Pure juniper
Gin sets for the home: With these tips, the first creation will be a hit
Gins that are created in your own four walls are also referred to as “Bathtub Gin”. In contrast to the gins that are distilled afterwards, they end up golden-yellow in the glass.
© Oksana_S / Getty Images
As a congenial partner of tonic, gin has been one of the most popular spirits worldwide for years. But the force of the juniper also shines pure with a variety of aromas. And this is how you create the classic with the idiosyncratic taste at home.
Hardly any party mixed drink is faster in the glass than the good old gin and tonic. A good sip of juniper schnapps, filled with fizzy tonic, a slice of lemon (or cucumber) and a handful of ice cubes. The hit at every party is ready. You don’t have to be a professional bartender to be able to serve your guests a refreshing “GT”. A standard gin from the supermarket and a few bottles of tonic are enough for a fun evening. The fine spirits among the fans of the schnapps with the distinctive, slightly needle-like juniper aroma, on the other hand, prefer to tinker with the spirit itself in smaller distilleries from the Black Forest to the island of Rügen by hobby distillers in fancy bottles be filled.
In this article you will find out how to create your own juniper schnapps in just a few days, which ingredients, tools and botanicals you need and what else you should consider when macerating. A gin test 2022 with eight different creations can be found here.
Make gin yourself: Before you start
You don’t need a still or other professional equipment to make gin yourself. In contrast to fruit brandies, the alcohol in gin is not obtained through distillation, but is mixed in ready-made. Clear and tasteless spirits such as vodka or Korn are suitable for this. But the gin can also come with you spirit of winealso called ethanol or prime fuel known. Weingeist usually has an alcohol content of at least 95 percent. Find out why this is important below.
1. The preparation
- Before the gin experiment can start, the ingredients have to be obtained. In addition to the already mentioned Primasprit, you will first need whole juniper berries. For two 0.5 liter bottles of gin, 15 to 20 grams of the small black cones are sufficient, which botanically are not berries at all.
- For later bottling should clean glass bottles ready, which can be tightly closed with a cork.
- In order to give your first gin an unmistakable taste, you also need various botanicals. The more adventurous you are, the more unusual the spices can be. Considered a classic cardamom, coriander seed, dried bay leaveslicorice, pepper berries and dried citrus peel. But as already mentioned: When it comes to the gin approach, there are no limits to the imagination.
- So that the “brew” ends up in the bottles unclouded and complete, a small one is used stainless steel funnela household sieve and a handful of ordinary filter bags are important.
- If you want to give the “home made” gin as a gift, you can label the bottles creatively. For example with these waterproof acrylic pens.
2. The approach
- First decant the vodka or schnapps into one of the glass bottles. Remember that the juniper berries and other spices will have to be added to the bottle later. (You can find out what you have to consider with pure alcohol below)
- Poke ten to twelve grams of juniper berries in one go mortar lightly and soak them in the alcohol (the other botanicals will follow later). The more juniper berries end up in the bottle, the more intense the special juniper note later becomes.
- Close the bottle and store the vodka-juniper macerate in a dry place away from light for at least 24 hours. Gently shake the bottle several times in between to redistribute the berries.
- Open the bottle with the now golden-yellow gin approach and add more spices. Cardamom, coriander seed and some citrus zest are enough for a classic gin.
- Close the bottle again, shake the macerate vigorously again and let it steep for another twelve hours.
- Pour in a small sip tasting glass and taste your creation. Now it depends on your taste. Add botanicals if the gin isn’t intense enough for you and allow the macerate a few more hours to develop.
- Once you are happy with the aroma, the spices and any suspended matter need to be filtered out of the gin. To do this, place the funnel on a second glass bottle. Now pour the macerate carefully through a sieve equipped with two filter bags. Repeat the procedure if you discover any suspended matter in the finished gin.
- After that, let the gin sit for about a week and give it time to let the flavors set.
- For the benefit! Enjoy your first own gin composition.
Making gin with pure alcohol: This is important
Instead of vodka, gin can also be mixed with pure alcohol (ethanol). However, this must be diluted in order to achieve an alcohol content of just over 40 percent by volume, which is typical for gin. Use one of the numerous alcohol calculators on the Internet. You feed them the alcohol value of the ethanol, the desired alcohol value of the gin and the amount of liquid before or after dilution. The calculator now determines the amount of water with which the ethanol must be diluted.
An example: Your ethanol has an alcohol content of 95% vol and the gin should have 43% vol after maceration. In total you want to make a liter of gin. The result: Measure out 450 milliliters of alcohol in a measuring cup and mix the ethanol with 550 milliliters of water. Your gin later has an alcohol content of 43% vol. Advantage of the somewhat more complex mixing: You can determine the alcohol content of your gin yourself. If you work with vodka, there is nothing wrong with that.
We have good news for everyone who finds the shopping list of ingredients for the “home-made” gin too long. There are practical ones Gin kits, which contain everything a gin lover’s heart desires. From botanicals to bottles and a funnel to self-adhesive labels. All you have to do is get the alcohol yourself for the more convenient version of gin maceration.
Sources: Eat Drink; ginspiration.de; schnapsbrennen.at
You might also be interested in:
This article contains so-called affiliate links. There is more information here.