It’s rhubarb gin o’clock with this clever fruity booze recipe.
Who doesn’t love gin and tonic? Well, no-one in their right minds. And no-one in their right minds would turn down a rhubarb gin and tonic, would they? No.
As well as tasting utterly divine - rhubarb + gin + tonic = three of the best tastes ever - this is also an incredibly easy recipe to make.
I grow a lot of different types of rhubarb, but the most appropriate one for this recipe seemed to be ‘Red Champagne’, and not just because of the name. It is a late-cropper and has such deep red stalks that it would definitely turn a gin mix a lovely bright pink, rather than anything greenish.
All you need to do is chop the stalks into small pieces and put into a large jar until they fill it about two thirds of the way up. I then cover the rhubarb stalks with sugar, and steep them in gin. Every couple of days I shake the jar to move the contents around, but I leave the jar in a cool, dark place for six weeks and then - ta da! Rhubarb gin!
You can drink this like sloe gin, neat, but it is better diluted with tonic water and some borage flowers if you ask me.
The spent rhubarb remains quite solid and makes an excellent crumble with ginger nuts in the topping. The gin needs using relatively fast or it starts to lose its colour - not really a problem!
what a great idea Neil!
I always make sloe vodka so I’ll have to add this to my repertoire!
Having tried rhubarb cider for the first time last week, I’m looking forward to trying this out too!