Blackcurrant Gin

[Wic Profile]

Has anyone made this? I make Damson Gin and Sloe Gin every year, and they are pretty good. This year, a week or so after having stripped my blackcurrant bushes and painstakingly topped and tailed them, I found I’d missed two good branches. Rather than do the topping and tailing again I thought I might try putting them in gin. There weren’t all that many and I didn’t have a lot of gin at the time, so it ended up filling a litre jar to about ¾ full and forgot it.

I’ve just looked at it, thinking I should filter it off, but I’ve found that what I actually have is blackcurrant and gin jelly. It tastes OK, but it’s not our sort of thing and I can’t see much use for it, we'd rather have the gin. Do you think adding more gin would solve the problem?

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Morning Wic.
This is most odd. Did you add sugar too?

I've made black-berry gin in Autumn, and turn it once every morning. The texture is liquid. We shall be having a blackberry gin n tonic before our Christmas meal.

I'd either test a small amount with tonic, see if its texture is by chance just right. In which case you have nothing to worry about.
Or add more gin, yes.
And take out the blackcurrants. It sounds as if they have reacted like chia seeds, that have a natural gel set.
Nice in some things, but not a liquid aperitif.

It reminds me of my smoothie blender.
First attempt, I blended a blackcurrant and banana. With a small bit of soya milk.
And got a glorious mousse to eat with a spoon.

I cannot for the life of me replicate it. I just get a smoothie drink every time I try.

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

Hi Wic and Gill

I would think that blackcurrants would have more pectin in than, say raspberries, as they have robust skins.

Wic, I think Gill has given you all the solutions you need.

Gill - The comment you made about the smoothie mousse did make me laugh a lot

[Wic Profile]

Thanks, both. It’s interesting that gin 'cooks' the blackcurrants, isn’t it, it all looks as if I’d simmered it in a saucepan.

I've had the jelly draining through muslin for a couple of hours so far, but not much gin has come through. I might just put the mush in a bowl and add a bit more gin, mix it up a bit, let it settle and try again.

I’ll let you know what happens!

PS. This year's Damson is already rather good, it will be perfect next year.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

You test for pectin using alcohol, the pectin forms a kind of plug and that is what has happened here, water might sort it
https://www.wikihow.com/Test-the-Pectin-Content-of-Fruit

Mum never made blackcurrant jam, always jelly as no topping and tailing, and it used to set pretty solid - red currants are actually used to add pectin to raspberry and strawberry jams sometimes

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Perhaps I should add gin or vodka to my smoothie to get a mousse again - hic!

[Wic Profile]

You know, Sue, I did know that, but it had parked itself in a siding far, far back in my memory. It would have stayed there, too, without your help. I wonder what else is in there?

Thus far I have swilled out the Kilner jar with gin and poured it over the blackcurrant pulp. Its still dripping through the muslin, so I’ll leave it till tomorrow and then take some of the pulp out and use some water to see what happens.

You could spend a happy time experimenting with mousse recipes, Gill. It has just reminded me of the afternoon we spent with some friends in our youth. We were trying out various formulae for making our own Pimms No1. It became more and more hilarious and I can’t remember how we made supper!

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Ha!
I had a moment like that with Tony on Christmas Eve.
Came home from the traditional cinema film night, and Tony poured us a HUGE baileys to round off the evening.

Just as I was thinking, I'll never manage that!
I looked down at my glass and I'd nearly polished it all off. Naughty!

[dennispc Profile]

Never made blackcurrant gin, sloe gin the slow way (didn't mean that pun), ingredients shaken in a jar a few times and left for a couple of months - would that work for blackcurrants?

This year made Cassis for the first time. Won't be ready until late January.

[Wic Profile]

Hello, Petronius. I made the blackcurrant gin as I do the damson and sloe. Shake the fruit in a Kilner jar of gin with a bit of sugar. I adjust the sugar once it’s strained off.

So, having picked all your brains about the jellified blackcurrants, this is what happened.

Eventually, having loosened the blackcurrant jelly with a bit more gin, which I’d used to swill out the jar, I left it straining for about 24 hours. The result was a fairly clear liquid and a dryish pulp, so that was about as good as I could expect. It doesn’t taste too bad, but I don’t think I’ll repeat the experiment next year unless we have a huge glut. It’s a bit like alcoholic, unsweetened Ribena!

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Well my blackberry gin was OK I guess.
A bit medicinal, like sloe gin is. I'll probly not bother next year either. We always blackberry pick, but I'll use them freshly.

[Wic Profile]

If you put your blackberry gin at the back of a cupboard and forget it for a year or so you might find it has become an entirely different product. We did that with a bottle of Sloe Gin, which was OK, as far as we remember, but it worked it’s way out of sight and when we found it 3+ years later it was wonderful.

We were in two minds as to whether to keep saving it or drink it. Drinking won.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Yes, we had sloe gin in the cupboard from 2009. Deliberately so.
My sister had rhubarb and ginger gin (shop bought present).

Wic, I think I just prefer the gin and tonic.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

This year made Cassis for the first time. Won't be ready until late January.

Mrs B likes a kir and we've got plenty of blackcurrants in the freezer. I would be interested in hearing how that turns out

[Joanbunting Profile]

M made me an unexpectedly new drink yesterday. A Yorkshire gin into which he carefully poured ginger beer. It was meant to be Fevertree tonic but he picked the ginger beer out of the fridge. - He doesn't read labels!

Let me just say that I won't be ordering it again any time soon.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Before tonic was brought back from “the colonies” and spread to ordinary pub, gin and ginger was the usual mix (if not just a splash of water)

Although Schweppes started selling Indian tonic water in 1870 (I looked that up) I don’t think it was THE drink until much later, and I’ve a feeling my aunt preferred ginger, which she’d have drunk in WW2

Hence the music hall song, Captain Ginjah, which I remember just but it’s hard to find a good recording

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZupNKs_Q7Fk

[jeral Profile]

I'm definitely not a gin drinker (almost anything but, lol) but I do like a single measure of gin, equal amount of bitter lemon and a Scotch whisky floated through. (My version of a whisky sours.) Probably an acquired taste, she says totally unnecessarily

I must confess to identifying all sorts merely by the shape of the bottle/jar, or colour of lid, shape of handle etc, hence it's not unknown for me to put carton milk in my vodka and carton grapefruit juice in my coffee which promptly curdles - neither of which I'd recommend by the way.

[dennispc Profile]

Two years ago had loads of blackberries, still have some left unopened. Certainly improves with age.

[Pampy Profile]

A number of years ago, I macerated blackcurrants and raspberries (separately) in tequila, turned the jars every week or so for about 6 months then strained them. I left them in the dark for a couple of years before trying them - I was really surprised at how good they were.

[WWordsworth Profile]

I make different liqueurs using the standard recipe of 1 litre spirit, 1lb fruit and 5oz sugar.
Shake every day for 3 months then strain it
(And make sure you do something with the boozy fruit)

Pretty basic but it seems to work.