Apricot Gin

apricotginpI am terribly sorry for all those who hate apricot, but this year it simply doesn’t disappear from my kitchen. Since I am a big apricot fan and since this year it is particularly abundant on my market (read: cheap), I keep on buying it, eating, transforming, preserving… And I can’t stop myself from relating all this on my blog.

Some of you might have noticed my preserving hobby also includes home liquors. Home made liquors aren’t a copy of those available on the market. Their aim is to create something new and special and among the home liquor makers rarely two identical bottles can be found. Making liquors at home is very simple, but requires a lot of patience (especially in the case of certain, slowly maturing ones). After straining the best idea is to put the bottles in a place where they will be easily forgotten, since a young disgusting liqueur sometimes changes into a divine beverage in a year.

I have already posted a sour cherry vodka (the definite number one), orange vodka, prune vodka and mandarin peel vodka (incredibly good!). All the home liquors need to mature, some hardly a couple of weeks (mandarin peel vodka), some at least a year (prune vodka), but they are rarely a disappointment and, apart from being drunk as a digestive or aperitif, they might be a very original ingredient in cocktails.

Two days ago I realised I haven’t made any apricot liquor yet and since apricots are particularly aromatic, I thought it’s high time I tried it. I already had the fruit, so I went  to buy a bottle of gin and after a couple of minutes the liqueur making process started! Since this is the first time I make it, I can’t tell you what it will taste like, but I something tells me it will be a hit! I will update this post after my first tasting, in two months.

I opted for a rather dry liquor (the sugar is there only because apricots are tart), but more sugar can be added (up to 350g) if you prefer sweet alcohol.

Preparation: 10 minutes + 2 months before the first tasting

Ingredients:

700 g apricots

700 ml gin

100 g sugar

Wash the apricots, pat them dry.

Cut the fruit in two pieces and put aside 5 kernels (throw away the rest).

Put the apricots and the kernels in a big jar.

Cover with gin and sugar.

Place in a dark place and shake every day to help the sugar to dissolve.

Strain the fruit after two or three months.

Filter the liquid through a coffee filter or cheesecloth.

Put into tightly sealed bottles.

Taste straight away or wait three more months before drinking it.

It will improve and change in time, anyway, so it’s always good to save at least a part of the liqueur for a later tasting.


Apricot Gin on Punk Domestics

31 Replies to “Apricot Gin”

  1. Oooh, this sounds so good. I’m not a huge fan of alcohol, but I do like liqueurs and other sweet ones. My mother used to make Sloe gin from sloes picked in the countryside. The fruit was very sour but when mixed with (a lot of) sugar it was really good. I love apricots and can’t think of a better taste in gin to be honest… nice one! 🙂

    1. Thank you, Charles. This one is not very sweet, but usually people make sweeer hom-made liqueurs. I like my alcohol drinks slightly sour most of the time, so I hope this amount of sugar will be perfect!
      I have heard/read about the famous British sloe gin, but have never had access to sloes nor to sloe gin. I imagine it must be very good!

      1. It’s curious actually, I’ve never seen Sloes anywhere else… is it really a UK only thing? Anyway – your post has made me inspired to make something like this myself. I was thinking of maybe using a brandy, and something like raspberry, apricot, apple and cinnamon or something… do you have any recommendations for brandy?

        1. Charles, I am sorry I have never used any other alcohol base apart from gin or pure vodka or 90% alcohol (diluted with water). I think it doesn’t matter a lot, as long as the alcohol used doesn’t have a flavour overwhelming the fruits’ one. The plum gin I once made doesn’t have any gin flavour now, so choose the alcohol you want (frankly I always use the cheapest, but of course safe 😉
          If you decide on a mixture of fruit, I will look for you in my books and tell you how long you can keep the fruit in the alcohol (some fruits can keep longer).
          If I were you I would start with one fruit and maybe a spice… Sometimes the mixtures infused in alcohol end up in a very surprising (not always positive) result. That is what I saw reading other liqueur makers’ experience.
          Even simple infusions can be awful. For example last year I made a rhubarb gin. I haven’t posted it and thought I would do it this year. It’s really not good, doesn’t have any rhubarb taste (somehow there is a hint of cinnamon only, but I haven’t put any cinnamon inside), so I will never make it again and of course will not post it. I try to post the less risky liqueurs 😉
          Sloe grows in whole Europe, for example some people make a sweet liqueur in France (liqueur de prunelle), but I think Britain is the country where sloe is the most popular!
          Anyway, let me know what you have chosen as a mixture, maybe I could find you some advice from the specialists!

