How to Make Gin: Homemade Holiday Gifts

Instead of bringing a boring bottle of wine, surprise your hostess this holiday season with homemade gin. I'm Katie, at HipCooks in LA. I'm going to show you how to make this festive spirit at home. With gin, it's all about the juniper. And unlike other spirit recipes, this one only takes 24 hours to make. Here is what you need: vodka, juniper berries, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, allspice, bay leaf, black peppercorns, lavender rosemary and lemon peel. To the vodka we're going to add two tablespoons of juniper berries. We're gonna put the top on and give it a flip and set it aside overnight because they're going to infuse the vodka with the juniper berry flavor and turn it into gin. This bottle of vodka has been infusing overnight Now I am going to add the rest of the aromatics. First starting with quarter teaspoon of fennel seed. Next, three quarter teaspoon of coriander seed. Three cardamom pods. Now, I'm adding a quarter teaspoon of all-spice, a bay leaf that has been torn into pieces. Two black peppercorns. The ingredient list calls for a fresh sprig of lavender, but that's pretty hard to find, so I'm substituting dried lavender. And I'm using a pinch. One sprig of rosemary, smells just like Christmas! You can add lemon or lime, and I'm using lemon, you need two inches of peel. To incorporate all the ingredients into the vodka we're going to turn it over a couple of times. Now we're going to set it aside with all the aromatics and let it sit for another 8 to 10 hours. And now it's time to try it. But first, we want to get rid of all these spices by straining it out. To give the gin as a gift, pick up some fun or vintage bottles from the store. And we're going to pour the strained mixture into the bottle using a funnel. We've made the perfect amount. We've got one full bottle to give as a gift. And there is a half bottle that I can stick in the fridge and enjoy myself. All you need to do is tie a pretty bow around it, and your ready to give it as a present. And there you have it, homemade gin for the holidays. We love this recipe from Gourmet because it's perfect for the busy working girl. See you next time on YumSugarTV.