No one wants socks, and you’ll only get the wrong brand of gin if you go for a bottle. Instead, whether for a boozer or teetotaller, why not make something personalised, delicious and easy to create? These recipes are all good as they are, but they’re equally valuable as templates from which to experiment with other flavours. All are scalable and, in my experience, very happily received. Expect future orders. Keep all the alcoholic infusions chilled for immediate deployment, though they will last almost indefinitely out of the fridge.
Blackberry allorino
The Italian for bay leaf is foglia d’alloro, which gives this liqueur its name. Classically an infusion of bay leaves and vodka – and very good that is, too – I tried a batch of allorino with blackberries earlier this year, not least because they go so well with bay, and it was really special. The traditional infusion period is 40 nights, but start tasting after 10 days: based on how much you like it and how much time you have, strain and bottle when you like best. If you squish the berries when you put them in the jar, you’ll extract more of their flavour, but you’ll end up with a less clear result: the choice is yours.
Makes About 450ml
6 bay leaves
100g caster sugar
350ml vodka
150g blackberries
Wash the bay leaves and tear them a little – this will help accelerate the infusion process. Put the sugar and half the vodka in a large sterilised jar, and shake to encourage the sugar to start to dissolve. Add all the remaining ingredients, then seal. Leave to infuse for 40 days, if you have that luxury, and for shorter if not. Invert the jar every day you remember to, so the sugar dissolves fully. Strain, then bottle.
Pear ratafia
The sweet fruit liqueur ratafia is the broadest of churches with the widest of overhanging roofs, typically welcoming all manner of autumnal fruit, spices, herbs, spirits and a little sweetness into its congregation. Make this once and you might be moved to adapt it with quince, rhubarb, vodka, star anise, orange thyme, rosemary and more.
Makes 1 litre
150g caster sugar
1 litre gin
4 very ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
3 bay leaves
1 fat thumb of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
Put the sugar and 200ml gin in a sterilised two-litre jar, seal and shake vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Add all the remaining ingredients to the jar, seal and store out of direct sunlight. Once a day, when you remember, shake the jar to encourage the sugar to stay dissolved and the flavours to be released. After a fortnight, it is a delight; a month more brings depth – either way, it is very good indeed. Pour the mix through a fine sieve to remove the bits, then funnel into clean bottles and seal. This is a marvel cold and sipped neat by the fire, as well as lengthened with tonic or prosecco and a good deal of ice.
Lime and limoncello
Supermarket limoncello so often reminds me more of Toilet Duck than sunny days in the Med; this is the antidote. Use this method as a base for tweaking as you like: lemons and oranges, grapefruit and yuzu, just lemon, and so on. Serve as cold as divorce as a digestivo or, if your plans for motion are limited, with three parts sparkling wine.
Makes 1 litre
600ml vodka
2 lemongrass stalks, lightly bruised with a rolling pin
Finely grated zest and juice of 5 unwaxed lemons
Finely grated zest and juice of 4 limes
500g white sugar
Pour the vodka into a large clean jar, add the lemongrass and all the citrus zest, and stir well. Seal and leave to infuse for five days.
Put the sugar into a large bowl, then stir in 450ml boiling water until the sugar dissolves. Strain the vodka through a sieve into a large jug, discard the lemon and lime zest, then put the lemongrass back in the jar. Add the strained vodka and the warm syrup, and leave to cool.
Once cool, stir in the lemon and lime juice, then seal and chill for three days before decanting into a clean bottle and sealing. Its bright liveliness will immediately please, but leave it to mellow and deepen, if you prefer and/or have the willpower.
Spiced rum
An ordinary spiced rum is little more than liquid pot pourri, so go nowhere near it – life is too short and all that. Making your own is simple and the result splendid, and while you can flex the proportions of white, dark or even golden rum to suit, the secret is not to go too large on any of the spices: you want this to taste like Christmas in the Cayman Islands, not of a Saturday afternoon spent clearing out the spice drawer.
Makes 600ml
300ml dark rum
300ml white rum
1 cinnamon stick
6 allspice berries, lightly crushed
1 clove
12 white peppercorns
1 lantern of mace
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 good strips of orange zest
2 tbsp syrup from a jar of stem ginger
Put everything in a clean jar, seal and shake to agitate the flavours. Leave to infuse for four days, then taste. Leave it longer, if you want the flavours to deepen. When the taste is to your liking, pour through a sieve, discard the solids, funnel into a bottle and seal.
Ginger and rosemary cordial
Ginger and rosemary are the best of friends, and here the punch of lemongrass adds a little brightness. Do also try this with added orange zest or with more lemongrass for something different. I think this is best diluted with sparkling water or wine, as well as a good sharpening of citrus juice. And if you fancy an excellent mood-adjuster, try it with gin and lemon juice in equal thirds for a very special Tom Collins.
Makes About 550ml
400g caster sugar
20cm sprig fresh rosemary
3 globes stem ginger, roughly chopped
1 thumb fresh ginger, peeled
2 lemongrass stalks, peeled and bruised
Put the sugar in a medium bowl, then stir in 300ml boiling water until the sugar dissolves. Add all the rest of the ingredients, then cover and leave to infuse for 18 hours or so, before bottling. It will keep for at least 10 days at room temperature and up to a month in the fridge.
Serve diluted as you like – something along the lines of one part cordial to five parts sparkling water/wine is ideal – with a good squeeze of lime to sharpen things up nicely.
Blueberry and lemon thyme shrub
Shrubs are short ferments, a sweet-sharp coming together of fruit and big flavour, and this is one of my favourites. Blueberries and lemon work so well together (I often make this with lemongrass), but with lemon thyme you get just enough zing along with thyme’s resinous depth. Adapt this to whatever fruit you fancy in season. I usually drink it diluted with water, but it’s also lovely with three parts sparkling cider. And don’t throw out the blueberries after straining: they’re great with yoghurt, on pancakes, and so on.
Makes About 250ml
200g caster sugar
240ml cider vinegar
1 small handful lemon thyme
250g blueberries, gently squeezed
Put the sugar and vinegar in a pan over a low heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves, then take off the heat. Rub the lemon thyme lightly between your palms to release its flavour and scent, then put it and the berries in a clean jar. Pour the warm, sweet vinegar over them, leave to cool, then seal and infuse for at least 24 hours.
Pour through a strainer into a jug, then decant into a sterilised jar or bottle. You can use the shrub immediately, but it’s better off left to mature for a week in the fridge, where it will keep for up to three or so weeks.
Mark Diacono’s latest book, Vegetables: Easy and Inventive Vegetarian Suppers, is published by Quadrille at £27. To order a copy for £24.30, go to guardianbookshop.com
