Raspberry gin recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 246 comments
Autumn raspberries are a late fruiting variety with great flavour
This recipe can also be used for blackberry gin and vodka
Our autumn fruiting raspberries are late, but they’re finally here. Just a few of them. Succulent and tempting and the promise of more to follow. If you grow autumn fruiting raspberries you might like to have a go at making this delicious raspberry gin. The liqueur is delicate yet has a fresh raspberry bite that makes a change from the raunchiness of sloe gin. (This is a fresh review. I nipped out to the barn this evening to try some of our July 2006 vintage and it was superb. Fragrant and tasty). At it’s best, raspberry gin totally overshadows sloe gin. We had a tasting of a wide selection of our fruit gin at a dinner party, a few months ago. The clear winner was the raspberry gin.
You can make raspberry vodka using the same method detailed below for gin with similar ingredients, just a little more sugar. We’ve tried both and think that the gin wins hands down. Both are quite drinkable in three months so would be ready for Christmas. I love a dash of this in a fresh fruit salad.We had to buy the raspberries for our gin this summer but the end result will be well worth the outlay. In July we feasted off our early raspberries. We guzzled large bowls of them, sprinkled with castor sugar and had heated discussions as to how to use the rest of the fruit. Unfortunately, I had not secured the netting tightly enough and when I went out with my trug a couple of days later the canes were bare. Raspberries are my favourite fruit and raspberry gin is the biz. It always puts people in the best of moods. People have said the most complimentary things about us after a glass or three of our raspberry gin.
Tips and tricks for making fruit infused gin/vodka:
- If you are using the original gin bottles and you find that you don’t have quite enough gin to fill each one to the neck, don’t worry. We often do the final fill up the next day when we have got more gin.
- Make notes on a label of your fruit/gin/sugar ratio and stick it onto the bottle(s) so that you have a record, if you make a particularly good batch. The best labels are made from decorator’s masking tape as these can be peeled off and passed from bottle to bottle. We also note our responses at the grog matures. Yucky after sixth months can be to die for in a year (you will probably not remember without notes). Notes seem boring when you are making the grog. But they are so worthwhile when you start again the next year. It won’t be long before you will get a feel of what works well for your taste (and the notes will come into their own).
- Make more than you need the first year. So you can compare different vintages. This liqueur does improve over time.
- Some people drain the grog through muslin after a couple of months, to clarify the liqueur and bottle. We don’t bother as one old soak tipped that, once the gin is drunk, you can pour medium sherry on the fruit and start all over again! The latter is devilish and drinkable within three months.
- Keep your fruit gin away from the light as this will maintain the colour. Unless the bottle is dark green or brown. If you are stuck with clear bottles, wrap them in brown paper to keep out the light.
- Every couple of months take a tiny sip. At this time a add sugar if it tastes too sharp.
- If you want to make your own labels check out the post for 26 October 2006 to see how we make our labels.
| Raspberry gin recipe |
- Recipe for raspberry gin:
- 300g of raspberries
- 330g of white granulated sugar
- 1.5 litres (or more) of medium quality gin
- Steriiised 2 litre Le Parfait jar or 2 or 3 (70 cl) washed and sterilised gin bottles
- Wash raspberries and discard any bruised fruit. Place rasberries in either a large 2 litre Kilner/Le Parfait jar or divide the raspberries between 2 or 3 (70 cl) saved gin bottles.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar (divide the amounts if using several bottles) and top up with gin to the rim.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year).
- If you are making blackberry gin remove the fruit after 3 months (pour through muslin) to stop the woody taste developing and mature for at least a year.
Leave a reply
Hi Miriam,
We actually attempted to ferment it naturally rather than make a rumtopf. I was given the ‘recipe’ by a friend. We added a lot of sugar as each fruit went in, so I think the only thing which should have grown is the yeast. As I say we haven’t tasted it, but yes we definitely need to strain it before drinking! In the recipe we have, it should be topped with rum at the end. Its not exactly a rumtopf but its along the same lines. Just an experiment 🙂
The “ready made Pimms” tastes quite nice!
