You do not need a licence to make gin or spiced rum at home with an infusion kit. No licence, no approval, no registration and no paperwork of any kind, because you are not producing alcohol: you are flavouring a bottle of spirit that a distillery already made and paid duty on. The licence question only becomes a real one in two situations, which are producing alcohol yourself, for instance by distilling, and selling alcohol to other people. This guide explains both, and what neither of them has to do with a jar of juniper on your worktop.
What actually needs a licence or approval?
Two separate things, handled by two separate bodies, and they are easy to muddle.
The first is producing alcohol. Since 1 February 2025, producing alcoholic products, including spirits, requires HMRC's Alcoholic Products Producer Approval, usually shortened to APPA, and producing without the appropriate approval is an offence. That is GOV.UK's guidance, and it is the rule that makes home distilling unlawful without permission.
The second is selling alcohol. That sits with your local council under the Licensing Act 2003, and it applies whether you made the drink or bought it in. Wanting to sell a few bottles at a fair does not put you outside it. Those two requirements stack: producing for sale means you would need both.
What does an infusion kit actually do?
It steeps dried botanicals in a spirit you supply. With our Gin Making Kit that means juniper, coriander, citrus peel, allspice and lemongrass going into a bottle of inexpensive vodka and sitting at room temperature for under a week. You taste as you go, strain the botanicals out through a sieve or filter bag, and bottle the result.
At no point has any alcohol been made. The volume in the jar at the end is the volume that went in, and the strength is unchanged too: infusing does not dilute the spirit, so a bottle of vodka at 37.5% gives you a gin at 37.5%. All that has happened is that flavour has moved out of dried plant material and into the liquid, in exactly the way it does when you brew tea.
Is spiced rum any different?
Legally, no, and practically, barely. The Spiced Rum Making Kit works the same way, with spice blends steeping in a bottle of inexpensive dark rum that is not already spiced. Two batches, two flavours, Captain's Blend and Jamaican Ginger.
The timings differ from gin because the spices are heavier: roughly 72 hours in a cool dark place to infuse, tasting with the pipette as you go, then filter out the spices, let the rum settle for two to three days so the fine sediment drops, and filter a second time before bottling. Under a week per batch, and still nothing that a regulator would call production. Drink it within a year of bottling, kept sealed and out of direct sunlight.
What about distilling equipment?
A still is where the legal picture changes, because running one produces a spirit and producing a spirit without approval is an offence. It does not matter whether you are making a litre or a lorryload, and it does not matter that the starting liquid was legally bought.
This is not a loophole that infusion kits are exploiting. Compound gin, which is what a steeped gin is properly called, is a real and long standing method, and the results are honest gin: juniper led, aromatic and made to your own taste rather than a distillery's. Plenty of people who own a good still would still make a compound gin for the fun of it. If you want to understand the production rules properly, GOV.UK is the place to read them rather than a forum thread.
When does a licence become necessary?
The moment money changes hands, or the moment you start producing the spirit yourself. If you have a notion of selling your gin at a market stall, supplying a local shop, or turning a good batch into a side business, you are looking at a licence from your council under the Licensing Act 2003 and, if you would be producing rather than reselling, approval from HMRC as well.
We will not quote fees, forms or numbers, because they move and because the source is one search away. Check GOV.UK for the HMRC approval side and your own council's licensing pages for the selling side, in that order, before you commit to anything.
What rules still apply at home?
The ordinary ones. These are adult drinks, and the kits are intended for adults aged 18 and over. Label your bottles with what is in them and how strong the base spirit was, which matters more than you would think once you have four unmarked bottles on a shelf and a guest asking what they are drinking.
Beyond that, the sensible housekeeping is the same as for any spirit. Keep the finished bottles sealed and out of direct sunlight, keep the dried botanicals in their grip seal bags somewhere cool and dry between batches, and keep the whole lot away from children.
Licences and home spirits FAQs
Do I need a licence to make gin at home in the UK?
Not to infuse botanicals into a spirit you have bought. No licence or approval is required because no alcohol is being produced. Distilling your own spirit is a different matter and does require HMRC approval.
Do I need a licence to make spiced rum?
No. A spiced rum kit steeps spices in a bottle of rum you buy yourself, which is flavouring rather than producing, so no licence or HMRC approval applies.
What is APPA?
It stands for Alcoholic Products Producer Approval. Since 1 February 2025 it is the HMRC approval required to produce alcoholic products including spirits, and producing without the appropriate approval is an offence.
Can I give a bottle of my homemade gin to a friend?
Anything beyond making it for yourself is worth checking rather than assuming. Selling alcohol needs a council licence under the Licensing Act 2003, so if money or a stall is involved, read GOV.UK and your council's licensing pages first.
Does infusing make the spirit stronger?
No. Infusing changes the flavour and not the alcohol content, so the finished gin or rum is the same strength as the bottle you started with.
Ready to make a bottle of your own? Browse our gin making kits.
