Rhubarb & Blackberry Gin
Here is something for the adults, made with home grown rhubarb and foraged blackberries, this is the perfect way to spruce up your evening gin and tonic on a summers evening.
Rhubarb takes up a lot of ground space (it’s leaves can be enormous), I find it’s mostly a favourite of those with allotments, but for me with my two raised beds and limited space in them, I’ve not grown it myself. However, my lovely neighbour grows it and always passes us plenty of bright pink rhubarb stalks over the fence.
I’ve made the usual rhubarb crumbles, and rhubarb stewed down to go in overnight oats, I’ve even made tea loaves and muffins with it, but this year we decided to use the first batch we were given to infuse some gin at home!
We used the BBC Good Food recipe as guide, and adapted it to the amount of rhubarb we had, and added in some previously foraged blackberries that were waiting in our freezer. We bought some cheaper gin from the corner shop, and used a big kiln jar that securely seals for the process.
Warning: this is not a quick process - it’s a month long recipe, but totally worth the wait!
Whilst it might sound complicated because it takes a long time, it honestly couldn’t be easier! There are so few ingredients, and even fewer preparation steps, so really there is no excuse not to give this one a go.
INGREDIENTS
750ml bottle of cheap gin
600g rhubarb stalks
400g caster sugar
200g frozen/fresh blackberries
You will also need a large (1 litre) kiln jar, or wide necked glass bottle, and a dark cupboard
METHOD
Wash and roughly chop the rhubarb (without the leaves) into chunks 1-2inches long and place them in the kiln jar
Add the sugar to the rhubarb and shake well so the rhubarb is evenly coated and everything is wet and sticky. Seal the jar and leave overnight so the juices come out
Add the blackberries and gin, seal the jar and shake thoroughly but without mashing up the blackberries too much
Leave in a dark, cool cupboard for 4 weeks, checking every few days and giving it a little shake to keep it moving. The blackberries lose all their colour and the liquid should get darker and darker as the weeks go on.
When you are ready for a drink strain the gin with a sieve into a glass fill with ice and add a tonic of your choice.
