Back in the 1920s, people had to revert to bathtub gin — the result of the practice of distilling gin at home — to get a drink. Prohibition may have ended back in 1933, but the interest in homemade spirits still lives on. The HomeMade Gin Kit makes it possible for you to make your own gin without any complicated distilling equipment. All you need for a few bottles of gin that you can say you made all on your own is the kit, which can be purchased at homemadegin.com, and a 750 ml bottle of affordable vodka anywhere in the $10 to $20 range. We picked Smirnoff.
Next, we opened up the kit. In it was two empty bottles, a tin filled with juniper berries — the main ingredient that gives vodka its flavor — a tin that contained aromatics, a double mesh fine strainer and a funnel. Then, we took out the directions. First, we opened up the bottle of vodka then put the funnel on top. After, we opened up the tin of juniper berries, and poured them in the vodka through the funnel. We shook up the bottle really well, and hid it in a dark, cool place — under the sink.
Twenty-four hours later we took out the juniper berry-infused vodka, opened up the bottle, and poured the blend of aromatics into the bottle through the funnel. Again, we put the cap on the bottle, and then we shook it like it was a Shake Weight and put it back in the dark, cool place. We waited for 12 hours, shook it up really well again, and took a whiff of that fresh homemade gin.
We immediately got the funnel and strainer out and popped open the empty bottles that came with the kit, put the funnel on top of one of them, and poured the mixture through the strainer. We grabbed the second bottle, which we plan to give to our dad on Father’s Day, and did the same thing. There you have it — homemade gin in 36 hours. Your friends and family will be impressed. Trust us.
Who’s coming over for gin and tonics tonight?
The HomeMade Gin Kit, $39.95 at homemadegin.com.
