Making gin at home in the UK is legal, provided you are infusing rather than distilling. Steeping juniper and botanicals in a bottle of vodka you bought from a shop needs no licence and no approval, because the alcohol was made, taxed and bottled long before it reached your kitchen and all you are doing is adding flavour to it. Distilling is the part that is not legal without permission: since 1 February 2025, producing alcoholic products, including spirits, requires HMRC's Alcoholic Products Producer Approval, and producing without the appropriate approval is an offence. That is GOV.UK's own position, and it is worth understanding where the line sits before you start.
What is the difference between infusing and distilling?
Distilling heats an alcoholic liquid, collects the vapour and condenses it back down. It concentrates the alcohol and separates out the flavours the distiller wants to keep. It is a manufacturing process, and in law it counts as producing an alcoholic product, whether it happens in a copper pot still in a warehouse or in a pan on a hob.
Infusing does none of that. You put solid flavourings into a liquid and you wait. Nothing is heated, nothing is concentrated, and no new alcohol appears at any point. Strain the botanicals out and you have the same volume of the same spirit, now carrying juniper, citrus and spice instead of nothing at all. That distinction is not a technicality, it is the whole reason home gin kits exist.
What changed on 1 February 2025?
From that date, HMRC's approvals for alcohol producers were brought together under a single scheme, the Alcoholic Products Producer Approval, usually shortened to APPA. Anyone producing alcoholic products, spirits included, needs the appropriate approval, and producing without it is an offence.
What did not change is what counts as producing. Buying a bottle of vodka and dropping juniper berries into it was not producing alcohol before February 2025 and it is not producing alcohol now. The rules govern the making of the spirit itself, which somebody else has already done, declared and paid duty on. If you want to read the guidance yourself, look up the Alcoholic Products Producer Approval on GOV.UK, which is the only source we would send you to on this.
Why is a gin making kit legal?
Because the kit is a bag of botanicals and a set of instructions, and the spirit comes from you. Our Gin Making Kit works by direct infusion: juniper plus coriander, citrus peel, allspice and lemongrass go into a bottle of inexpensive vodka, the jar sits at room temperature for under a week, and then you strain the botanicals out and bottle what is left. No heat, no still, no fermentation.
It also means nothing in the box is alcoholic. A gin kit is dried plant material, which is why it can be posted, wrapped as a present and kept in a cupboard like any other dried food ingredient. Alcohol only enters the picture when you buy the vodka, and that purchase is no different from buying vodka for any other reason. Gin kits are for adults aged 18 and over.
Do you need a still to make gin?
No, and you should not want one. A still is the piece of equipment that turns a pleasant hobby into an activity requiring HMRC approval, and the gin you get from a well judged infusion is genuinely good rather than a consolation prize. The method has its own name, compound gin, and it is how a great deal of gin was flavoured long before modern column stills were common.
The practical set up is a large jar or any wide mouthed container, a sieve or a filter bag, a funnel, and a clean bottle to decant into at the end. You can infuse straight in the vodka bottle if you prefer, though fishing the botanicals back out through the neck is a faff. Nothing on that list is regulated, and nothing on it costs much.
What if you want to sell what you make?
That is where the answer changes. Selling alcohol requires a licence under the Licensing Act 2003, issued by your local council, and producing alcohol for sale requires approval from HMRC. Both apply regardless of how small the operation is or how good the gin turns out to be.
We are not going to quote fees, forms or reference numbers here, because they change and because taking them from a blog rather than from the source is a bad habit. If you are seriously considering it, start with GOV.UK for the HMRC side and your own council's licensing pages for the selling side, and take proper advice before you commit to anything. For everyone else, making a few bottles for your own shelf is exactly what a kit is for.
Gin and the law FAQs
Do I need a licence to make gin at home?
No licence or approval is needed to infuse botanicals into a spirit you have bought. You are flavouring alcohol that already exists rather than producing any, so the producer approval rules do not apply to you.
Is home distilling illegal in the UK?
Producing alcoholic products, including spirits, without HMRC's Alcoholic Products Producer Approval is an offence, according to GOV.UK. That covers distilling your own spirit at home.
Does a gin making kit distil anything?
No. The kit steeps juniper and botanicals in vodka you buy yourself, and then you strain them out. Nothing is heated, nothing is condensed and no still is involved at any stage.
Can I sell the gin I make at home?
Not without the right permissions. Selling alcohol needs a licence under the Licensing Act 2003 from your local council, and producing alcohol for sale needs HMRC approval. Check GOV.UK and your council before going any further.
Is there any alcohol in the kit itself?
No. The box holds dried botanicals and instructions only. You supply the bottle of vodka, and the kits are intended for adults aged 18 and over.
Fancy making a bottle this week? Take a look at our gin making kits.
