Nothing says
summer like a gin and tonic. And Markipedia loves to sip a gin and tonic on a lazy Sunday afternoon. And, since today is his birthday, this post is for him!
The good thing about living in the
desert is that nothing stops you from feeling summery all year round.
Personally, I
am not a huge gin fan. I don’t do martinis, and I only drink a gin and tonic
for the tonic and lime. (The limes on our tree ripen in autumn and early
winter.)
Markipedia
mentioned that, with all the herbs in our garden, it would be a breeze to make
homemade gin.
Something
about that appealed to me. If the herbs were really pronounced, I might actually
enjoy it.
We have a an
empty bottle of Botanist Islay Dry Gin gin given to us by cousins Cathy and Heather back
East. We use a variety of empty – but, more important, beautiful – bottles for water
at the dinner table.
Because of
its design, the Botanist bottle is a favorite. It is embossed with the names of
all the herbs in their brand of gin. Basically, a starter recipe in binomial
botanical Latin!
We adapted the
list of ingredients, and amended it – with our culinary sensibilities and
ingredients from our garden – to create this recipe for homemade gin.
Don’t expect
Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire. But do expect to enjoy this wonderful herbal
elixir. Because this is not a distilled gin, it will come out a light amber color; it does not affect the taste.
Cheers!
~ David
Homemade Herb-infused Gin
2 cups vodka
2 tablespoons
juniper berries
1 teaspoon
chamomile
½ teaspoon
coriander seeds, lightly crushed
½ teaspoon
culinary lavender buds
3 cardamom
pods, broken
3 fresh bay
leaves, bruised
4 spearmint
leaves, bruised
3 sprigs
thyme
2 sprigs marjoram
two 4-inch
strips of grapefruit zest
1 sprig
tender myrtle leaves, bruised
Combine the
vodka and juniper berries (half the juniper berries can be crushed in a mortar and pestle for greater juniper flavor) in a sealable glass jar and steep for 12 hours.
Add
chamomile, coriander, lavender, cardamom, bay leaves, spearmint, thyme, marjoram, grapefruit zest, and myrtle. Seal jar and shake, then let steep for an
additional 5 days
Strain out
solids through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, then strain through a coffee
filter again into final bottle.
Store at room
temperature for up to one year. (As if it would last that long…)
Makes 2 cups
_______________________________________________
If you ever
hear Markipedia call gin “mother’s milk,” he is referring to Eliza Doolittle’s faltering
maiden voyage at the Ascot Races in the play My Fair Lady, excerpted here:
Eliza Doolittle
(with perfect diction and dubious judgment):
My Aunt died of influenza, or so they said. But its my belief they done the old
woman in. Yes, Lord love you. Why should she die of influenza, when she come through
diphtheria right enough the year before. Fairly blue with it she was. They all thought
she was dead. But my father, he kept ladling gin down her throat. Then she come
to so sudden she bit the bowl right off the spoon. Now what call would a woman with
that strength in her have to die of influenza?
Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, shocked:
But it can’t
have been right for your father to be pouring spirits down her throat like
that, it could have killed her.
Eliza Doolittle:
Not her, gin
was mother’s milk to her. Besides he poured so much down his own throat, he knew
the good of it.
Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things
December 19, 2015 at 9:41 pmGorgeous, David! Have brought this to the attention of a dear friend who is a gin-fancier… wishing you both a joyful Christmas and a brilliant 2016 XXX
Cocoa & Lavender
December 20, 2015 at 12:16 amThanks, Liz – to you and Peter, as well. I hope your friend enjoys the post. As an aficionado, s/he may not like the fact that this isn't distilled!
Andrea_TheKitchenLioness
December 20, 2015 at 7:26 amDear David, beuatiful post which reminds me a little of my grand-mother who used to infuse her rum with berries from her garden until it turned a deep burgundy color – please wish Mark a very Happy Birthday from all of us!
Andrea & Co.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 20, 2015 at 3:31 pmInfused rum sounds wonderful Andrea! I will convey your greetings to Mark!
Chef Mimi
December 20, 2015 at 12:55 pmThat's amazing, and I love that bottle!!!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 20, 2015 at 3:31 pmThanks, Mimi! Collect lots of unusual bottles just for things like this.
Kirsten Honeyman
December 20, 2015 at 1:59 pmThis sounds really intriguing. I like the idea of herbal infused gin! Thank you for an inspiring post. I look forward to giving this a try over the holidays. Best to you and Mark!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 20, 2015 at 3:32 pmKirsten – it is really quite flavorful, and I hope you do get to try it! Looking forward to seeing you in February!
Sippity Sup
December 20, 2015 at 3:08 pmI like gin. It' my preferred spirit (well preferred light spirit) but I've never attempted to make my own. I've certainly infused lots of spirits so I understand the process. I'll give your recipe a shot! GREG
Cocoa & Lavender
December 20, 2015 at 3:33 pmThanks, Greg. And, as you can only imagine, the better and smoother your vodka, the better the gin will be.
