HowTo: Brew Your Own Bathtub Gin (Well, Sorta)

Here's another slightly under-the-table D.I.Y. project for you (though much less gritty than today's earlier example).

Not Martha demonstrates how to make your own sorta-gin:

"I made gin! Well, sort of. I infused vodka in the hopes of making gin. I used the recipe I found at Newcity Restro by way of Cinnamon. I think this recipe was originally from the book The Modern Mixologist by Tony Abou-Ganim. I made a few changes based on what I suspected would be orange zest heavy and, well, it still turned out orange zest heavy.

(One should note, however, that I seem to be unusually sensitive to the presence of orange zest. I don't know why, but I find it utterly overwhelms everything it comes in contact with, ruining many a nice pastry, cranberry relish, or chocolate for me.)"

Not Martha's DIY Gin

1. Run a 1.75 L bottle of Smirnoff vodka through a water filter like a Brita about three times if you happen to have one. Or skip this step, it likely won't make a difference.

2. Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of juniper berries. Let sit for 12 hours.

3. Add:

• 1/8 tsp fennel seed
• four black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp allspice berries
• 3/4 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/8 tsp grains of paradise (I added these, you might want to skip)
• 3/4 tsp fresh orange zest (original calls for 1 tsp)
• 3/4 tsp lemon zest (original calls for 1/2 tsp)
• one sprig rosemary

4. Let sit for another 12 hours.

5. Strain through a a fine mesh, and if you can manage, back into it's bottle.

For more details, be sure to visit Not Martha.