced honey liquer called Krupnik which was a great success

I prefer these fruit liquers to be not too sweet. If the fruits are tart I use half the weight of sugar. If the fruits are sweet I use one third or less. You can always add more sugar later.

I would like to try hawthorn berries, young beech leaves and walnut leaves some time in the future. I will post my results when I do.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I often make Kummel and Piertsovka.

They are very simple to make.

Start with neutral spirit (e.g. vodka) so that the flavour of the spirit doesn't interfere with the flavour of the other ingredients.

The stronger the alcohol content, the better the extraction of flavour. If you can get 80% by volume alcohol (Russian spirt, Polish Pure Spirit or I recently found an American corn spirit), this is great. You can always dilute it back to 40% abv later.

Just put your flavours into a bottle, prefereably glazed earthenware, like the 50cl swing-top bottles used for some French and Belgian ales (e.g. La Cervoise des Ancêtres, then add the spirit and leave to stand for a few weeks.

My Kummel is made from caraway seeds and a few green cardamom pods. I don't add any sugar, so it is nowhere near as sweet as the commercial stuff.

For piertsovka, I use about twenty little bird's tongue chili peppers for a half litre of vodka.

You can use just about any kitchen herbs and spices for this technique, or hedgerow fruits (80% alcohols will kill any yeasts on fruit skins, but the water content will dilute the spirit if you press the sludge at the bottom of the bottle).

K.

 

[match]

Almost the right time of year for it. Noyaux (beech leaf gin) is very good, if a little potent - recipe in this thread:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=7598

 

[Stew]

I have also made cherry vodka (use small wild cherries).

I've used tinned black cherries in the past - absolutely gorgeous!

At the minute I've got some cherry tomato and pepper vodka soaking and some bullace vodka as well.

How long do you guys think the bullace should be left in with the fruit in? It's 1 bottles worth of vodka split between the 2. I know that leaving it for a year is supposed to improve the flavour but how about longer? Does it deteriorate?

 

[Stew]

My Kummel is made from caraway seeds and a few green cardamom pods. I don't add any sugar, so it is nowhere near as sweet as the commercial stuff.

For piertsovka, I use about twenty little bird's tongue chili peppers for a half litre of vodka.

I will be trying both of these Keith!!

 

[harlequin]

Try passing the blackberries through a seive. It'll eliminate the seeds
Sorry, a wee bit late this was an answer to Davros's post

 

[Keith_Beef]

I think it's important to remember that if you use the commercial clear-glass bottles, you should keep them in the dark while macerating.

Something to do with UV light, left-handed and right-handed molecules, polarized light...

Once you've got the alcohol over about 20% or so (IIRR), you don't need to worry about bacteria, wild yeasts or parasites like liver flukes.

You should be able to leave whole fruit to steep for any length of time, though wome fruit (like cherries) will become bitter as more flavours from the stone are dissolved into the liquor, after the flavours in the soft flesh.

I've not read or heard of it happening, but there might be a chance that some fruit kernels contain toxins that in normal consumption are not a problem, but that might become concentrated enough to make you ill if you leave, for example, 120 bitter cherries in a half litre of vodka for a year (figures pulled out of the air, you understand)...

K.

 

[benjamin.oneill]

I can thoroughly recommend blackberry vodka. You'll have to wait for July/August though. Last time I made some I had 1.8Kg blackberries (frozen - to get more of the juice out), 2.5 litres vodka and 450g sugar. All put into a gallon winemaking demijohn on the 15th August. By November it was coming along nicely and my neighbours still talk about Christmas that year when a good bit was drunk. If you're making smaller quantities you'll have to alter the amounts accordingly but the recipe does work well. Also if you like things more or less sweet change the amount of sugar. I always put less in at the start anyway and put more in later if it needs it, 'cos you can't take it out if it's too sweet.
Cheers, Wavey.

I agree with this, Ive made some before and I love it, first year was too sweet but after i worked it out. I got the recipe from the shooting times I think but above looks good. My favorite thing is the way it really does pull out the flavour of the fruit, right down to the earthy flavour from the couple of bits of stem that made it into the brew by accident.... mmm, I'm off to find that bottle.



It doesn't solve your sloe dilems, but I have a farmer friend on dartmoor who last year made sloe brancy which was pretty good.



Finally, i worked with a chef who put strawberries in vodka. Apperently the vodka went pink and the strawbs went white! He said he used the fruit in a really simple dessert and put the "bi-product" in the chef

Ben