If they got a gin kit last Christmas and enjoyed it, do not buy them the same kit again. Give them the next step instead: the Ultimate Gin Making Kit if they want to blend their own recipes, the Colour Changing Gin Kit if they want a trick to show people, the Spiced Rum Making Kit if they are ready for a different spirit, or the Hedgerow Wine Making Kit if they want to make something from scratch rather than infuse it.
The second Christmas is actually easier than the first, because you now know something concrete about them. They have made a bottle of gin, they know whether they liked the tasting and the tinkering, and the right gift follows from that rather than from guesswork.
What did they actually enjoy about the first kit?
Worth thinking about for a minute, because gin kits appeal for different reasons and the follow-up should match.
Some people love the blending: the pipette, the tasting, the decision about when to strain. Some love the result and the moment they hand someone a drink they made. And some love the waiting and the process, the sense of something quietly happening in a cupboard. Those three people want three different presents.
For the blender: the Ultimate Gin Making Kit
If they were forever saying "I'd leave it another day" or "I wonder what more citrus would do", the Ultimate Gin Making Kit is the natural promotion. Thirteen botanicals, being juniper, lemon peel, orange peel, ginger, coriander seed, allspice, lemongrass, cacao nibs, hibiscus, rose petals, cassia bark, nutmeg and cloves, and enough to make up to ten 700ml bottles.
The difference from the standard kit is authorship. Each infusion is juniper plus a botanical mix they measure themselves, so they can make a bright citrus gin, then a floral one with rose and hibiscus, then something darker with cacao nibs and cassia, and keep notes as they go. A batch infuses in a couple of days, and the kit includes a metal sieve, measuring spoons, tasting pipettes, a funnel, and bottle tags and string. They add a bottle of inexpensive vodka per batch.
For the performer: the Colour Changing Gin Kit
If the best part for them was handing someone a glass and watching their face, the Colour Changing Gin Kit is the obvious follow-up. Blue pea flowers and an Earl Grey botanical infusion give a deep blue gin that turns pink or purple the moment tonic or another acidic mixer hits it.
The colour is natural rather than added: the pigment in blue pea flowers reacts to acidity, so the change happens in the glass in front of whoever is watching. It infuses in about twelve hours, which is quick enough to make on the day, and makes up to five 700ml bottles. They add a bottle of plain, uncoloured gin, because a coloured or heavily flavoured one masks the effect, and a proper non-diet tonic gives the most dramatic shift.
For the one ready to change spirit: the Spiced Rum Making Kit
Infusing rum uses the same instincts as infusing gin but produces something entirely different, and it introduces a step gin does not have, which is filtering and settling. The Spiced Rum Making Kit makes two 700ml bottles in two styles: a Captain's Blend and a Jamaican Ginger with a proper ginger bite.
It takes about seventy two hours to infuse, tasting with the pipette as they go, then the spices are filtered out and it settles for two to three days before a second filter through the cleaned cotton filter, which is what gives a clear rum rather than a cloudy one. They add a 700ml bottle of inexpensive dark rum per batch, and it needs to be plain rather than already spiced.
For the one who wants to make it, not flavour it: the Hedgerow Wine Making Kit
This is the real step up, and the right gift for someone who has started asking how things are actually made. Infusing borrows a spirit somebody else made. The Hedgerow Wine Making Kit starts with fruit, sugar and yeast and produces alcohol that did not exist before.
It makes a gallon per batch, about four and a half litres or six bottles, from blackberries, elderberries, apples, plums, rhubarb and a long list besides. In the box are wine yeast, yeast nutrient, pectolase, finings, citric acid, a stabiliser tablet and steriliser, plus the recipes. They supply the fruit, sugar and water, along with a bucket, a demijohn or second vessel with an airlock, and bottles. It takes eight to twelve weeks from start to glass, so it wants someone with patience. The kit contains sulphur dioxide and sulphites, which are listed on the pack, and it is for personal use at home.
What else makes a good second-year gift?
- Empty bottles. None of the drinks kits include bottles, and a couple of 700ml swing-tops make everything they produce look far better than a rinsed-out vodka bottle does.
- The spirit itself. A supermarket vodka, a plain dark rum or a plain uncoloured gin, depending on the kit, so they can start the same week.
- A notebook. Anyone who has moved on to blending will want to remember what they did last time, and nobody ever does without writing it down.
- Direct delivery. If they are not in the house on the day, enter their address as the delivery address at checkout and the kit goes straight to them.
All of these are for adults aged 18 and over, since the recipient buys the spirit or ferments the wine themselves. None of our kits contain any alcohol.
Second gin kit FAQs
What do you give someone who already has a gin making kit?
The next step rather than a repeat. The Ultimate Gin Making Kit for blending, the Colour Changing Gin Kit for the party trick, the Spiced Rum Making Kit for a different spirit, or the Hedgerow Wine Making Kit for making alcohol from fruit.
How is the Ultimate Gin Making Kit different from the standard one?
It carries thirteen botanicals and makes up to ten 700ml bottles, and each infusion is a blend they measure themselves, so they design their own recipes rather than following one.
Can they use the colour changing kit with gin they made themselves?
The kit is designed for a plain, uncoloured gin, since coloured or heavily flavoured gins mask the change and more acidic ones can set it off early. A homemade compound gin often carries a light amber colour from the citrus peel, which will affect the result.
Is hedgerow wine much harder than infusing gin?
It is a bigger commitment rather than a harder one. It takes eight to twelve weeks instead of days, and the recipient needs a bucket and a demijohn with an airlock, which the kit does not include.
Do any of these kits contain alcohol?
No. None of our kits contain alcohol. They contain botanicals, spices or fermentation ingredients plus instructions, and they are for adults aged 18 and over.
Building on last year's present? Have a look through our gift kits and pick the one that follows on best.
