Home-made Cranberry Gin
Zingy and zesty home-made Cranberry Gin is one of my favourite seasonal drinks. This delicious Cranberry liqueur has the wonderful sweet-sour taste of fresh cranberries and is perfect at a Christmas or New Year party or after a seasonal family celebration. I make it for my family to drink over the holiday season but also make a few extra bottles as they are brilliant Christmas gifts.
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What you need to know about making Cranberry Gin
- Although it is incredibly easy to make, you do need to think ahead. You cannot just rustle up a batch of Cranberry Gin to drink tomorrow as it needs around a month for the infusion of flavour to happen.
- You can make it with fresh cranberries, when they are in season in the winter months, but you can also use frozen cranberries if you want to make it at another time of year.
- It is important to prick the cranberries with a skewer or sharp knife as this helps to release the flavour into the gin.
- I use a basic, “own-brand” gin from the supermarket to make this recipe. It is not worth using anything fancy. You can also use vodka as an alternative.
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Cranberry Gin flavour variations
I have suggested adding a sprig of rosemary to the cranberries in this recipe. I think rosemary combines well with their sweet-sharp flavour. It is also one of the few fresh herbs that I can harvest from my garden in the winter months.
Sometimes, I make my Cranberry Gin without any additional flavourings. If I do decide to add another flavouring, I tend to just add one as I like the clear, clean taste of the cranberries.
The following flavourings go well with cranberries, so please feel free to experiment.
- Orange or other citrus fruit such as clementines, mandarins or tangerines – add a few large pieces of the zest to the jar with the cranberries
- Cinnamon – add a cinnamon stick
- Ginger – add some pieces of fresh ginger
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Other home-made gin liqueur recipes
If you enjoy this Cranberry Gin, you may also be interested in my other easy recipes for Rhubarb Gin, Plum Gin, Damson Gin, Blackberry Gin and Elderflower Gin.
Other Cranberry recipes
I am a big fan of cranberries. They freeze very well so I use them throughout the year. However, as they are in season in winter, I make a lot of cranberry recipes around Christmas and New Year.
- Cranberry Sauce – a classic and so much nicer when you make it yourself. I add cinnamon, white wine and orange and it is always on my table for Christmas dinner!
- Cranberry Ice Cream – slightly more unusual but this is one of my go-to ways of using up any left over Cranberry Sauce. My other is Cranberry Pavlova which often appears as a dessert for family meals between Christmas and New Year.
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Home-made Cranberry Gin liqueur recipe
PrintCranberry Gin
- Prep Time: 30
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 400 ml 1x
- Category: Gin
- Cuisine: English
Description
This easy Cranberry Gin liqueur has the zingy sweet-sour taste of fresh cranberries. Make it for your family or give as a seasonal gift.
Ingredients
- 200 g (7 oz) cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- 200 g (7 oz) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 400 ml (17 fl oz) gin
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)
Instructions
- If using frozen cranberries, allow to defrost.
- Wash the cranberries thoroughly. Prick each of them several times with a sharp knife. This will allow the juice – and flavour – to transfer to the gin.
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Put the cranberries into a sterilised jar. Add the sugar and then the gin. Make sure the gin covers all the cranberries.
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Add the sprigs of rosemary.
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Shake thoroughly to ensure it is mixed.
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Seal the jar and leave in a cool, dry, dark place for two weeks.
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At the end of that time, the gin is ready to drink. Strain the gin into sterilised bottles through a clean muslin or cotton cloth held in a funnel and it will keep for approximately six months.
Notes
You can sterilise your jar by washing it in warm, soapy water, rinsing well and then drying off for 15 minutes in an oven set at 140C/120C fan/gas 1.
Although it only takes 30 minutes preparation time, you will need to allow four weeks for the flavour to develop.
You can scale this recipe up or down according to how much cranberry gin you want to make. Simply double, triple or quadruple the quantities of all ingredients to make more and halve to make less.