The summer holidays now seem so long ago, but that is when my rhubarb infused gin journey began. I had seen lots of pictures of people making their own ginfusions and as I had six weeks off I figured this would be a great little project.
First, to find a recipe, I trawled through lots of suggestions on Google and it seemed pretty straight forward, in fact it seemed REALLY straight forward. Did I even need a recipe? Who actually sticks to a recipe when they’re cooking? I certainly don’t…not ever. Next to source the rhubarb, thankfully one of my gorgeous friends who lives up the road had a little bit to spare…along with various other veggie plants which I took off her hands. Back home to get prepped via the shops to grab a bottle of our favourite tipple!
So, what exactly are you going to need? There seemed to be two camps on the web, one which was slightly more sugar heavy in the making, and the other which used less sugar thus making the gin a little more tart. I like my gins quite sweet and floral, so I put a little extra sugar in at the beginning.
You will need:
- 400g of rhubarb stalks …the pinker the better!
- 200g caster sugar
- a bottle of gin…I went for Sainsbury’s own (first attempt at ginfusing and all that!)
You’re also going to need a sterilised jar or bottle big enough to accommodate all of the above. Sterilising jars is pretty simple and there’s an easy how to guide on the BBC good food website if you need instructions.
So what do you need to do?
- Wash your rhubarb stalks then chop them into chunks which are about 3cm long.
- Pop the chopped rhubarb into your bottle or jar along with the sugar and give it a good shake.
- Seal your bottle or jar and leave the sugary rhubarb mix to stand overnight.
- The next day add your gin into the mix, reseal and give it another shake.
- Store your jar or bottle in a cool, dark place for about 4 weeks. (I ended up leaving mine for 6 because I completely forgot where I’d hidden it!)
- Strain your rhubarb infused gin to remove the rhubarb chunks.
- Admire the gorgeous pink colour for a moment before serving with your favourite tonic and lots of ice!
It is utterly delicious, I even surprised myself and it was just SO simple to make. It has definitely inspired me to have a go at some other ginfusions. One of my teacher gin buddies recently made blackberry gin which was incredible and even quicker to make as soft fruits only require 24 hours of marinating with the gin!
When Hubby tried it, he found the gin a little too sweet. I’ve been thinking about how to make this appealing to both our pallets and think that if I added less sugar in the beginning, but added a sugar syrup to my actual G&T it might keep us both happy.
The leftover rhubarb also lends itself perfectly to a beautifully boozy and autumnal rhubarb crumble, which will be great fun to make once you’ve had a few rhubarb gins!
Happy ginfusing my lovelies, please send me some pictures if you decide to have a go yourselves, I would love to see what you come up with!
Gin Obsessions 