Have you started yours yet? Don't miss the moment - the leaves need to be very young: texture like lettuce, or tissue paper ....
http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Processing_Food/Fruit_Liqueurs/
For those who need to know click above
Thanks for the link PH :)
How did it turn out??
Tried it for the first time this year and boy is there a kick.
I ended up leaving it for 6 weeks as I forgot about it for a while. Hasnt suffered from it!
It is certainly something for a cold winter's eve.
And as I think of it...............seemingly it ages very well and is vastly improved by leaving for 6 months before tasting.
No intention of going near it for at least a year.
A friend made some that was put away (having been deemed horrible at an early tasting) and then forgotten ..... for 12 years! I was privileged to try it and it was sublime.
Well! had a little slurp of the 2008 today and it's simply wonderful. I had decanted it into small bottles, so will still be leaving some to age further as this really improves a lot over time.
So just a timely heads-up as the beech leaves will soon be unfurling.
1 bottle gin
8 oz sugar
1 glass of brandy
Fill a jar with young beech leaves and pour in a bottle of gin. Steep the leaves in it for three weeks before straining them off.
Boil up the sugar in half a pint of water and add this to the gin with a good sized glass of brandy. Mix well and bottle when cool. Put it away at the back of a dark cupboard and try to forget about it for a year or two!
Thanks for the reminder. I kept thinking last year - how will I remember? Right, all I need now is some beech leaves!
Gwynleg
Went to get some gin today and Sainsbury's have 20% off spirits. Very convenient! ;D