Thanks @NoWordForFluffy DS has gallantly offered to taste test for me. Second born so made of strong stuff but it would have been an awful shame to accidentally kill him off in my desperation to ponce.
@Deckthewallswithpaintandplaydough I never got on with the dishwasher method. In the end I decided -cue breathy Nigella style look to camera- more ‘natural’ flavours and slow infusion worked best. I say infusion but I think there is a slight difference, in that you can infuse alcohol with a flavour simply by adding fruit and/or aromatics to it for a period or you can create what are effectively liqueurs by also adding in sugar. I am making liqueurs rather than straight up infusions.
Basic instruction is combine alcohol with the ingredients in a large container, I tend to use a glass Kilner type jar from Ikea, store in a cool dark place, regularly giving a shake until the sugar dissolves. Some recipes suggest this takes days and some weeks. You then strain (maybe optional for some concoctions) and decant. I tend to make mine in September/October and just leave them until I’m ready, about a week before Christmas. I suppose there might be some combinations where leaving for too long could ruin flavour but I haven’t found that yet.
Lots of available recipes, just google or search gin, vodka etc on BBC good food or Sainsburys magazine type places. I have used rum and whisky too.
This is the gingerbread gin recipe I use. I’ve done lots of combinations big hits were Rhubarb and Vanilla, Cranberry and Clementine, Christmas Pudding and one particularly smug year when I gave Jo Malone to my sisters and did the booze to match. Think it was Blackberry and Bay.
I use Nigella’s Chilli Jam recipe.