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Raspberry gin recipe

Photo of autumn rasberry fruiting - perfect for liqueurs

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 Type: drinks
Author: Fiona Nevile
Prep time: 15 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Ingredients
  • 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
Instructions
  1. 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.
  2. Using a funnel, add the sugar (divide the amounts if using several bottles) and top up with gin to the rim.
  3. 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).
  4. 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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246 Comments

  1. gloria.wright

    Fab recipe. Can I use frozen fruit instead if fresh as my raspberry canes are very young and nit producing lots of fruit yet?
    Thanks Gloria

  2. I have made batches of blackberry gin and rosehip vodka this Autumn. After multiple strainings through doubled over muslin, they are both still cloudy – I’m not bothered by the look but are they safe to drink??

  3. ron clark

    Can you use raspberries that have been cooked down with sugar, then strained and then mixed with gin.

  4. James Johnson

    each year i make various drinks and find making them in a plastic milk bottle makes for easy mixing (shaking) of the sugar and fruit and also by putting holes in a spare lid you are able to stain the drink as you want it, however that only really works for hard fruits (sloes and damsons) soft fruit (raspberrys and blackberries) just block the holes!

  5. Hi, my raspberry gin has been brewing for almost three months and it is still looking very watery (albeit pink with raspberries floating in it). Have I done something wrong? And can I fix it? Thanks.

  6. I made blackberry gin last year and it is fabulous! It really was the best after a year of sitting in a cool dark place. I have made it again this year but have made 3 times the amount,as its most defiantly going in my Christmas hampers. Cheers!

  7. Liz Cable

    If you want your marmalade to be slightly alcholic, wait until you’ve put it in jars – I think this would be best!!!

  8. Have a jar of this ready now. Should be ready by early Feb. I am considering using the gin soaked fruit to give some kick to my orange marmalade. Would it be a good idea? Should I add it at the start or nearer the end when the marmalade is beginning to set? Many thanks and great blog!

  9. Liz Cable

    I don’t see that frozen would be a problem – I made a blackberry and raspberry mix using the proportions from a sloe gin recipe. I’m looking forward to tasting it!!!
    Liz

  10. Rebecca Martland

    I have a huge bag of raspberries in my freezer from the summer, I have never made any kind of fruit liquor before, is frozen ok for gin and vodka? I have made my first batch of sloe gin but unsure about the raspberries!
    Best regards
    Rebecca

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