Unknown
December 20, 2015 at 6:26 pmLovely photos…Happy Birthday to Mark!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 12:27 amThanks, Jean! Mark saw your message before I did! 🙂
John - heneedsfood
December 20, 2015 at 8:16 pmSomething tells me I'd quite like sipping on a G&T made with this herbal concoction, somehow. I infused some gin with a little native rosemary a couple of years ago and it still sits in the cupboard unused. Probably because it infused for too long and it's way too herbal. I've just never got around to diluting it. It's the colour of dark tea!
A big Happy Birthday to Mark, as well!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 12:28 amThanks, John – we had fun celebrating his day.
Yeah, I think over-herbing things can be dangerous. Once we thought, "If a little sage is good…" Well, we soon found out that too much of any good thing can be bitter and awful. This was definitely a fun project.
Unknown
December 20, 2015 at 9:10 pmLove that quote from My Fair Lady as much as I love the sound of the gin.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 12:28 amYou should try making it, Carol!
Daniela Grimburg
December 21, 2015 at 12:04 amWhat a wonderful post, charming and inspiring.
If it taste only half as good as it looks in these beautiful pics, it's a win win.
Happy belated birthday to Mark and a Merry Christmas and joyful new year to both of you!
Happy belated Birthday to Mark!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 12:29 amThanks, Daniela – we wish you the same! (I even tried to do it auf Deutsch on your post – hope it wasn't too embarrassingly bad…)
Inger @ Art of Natural Living
December 21, 2015 at 3:17 pmLovely photos! I am not a gin drinker either, but I have a lot of juniper bushes and wonder about using the berries often! Coincidentally one of my daughters and I just saw a holiday production of My Fair Lady! Best wishes to both of you for a wonderful holiday season!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 12:29 amOh, I would love to have a juniper that had berries! You are quite fortunate, Inger!
Unknown
December 23, 2015 at 2:20 amI'm not a drinker as you know, but I can appreciate beauty and this is beautiful. The herbs and spices make it sound even more delightful. Also that bottle is gorgeous!
Happy belated birthday to Mark, I hope he had a wonderful one.
Wishing you and Mark a wonderful holiday season; Happy Christmas! Thank you for your constant support, love and encouragement, but especially your friendship.
Nazneen xx
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 2:43 amThanks, Nazneen – it means all the more that you comment when you aren't a drinker! 🙂 I will send your birthday greetings to Mark – it is fun to make it special for him at this time of year when everything is about Christmas!
I, too, am so grateful for our friendship – and I just know that this will be the year that we meet! xox
Padaek
December 23, 2015 at 2:33 amSuch a handsome looking bottle of gin. I love the colour. Your posts (photos and words) never stop to amaze and inspire me. Have a jolly good Christmas you two. 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
December 23, 2015 at 2:44 amThanks, Padaek! You are so kind… We will have a happy Christmas, and maybe someday we will be celebrating it Down Under, and we can raise a glass together!
Karen (Back Road Journal)
December 23, 2015 at 9:35 pmA belated birthday wish to Mark. I've never cared for gin but I'm sure your homemade elixir was much appreciated by Mark.
Cocoa & Lavender
December 27, 2015 at 2:56 pmThe homemade gin was quite tasty, Karen, and Mark loved it! Another batch is in the works!
Magda
December 23, 2015 at 11:27 pmHappy belayed birthday to Mark!!
It feels like summer in Arizona now? Well, thanks to climate change (and I'm not saying this in a good way) it feels like spring here in the Netherlands too.
I'm not a huge fan of gin but I like Jenever, the original gin made by the Dutch. What I absolutely love is that bottle on that first photo. It's beautiful David!
Hope you have wonderful holidays with lots of good food and friends. Happy Christmas!!
Cocoa & Lavender
December 27, 2015 at 7:24 pmMagda – we like Jenever, too. And I actually like this herby concoction a lot. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too, and we wish you all the best for 2016!
Kathy
January 1, 2016 at 10:49 pmThe idea of herbs infused in gin is lovely! I guess I feel a bit like you about gin…but the tonic and lemon is wonderful! Your photos are gorgeous!
Thank you for stopping by and for your very kind words. I am glad to be finally getting back to normal! Happy New Year to you and Mark!!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 2, 2016 at 12:43 amI am just so relieved to know you are doing okay. What a great way to start 2016!
Provence WineZine
January 9, 2016 at 2:32 amTruly lovely post. It could tempt me to drink gin if I had a hand-crafted bottle like this one! As many times as I have watched My Fair Lady, I don't think I caught this reference to gin! How did you like it? will you be drinking G & Ts when the sun comes back?
Cocoa & Lavender
January 10, 2016 at 3:02 pmMark is still drinking G&Ts – sunshine or not! We just put up another large bottle of gin. It should keep him happy for a while. I love it – incredibly herbal! And the big bottle is quite pretty, too!
Nuts about food
January 22, 2016 at 9:15 amBeautiful bottle and label!
Cocoa & Lavender
January 24, 2016 at 11:18 pmIt's all about pretty, isn't it?