I feel like lockdown is bringing out the domestic goddess sign of just about everyone.
A ridiculous amount of rhubarb seems to appear in our veggie patch every year, especially considering the fact that we are a family who don’t eat much rhubarb. This year, instead of sending it off to my grandpa or making the odd crumble that only dad will eat, I decided to try something new.
Something undoubtedly loved by everyone in the house is gin. We have a pretty decent collection as it seems to be a go to gift for my mum. We were however looking a little dry on the flavoured gin front, so I put two and two together and this was the outcome.
This rhubarb gin recipe is super simple, and I’ll definitely be making at least one more batch this summer. It’s mega sweet so I’d suggest serving with lime and a tonic or soda water, or lots and lots of ice if you fancy sipping it straight.
Ingredients
1kg of fresh rhubarb stalks (doesn’t matter if this is not exact)
400g of caster sugar
800ml of gin (I just used a cheap supermarket own brand bottle as the flavour will come from the rhubarb)
Recipe
- Look out and clean a big glass jar to make your gin in, it’ll need to hold about 1.5 litres of liquid at the very least. I used one like this.
2. Wash the rhubarb stalks then cut them into cubes about 3cm long. Put all the cubes into the jar along with the caster sugar then give it a good shake to coat the rhubarb. You’ll then need to leave this for 24 hours.
You’ll be amazed by how much liquid the sugar brings out of the rhubarb, that’s why the jar needs to be pretty big
3. After 24 hours, add the gin to the rhubarb and sugar and give everything a good shake. Now you need to leave it for 4 weeks, shaking the jar every day.
4. Ta da! 4 weeks later you should have a jar of gorgeous rhubarb gin. If it looks a little brown don’t worry, once you’ve strained it it should be more pink.
You can either leave your gin in the jar with the rhubarb and ladle it out into cups, or strain the liquid into bottles. I put mine into 500ml bottles and it filled 2 to the brim.
There you have it, your very own homemade rhubarb gin! This would make a fabby gift, but let’s be honest, my batch definitely will not be leaving this house.
Lauren Robertson 