A gin tastes like Christmas when you add warm baking spice and dark citrus to the usual juniper and botanicals: orange peel, clove, cinnamon and cranberry are the four that do most of the work. You do not need a different kit or a different method, just a handful of extra ingredients in the jar and a slightly closer eye on the tasting pipette, because festive spices are far pushier than the botanicals they are joining.
The good news is timing. Infusion is quick, so a Christmas gin is a December job rather than a September one, and the whole thing happens in a jar on the worktop with no still, no licence and no distilling of any kind. Here is what to add, how much, how long to leave it, and how to get it into a bottle worth handing over.
What makes a gin taste like Christmas?
Three flavour families, layered onto a gin that already works.
The first is warm spice: clove, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger. These are the smells of a mulled wine pan and they read as festive almost instantly, which is both their strength and their danger.
The second is dark citrus. Our botanical blend is already built around bright citrus with lemongrass, lemon and orange peel, alongside fragrant coriander and allspice, so pushing the orange further with fresh peel takes the gin from summer garden to winter kitchen without fighting the recipe.
The third is tart fruit, which mostly means cranberry. It brings a sharp red note and a faint blush of colour, and it stops a spiced gin turning into liquid Christmas pudding.
Underneath all of it, juniper still has to be the backbone. It is the one botanical that makes gin gin, so the festive additions go on top of the kit's juniper and blend, never instead of them.
Which botanicals should you actually add?
Start with the Gin Making Kit as written, then choose two or three of these. Restraint is the whole skill.
- Fresh orange peel. Long strips taken with a vegetable peeler, no white pith. Fresh peel gives a brighter citrus note than dried, and it is the friendliest festive addition there is.
- Cloves. Enormously powerful. Two or three whole cloves per bottle is plenty, and they are best added late rather than at the start.
- Cinnamon. A single small stick, whole. Cinnamon gives warmth and a hint of sweetness even though nothing sweet has gone in.
- Cranberries. A small handful of fresh berries, lightly crushed so they can give up their flavour.
- Star anise. One pod, maximum. Two makes aniseed gin, which is a different drink and not everyone's.
- Cardamom. Two or three green pods, cracked open. Floral, resinous and a lovely partner for juniper.
- Fresh ginger. A couple of thin slices for heat rather than spice, particularly good if the gin is heading for a hot drink.
Two rules apply to anything you add. Use whole ingredients rather than powders, which are very hard to filter out afterwards, and go easy on dried ingredients, no more than about a teaspoon, so they do not overwhelm the blend.
How much, and how long?
Make the gin exactly as the booklet says, with a bottle of inexpensive vodka and the kit's juniper and botanicals, and add your festive ingredients to the same jar. Then taste as you go with the pipette, because that is what it is for. The longer it steeps the stronger the flavour, and you strain the moment it tastes right to you rather than when a clock says so.
The practical approach is staged. Put the citrus peel and cranberries in at the start, since they take their time, and add the hard spices, clove and star anise especially, for the last day or so only. A clove that has sat in vodka for a week will bulldoze everything else in the jar.
The standard kit infuses in under a week, so a batch begun in the first half of December is ready in good time. Strain through the sieve or filter bag into a jug, let it drip and give it only a gentle press, because squeezing hard pushes sediment through and clouds the gin.
Three Christmas blends to try
All three start with a full batch of the kit's juniper and botanical blend in a bottle of vodka.
- Orange and clove. The peel of one orange in long strips from the start, then three whole cloves and a small cinnamon stick for the final 24 hours. Serve with a good tonic and an orange wheel.
- Cranberry and cardamom. A small handful of lightly crushed cranberries and three cracked cardamom pods from the start. Tart, faintly floral, and very good with a splash of soda and a squeeze of lemon.
- Mulled gin. Orange peel, one cinnamon stick and two cardamom pods for the full infusion, plus one star anise and two cloves at the end. This is the one for a warm gin punch on a cold evening.
Do not be alarmed if the result is yellow or amber. Ours is a compound gin, meaning the botanicals infuse directly into the spirit, and dried orange and lemon peel lends a light colour along with the flavour. Clear commercial gins are redistilled after the botanicals go in, which leaves the colour behind.
How do you bottle it as a gift?
Funnel the strained gin into a clean recycled spirit bottle or a swing-top bottle, then label it with the supplied tag. Stored sealed and out of sunlight it keeps well, and a finished gin will keep for twelve months, though we have our doubts about it lasting that long in December.
Write the blend and the date on the tag. It matters more than it sounds: a homemade gin with "orange and clove, made 8 December" on the label is a present, while an unmarked bottle is just some gin. If you want to go further, a couple of leftover juniper berries frozen into each cube of an ice tray look wonderful in the glass and float up as a garnish as the ice melts.
Worth knowing for gifting: the Gin Making Kit itself contains no alcohol, only the botanicals, equipment and instructions, so it can be bought and posted as a present without any age restriction on the box, and it is hand-packed in Britain. The vodka is the recipient's job.
Christmas gin FAQs
When should I start a Christmas gin?
The standard kit infuses in under a week, so early to mid December is ideal. Leave a couple of spare days for tasting and straining and you will be comfortably ready.
Will adding spices make the gin sweet?
No. Cinnamon and clove read as sweet but add no sugar, and the kit's botanical blends contain no sugars or sweeteners at all. If you want a sweeter drink, that is a job for the mixer or a syrup added at serving.
Can I use dried orange slices instead of fresh peel?
Yes, though go carefully with dried ingredients, around a teaspoon's worth, and taste often. Fresh peel cut into long strips gives a brighter citrus note.
Does the extra spice change the alcohol strength?
No. Infusing does not dilute the spirit, so your gin ends up the same strength as the vodka you started with.
Is it legal to make flavoured gin at home?
Yes, and no licence is needed, because the kit works by infusing botanicals into a spirit you already own. Distilling your own spirit without a licence is illegal in the UK, which is exactly why the kits do not do it.
Fancy a bottle with your name on the label this Christmas? Browse our gin making kits.
