The Potting Shed

Guides, gift ideas and honest answers from the people who hand-pack every kit.

All articles Kintsugi Cheese making Gin making Meat Chilli sauce Wine making Kimchi Gift guides
A tall glass of deep blue gin turning pink where tonic has been poured in, with ice and a lemon slice, on a dark worktop.
Is colour changing gin safe to drink? What butterfly pea flower is and what it does
Colour changing gin is a plain gin infused with dried blue pea flowers. Nothing artificial is added, and the pigment shifts from blue to pink with an acidic mixer.
A tall jar of spirit steeping with juniper berries, coriander seed and citrus peel next to a jug and metal sieve on a kitchen table.
What is compound gin? The bathtub gin method every home kit uses
Compound gin steeps juniper and botanicals in a finished spirit instead of redistilling them, which is why it carries colour and why you can make it at home.
Several bottles of homemade gin with blank handwritten tags lined up on a kitchen table beside a notebook and measuring spoons of botanicals.
Can you sell gin you made at home? What changes the moment money is involved
Making gin at home needs no licence, but selling it needs one from your council under the Licensing Act 2003, and producing for sale needs HMRC approval.
Two labelled swing top bottles of homemade gin and spiced rum on a kitchen shelf beside small dishes of juniper berries and whole spices.
Do you need a licence to make gin or spiced rum at home?
No licence or HMRC approval is needed to steep botanicals in a spirit you have bought. Producing alcohol and selling it are the two things that do need permission.
A large glass jar of vodka steeping with juniper berries and strips of citrus peel on a kitchen worktop beside an empty bottle and a sieve.
Is it legal to make gin at home in the UK? Infusing vs distilling and the 2025 rules
Infusing botanicals into shop bought vodka is legal and needs no licence. Distilling your own spirit without HMRC approval is an offence. Here is where the line sits.
Four make your own kit boxes lined up on a kitchen table beside a bottle of gin, a wedge of fresh cheese and a carved kebab.
Gifts for grandparents under 20 pounds
Four make your own kits under twenty pounds for grandparents: gin, hedgerow wine, beginners cheese and kebabs, with what to add to each one.
A brown parcel opened on a table revealing a jar of gin infusing, a gold mended cup and strips of dried biltong.
Gifts for a parent who lives miles away: kits that post well and give you something to talk about
Gifts that survive the post and earn a phone call: a gin that infuses over a week, a kintsugi repair kit, and biltong dried in an ordinary oven.
Two glasses beside a bottle of home made gin, a board of fresh cheese and six labelled wine bottles on a kitchen table.
Anniversary gifts for parents: an evening they make together
Anniversary gifts with two jobs in them: a gin they infuse between them, cheese that needs two pairs of hands, and wine to label with the date.
A quiet Sunday kitchen with a ball of fresh mozzarella on a cloth, a blue gin and tonic turning pink, and a gold mended bowl.
Gifts for a mum who has everything: something to make on a quiet Sunday
Three kits for a mum with full cupboards: ten fresh cheeses, a gin that turns from blue to pink in the glass, and a golden pottery repair.
A kitchen worktop with a tall glass of boba milk tea, a bowl of fresh mozzarella in water and a gold mended bowl out of reach at the back.
Gifts grandparents can do with the grandchildren: cheese, bubble tea and a golden repair
Kits that split into a grown up job and a child sized one: fresh cheese in an hour, boba milk tea in an afternoon, and kintsugi for the adult alone.
A glass of blue gin turning pink as tonic is poured, beside a dish of fresh ricotta and a gold mended saucer.
Gifts for grandma who says not to bother
Gifts that get used up rather than stored: a beginners cheese kit, a colour changing gin kit and a kintsugi repair kit, with what to add to each.
A kitchen worktop in the evening with a jar of gin infusing, a pan of warm curds and a gold mended jug beside it.
Gifts for parents who have everything: an evening they make themselves
Parents with full cupboards do not need another object. Gin, cheese and kintsugi kits turn a weeknight into a project, with what to add to each.
A bottle of home made gin with a handwritten kraft tag, a round of fresh cheese on a cloth and a gold mended bowl on a windowsill.
Retirement gifts for mum: makes that are hers, not the household's
Retirement gifts that belong to her rather than the house: a cheese kit, a gin kit with her name on the bottle tag, and a kintsugi repair kit.
A garage workbench with a slab of curing pork belly on a rack, a jar of botanicals steeping in spirit and a demijohn with an airlock.
Retirement gifts for dad: a hobby in a box for the first free Monday
Retirement gift ideas for dad at three speeds: dry cured bacon in about a week, gin in a couple of days, and country wine over eight to twelve weeks.
A demijohn of fruit wine bubbling through an airlock beside a slab of home cured bacon and a board of fresh cheese.
Gifts for retired parents: projects for the time they finally have
Retirement gifts that ask something of them: country wine over eight to twelve weeks, dry cured bacon in a week, and ten fresh cheeses in an afternoon.
An unhurried kitchen table with a small dish of fresh ricotta, a jar of gin infusing with juniper berries and a china bowl mended in gold.
Gifts for elderly grandparents: easy, absorbing kits that fit a slower afternoon
Kits that suit an unhurried afternoon: fresh cheese in about an hour, a gin that infuses while they sit down, and a golden pottery repair.
A kitchen table set out with a bowl of fresh curds, a demijohn of fruit wine and a mended china bowl with a gold seam.
Gifts for grandparents who have everything: something to do, not something to dust
Three make your own kits for grandparents with full cupboards: fresh cheese, hedgerow wine and a golden pottery repair, with what to add to each.
A carved doner kebab on a board with flatbreads, beside a jar of kimchi and a bottle of homemade chilli sauce.
Gifts for a boyfriend who likes cooking: kebab, chilli and kimchi kits
Skip the equipment. Three kits that give a confident cook a new technique and the specialist ingredients he would never buy in sensible quantities.
Two jars of gin botanicals infusing on a kitchen counter beside a mended bowl with a gold seam and a glass of tonic.
Gifts for a husband who has everything: an evening's project instead of a thing
Buy him an evening rather than an object: gin, meat and kintsugi kits for a husband who replaces his own things, and what to buy alongside each.
A bowl of fresh homemade ricotta on a kitchen table beside a ceramic plate mended with a gold seam.
80th birthday gifts: small, doable projects for a big milestone
Three kits sized to one sitting for an eightieth: five fresh cheeses, a gallon of country wine and a golden pottery repair done at the kitchen table.
A ball of fresh homemade mozzarella on a plate beside a bottle of homemade gin and a ceramic bowl mended with a gold seam.
70th birthday gifts for dad: gentle, satisfying makes with something to show for it
Three kits sized to a single afternoon for a seventieth: ten fresh cheeses, a gin that infuses in under a week and a golden pottery repair.

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Chilli sauce making kit with two bottles of homemade sauceFood Kits Hedgerow wine making kit with three bottles of homemade wineDrink Kits Kintsugi repair kit box with gold-repaired bowlsCraft Kits Ultimate gin making kit with two homemade pink ginsGift Kits