          1. Thanks so much Sissi – maybe I’ll try to make two different ones. I’d definitely like to try to make an apricot or a cherry brandy – perhaps with a hint of clove, and the other one I’d really like to try a soft berry like raspberry, perhaps with a touch of cardamom. If you had any information about how long to keep those in the alcohol I’d be so grateful.

            1. Wise decision! I often make two different small batches of the same liqueur even!
              I’ll look for the tips for you.

  2. Sissi, I wish I can enjoy the taste of gin….but I am not very strong with alcohol (Shen said I’m allergic) that I have never tried gin…maybe a sip of gin tonic? That’s about it. I feel so kiddish when I say I “can’t” drink… I love apricot and this must be so delicious for gin drinker. It’s a great skill to be able to make your own alcohol. I can’t drink and I can’t taste even if it’s good. LOL. Have a great weekend Sissi!

    1. Hi Nami! I think you must have a very low alcohol tolerance… My Chinese friend has it too… I hope you can at least drink a small glass of wine or shochu from time to time 🙂 Have a great weekend too!

  3. I love apricots and used to hate gin because of the smell. Then few years ago I had the courage to try gin and tonic and it was pretty good. A suppose apricot would neutralise the gin aroma. Apricot gin could be a good mixer as well.

    1. Mr. Three-Cookies, I haven’t made yet a gin+apricot cocktail but that was exactly what I thought when making this liqueur… I must try mixing some apricots with gin tonight! From my Plum Gin experience I know that after a while of fruit infusing, the gin loses completely its typical flavour and smell.

  4. This looks fantastic to me. I’m not a gin drinker, but I am an apricot eater. My wife keeps asking if we can get some at the farmers market. I haven’t seen them yet. Here’s another reason to keep our eyes peeled.

    1. Thank you so much Greg! This liqueur can also be made with any alcohol (for example vodka…). I love apricots and frankly if I posted everything I have made with them in the last two weeks, even apricot fans would get scared!

    1. Thank you Sara and welcome to my blog! I will update the post to say how it tastes. I keep my fingers crossed!

    1. Jeno, you can do this with vodka too of course! And tonight for example I’m drinking apricots mixed with apricot brandy and lime juice. It’s delicious! So you can make apricot based drinks while waiting for you liqueur to mature 🙂
      Here you have my recipe for an Apricot Jam Cocktail: http://www.withaglass.com/?p=4600 , it’s delicious and you just need to find good apricot jam or make it.
      Then you can enjoy it all year round!

  5. Who hates apricots?! Never heard of anyone that does. Heard of haters of cilantro which I love. Love the pic and speaking of never heard, never heard of preserving in alcohol. makes sense and really neat!

    1. Thank you and welcome to my blog! Actually I know quite well someone who doesn’t like apricots in any form, so I assume there must be more of such people…

  6. Yes! Yes! I have a brown bag too full of apricots from the farmers market this morning and was hunting for just this type of recipe. Thank you for sharing (and beautiful photograph!).

  7. This year is really a good one for apricots and I am so addicted that I eat and eat apricots in huge amounts daily – ah apricot thyme compote with greek joghurt – what am I going to do when the season ends… Apricot gin sounds interesting. What will the juniper flavour do to the apricots – I am thrilled!!! Must try.
    Next week I am going to set up some green plum wine too.

    1. Thank you, Kiki! It’s true, last year apricots were not as cheap and abundant as this year! I keep on buying mine smaller than the “standard”, but really ripe and delicious and as cheap as potatoes 🙂 Perfect for jams and other preserves.
      I am wondering if there will be anything left of the juniper flavour… The Plum Gin I made last year has completely lost the juniper taste and smell.
      Otherwise, mixed peaches with gin make an excellent cocktail, so I hope this will be a success! I am looking forward to see the report on your wine on your blog 🙂 I have never attempted any home-made wines. It seems too complicated with the fermentation etc..

  8. This sounds and looks very interesting…! I am not familiar with liquor making at all and am so amazed by your skills! I can imagine that apricots and gin taste great together!

  9. you can make liqueur de noyaux d’apricot but just putting apricot kernels and sugar in vodka, leave in a sunny place (window sill is ideal) for four months and you have a wonderful almond flavour liqueur.

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