Gooseberry Gin

Gooseberry gin – easy to make and incredibly aromatic. Make the most of the short gooseberry season.

Affordable homemade gooseberry gin, tart, and refreshing. I am so much into making flavored gin lately. It started with a bottle of sloe gin I got as a gift last year. Totally untypical for Germany, something I had never had before. But I loved it!

So, I started looking for recipes for making my own flavored gin. I haven't got to the sloe berries yet, as it is still summer, but just have a look at this Elderflower Gin or this Rhubarb and Ginger Gin. So good!

What do you need?

Gin

• Use a basic kind, not something expensive. The botanical kick of an expensive gin would be lost here.
• The gooseberries will do all the flavoring work, so a regular bottle of London Dry Gin, for instance, would be just fine.

Gooseberries

• The most common types of gooseberry are green and red.
• I always use red ones in my recipes, and berries coming from the bush I have in the garden.
• Red ones are definitely sweeter than the green ones and you might want to take this into consideration when adding sugar to the gin.
• I only needed 3 tablespoons of sugar for my red berries, they were ripe and sweet. The resulting drink has a beautiful pink color.
• When using green berries, start with 5 tablespoons and add more if you consider it necessary. It really depends on the tartness of the berries. The color of the drink will be clear.

How to make it?

• Wash and dry the berries. There is no need to top and tail them.
• Halve them and place them in a large jar.
• Add the alcohol and the sugar and stir gently.
• Let steep in a dark cool place (cupboard).
• Stir every day for at least one week or until the sugar dissolves completely.
• After a couple of weeks, the gooseberries will turn white and the gin will turn pink.

How long to steep?

• Well, that seems to be a controversial issue when it comes to making gooseberry gin. There are recipes instructing you to let it steep for 4 to 6 months and there are other people who only steep the berries for 2 weeks.
• So, I suppose it is a matter of personal choice.
• As I never steeped any gin I've made until now for more than four weeks, I did the same again. And I love the results: the drink is refreshing, sweet and tart, and really full of flavor. But I will let the next batch steep for longer, just to see if there is any difference.

How to serve?

• I love it as it is, with some ice cubes added.
• The gin also makes a great long drink if you top it with sparkling water, for instance.
• You can use some to moisten cake bases or add to cake fillings.

Cocktails made with gooseberry gin

Gooseberry elderflower:

• 1 ½ shot glasses gooseberry gin (usually a shot glass has a capacity of 30 ml/ 1 oz)
• 1 shot glass elderflower syrup
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice, more or less to taste
• Shake well and serve.

With prosecco:

• 2 shots gooseberry gin
• 1 shot of elderflower syrup
• Top with Prosecco or another chilled sparkling wine

More homemade drinks

Gooseberry Gin

Gooseberry gin – easy to make and incredibly aromatic. Make the most of the short gooseberry season.

4.54 from 13 votes

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: English

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 28 days days

Total Time: 28 days days 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 bottle (750 ml/25 fl.oz)

Calories: 50kcal

Author: Adina

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 200 g/ 7 oz red gooseberries Note 1
• ▢ 3 tablespoons granulated sugar Note 2
• ▢ 1 bottle of gin Note 3

Instructions

• Wash the gooseberries and dry them with a kitchen towel. Halve and place them in a large jar. Add the sugar and the gin. Stir gently.
• Place in a dark cool place like a cupboard. Stir every day during the first week or until the sugar dissolves.
• Let steep for at least 3-4 weeks, longer if desired. Strain through a fine cloth and pour it into a bottle.

Notes

1. I am not giving you the amount in cups as gooseberries can vary very much in size, some are really small, some are huge.
2. If using green gooseberry, you will need to add more sugar, as they are tarter.
3. A basic sort of gin, nothing expensive.

Nutrition

Serving: 30ml | Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Sugar: 1g

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