As for the raspberry gin (back to the topic) we have strained out the old, and now added some fresh raspberries, so hopefully it will take on more flavour.
Hi Rich H
A word of warning. I don’t like the sound of your rumtopf!!! It sounds as if your fruit has just gone rotten. Think you should have added some spirit i.e. Brandy or Rum, to it. All that is happening is that the fruit is fermenting in its own juices and you will need to kill off the yeast at the end of the procedure with finings like you do when you make wine to make this drinkable. You might be able to save it if you add rum or brandy to it now, but I would certainly strain it well before you attempt to drink it – it might blow your head off or worse!!!
Miriam
Hi, Rich
You won’t need an airlock as you are not fermenting the gin/vodka, basically you are just flavouring it. Several layers of cling film and elastic bands should be fine. I would use a polybag as your last layer and then tightly secure with elastic bands around the neck of the demijohn, as you don’t want any of your precious gin/vodka to evaporate.
Good Luck.
Although i realise i can use smaller containers, i have many sloes and a demi john. Must i buy an air lock for this or would some clingfilm/tin foil plus elastic bands or string suffice? Thanks :o)
Hi, we have followed your recipe here for raspberry gin, making close measurements rather than exact ones. We are at 2 months now, and have just had a taste. We have tried a raspberry gin that a friend had made before, and our one doesn’t taste nearly as much of raspberries! Only a hint of raspberry flavour in it. Is this to be expected, will we not taste the flavour until a month or so from now? Or should we have used more raspberries?
Cheers for the recipe though, we have had fun making this, as well as a couple of other random experiments:
– a half full bottle of Pimms strawberries brandy, and then apples and more brandy added later. We haven’t tasted it yet, but it smells amazing
– as mentioned here, the rumtopf idea, but we didn’t add any spirits, just fruit and sugar and let the fruit ferment. Peaches, plums, apples, one banana, and some grapes. It definitely fermented and actually looked quite gassy. We haven’t tasted this yet either! There’s a lot of yeast growing in there so I think it needs to be strained.
But yeah good fun, this is our first year making this kind of stuff.
Cheers,
Rich H
Hi,
Absolutely love this site – so many handy hints and tips!!
Found a recipe for Cherry Brandy in an old book.
1.5 lbs Cherries (washed & destoned)
5 oz Brown (coffee) sugar
12 Almonds (optional)
6in Cinnamon Stick
1pt Brandy
instructions pretty much the same for Sloe Gin – ready after 3 months.
4 September 2010
Just bottled my damsons for damson gin ready for christmas. Apart from the drink, always appreciated, when I decant the damsons, I put them in the freezer and because of the gin content they dont freeze. So come christmas/boxing day, out they come and served with creme fraiche or ice cream. Absolutley delicious!
Heather
Hi Jeannette
Put your fruit, sugar and vodka or gin into screw top jars – thats all you need. Any clean jars will do – I use old sweetener or coffee jars. No need for demi-johns or air locks as you are not making wine.
Miriam
just started making fruit vodkas have been told to use demi-johns and put airlocks is this correct.
Was inspired to start fruit gins/vodkas after sampling sloe gin from friend’s son/daughter-in-law. Now got on the go summer fruits gin & vodka,blueberry gin & vodka, cherry vodka & brandy, plum gin, gooseberry vodka & for really impatient people have used the ‘fruit’ of the werthers butterscotch – 2 x 135g. bags for £1.50 (with clubcard points) – dissolves in 2 days & ready to drink straight away!! while waiting for others to mature. Used coffee filter for blueberries but summer fruits seemed to clarify enough through medium sieve. For all fruit infusions used 6 tablespoonsful of sugar (75g.) but seems right amount for me.