StillSmart

So, I have spent the week getting my neutral prepared and have been buying various ingredients ready to make my first batch of Gin.

To get SWMBO a little more excited, I told her that she could develop the first recipe.

Using a mix of websites giving proportions of each flavour and some recipes I have found on here, I created a spreadsheet where she could enter the ingredients and it would pump out the desired amount (based on the amount of Juniper Berries).

So, this is the first batch of Gin to be produced tonight -

Juniper 14.00g
Coriander Seed 7.00g
Angelica Root 1.40g
Orris Root 0.10g
Blackberry - Dried 2.30g
Lemon Peel 2.30g
Rosemary 0.70g

1 Ltr Neutral @40%
1 Ltr Tap Water
Collect 750ml
Dilute to 40% (if can!)

This smells remarkably like a sputnik recipe

I am sure you have found this.

Recommended proportions (25-35g per litre)
x = Juniper berry (40% of botanic bill according to Ginstitute)
x/2 = coriander
x/10 = angelica, cassia, cinnamon, liquorice, bitter almond, grains of paradise, cubeb berries
x/100 = bitter & sweet orange peel, lemon peel, ginger, orris root, cardamom, nutmeg,
savory, chamomile, calamus, fennel, aniseed, cumin, violet root.

If we use x = 20g then x/2 = 10g, x/10 = 2g, x/100 = 0.2g (200mg)


Other thoughts.....

Blackberry - Dried never tried it. Why?

Lemon Peel - have you also consider bitter orange really Really REALLY makes a difference

Rosemary - be VERY careful. VERY strong. Perhaps avoid for first go unless you REALLY want your gin to taste like roast lamb.

At the end of the day we all do its differently - enjoy it.

PS botanical gins do no re-destill easily to neutral, like essences do if you don;t like them.

It certainly is a sputnik recipe :-)

I bought some dried fruits as SWMBO wanted a fruity gin, so I thought I'd see what they can impart. If they don't do much, I can always throw them into a neutral for an infusion!

Used the recommended proportions to make my 'calculator' - but did adjust slightly based on some of the amounts others had used here...

Took the amount of Rosemary based on the amount Gaza used in one of his recipes. Will lower the amount -

How does this look?
Juniper 15.00
Coriander Seed 7.50
Angelica Root 1.50
Orris Root 0.20
Blackberry - Dried 2.50
Lemon Peel 0.20
Rosemary 0.10

Good shout on dropping the lemon, citrus extracts really well, you don't need much of it.

Good luck with your gin!

For my tastes your coriander rate is too high relative to the juniper. That is going to make a strongly flavoured gin. If you don't like it, cut all quantities in half and try again. Compare the two results and decide which direction to go in.

Also, I strongly recommend collecting in small samples towards the end. The flavour in gin changes dramatically during the run and gets unpleasant notes toward the end (long, long before tails would appear in a normal run). You can get a much better result by collecting less and discarding or recycling more.

Run, drink, tweak, repeat, enjoy!

Well, my first run didn't go as planned.
After about 200ml, nothing seemed to be coming out of the tap.

I think my sputnik was slightly too high so the lid wasn't sealing properly. This means everything was leaking.

I have made adjustments and plan to try again.

Sorry for the problem, do keep us informed.

Robert.

Is the seal good? On a clean, dry, empty AS you should almost be able to lift it by the lid.

Yeah, seal is good.
Lowered the basket (steamer), but snapped one of the legs off as I was cutting the pipe (copper pipe legs).

Wasn't happy about that, but it fits low enough for a seal.

Following batch was a much better success however, with the wonky legs, I think I need to look into a different option as it leaned over and some of the botanicals seemed too dry.

The gin was lovely though.

Its a great, easy and simple way of making the
Gin of your choice. There are hundreds if not
thousands of different Gins made in this country
alone.I am playing with a hopped gin that Mash
showed us.On mark 4 now may post this one.

Wonky legs usually occur after taste testing for me.
How many Gins are too many Gins?
Many many, many many!

Robert.