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.
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thanks fi.
any suggestions as to what to do with the raspberries afterwards? i did have a try of one the last time we checked the sugar level. it nearly blew my head off!! it seems a shame to disgard the fruit after it has done such a fine job!
Hi Sam
Don’t leave the raspberries in longer than 6 months as after this they will start to spoil the grog.
Our raspberry gin, made with our own raspberries in June, is now just a happy memory. We’ll have to make more than a litre this summer!
hi fi
it’s been a while since i’ve left a comment, although more often than not, i check out what you’ve been up to. your writing conjures up such beautiful images that it’s hard not to keep coming back for more!
anyway, i was wondering how long i need to keep the raspberries in for . the two batches of blackberry whiskey and blackberry gin are much savoured, and i really don’t want to ruin the raspberry gin. they have been in since october, i have adjusted the sugar and it’s tasting PDG!!!
thanks a lot, I’ll give it a go and hopefully message back with positive results! 🙂 doug
Hi Doug
Of course you can adjust the quantities to make less raspbery gin.
Supermarket raspberries work well. I statrted off by using these before our raspberry patch got established. In fact this recipe was developed using them. Home grown raspberries give the gin more depth of flavour.
hi,
I am considering making raspberry gin in a smaller quantity, can i simply third the quantities in the suggester recipe? Also, how should i adjust the recipe for supermarket bought raspberrys?
thanks
Doug
Hi David,
Wash and dry raspberries and then proceed.
advice on the prep for raspberry vodka please?
thank you.
d
Hi Sam,
This is interesting. When I was picking sloes a couple of weeks ago (no frost) there were quite a few shrivelled ones. I reckon that these ripened early and had gone over, so I didn’t touch them.
The first frost wouldn’t shrivel the sloes, just soften them.
Personally, I’d reject the shrivelled ones. Or you could make a grog just with the shrivelled ones and see what happens. I wouldn’t mix fat with shrivelled as it would be a shame if the shrivelled ones fouled the liqueur.
Every year is experimental for me. That’s what it’s all about!
thanks for that, i’ll give it a go and let you know. we’ve just been out to the back garden to brave the vicious blackthorns and have managed about 2kgs of sloes! some of them are very shrivelled, will they be ok? this is only our second year, so we are still experimenting AND not really knowing what we are doing!