Bathtub Gin
GREG
EASTER
PHOTO: BARTHOLOMEW COOKE
Gin comes in basically two categories. There’s a distilled version, in which different botanical components are added to what is essentially vodka, and the whole batch is distilled together. Another approach—popular in the days of Prohibition, when distillation’s big fires and smoke brought unwanted law-enforcement attention—is the infusing of neutral spirits with botanical components at room temperature, often in a bathtub.
Ironically, the latter technique, called dousing, can also be employed to customize and elevate mediocre gin into something with more character. After living in parts of the world where premium gins were unavailable, desperation drove me to refer to my grandfather’s 1924 bootleg formula for bathtub gin, which inspired my recipe below. (Vodka and neutral spirits are not at all the same: Vodka, at 40 percent alcohol, is meant for drinking; neutral spirits, at 80 to 90 percent, are not.)
Our recipe was recently compared in a blind test by 84 self-described gin enthusiasts. Compared side by side with Beefeater gin, this doused version was unanimously declared “more natural tasting” and “more of what gin should be.” That’s an illusion, of course, but who cares? In the end, taste is all that counts.
The spirit is best appreciated straight, but try mixing cocktails with it, and you’ll be amazed at how much character is added. Customizing any drink is the perfect opportunity to add something no one else can reproduce—unless, of course, you share your secret.
BATHTUB GIN
¾ ounce fresh cilantro, trimmed
¾ ounce lemon-peel strips, with as little pith as possible
½ ounce fresh marjoram leaves, with no stems
20 allspice berries
16 white peppercorns
12 green or white (not brown) cardamom pods
½ ounce plus ½ teaspoon sugar
6 ¾ ounces Trebbiano white wine
17 ounces vodka
Precise measurements are important. Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive pan and bring to a simmer for about two minutes. Do not boil. Pour into a clean, odor-free glass jar and close lid. Steep for exactly 24 hours at room temperature. Strain through cheesecloth into another clean, odor-free glass jar. Combine 1 ½ ounces of this “dousing solution” with 8 ½ ounces Beefeater gin and ⅛ teaspoon Black Grouse (or other smoky) Scotch. Store both the finished gin and base solution in the refrigerator.
Categories: By the Glass / Cocktails / Drinks / Entertaining / Recipes / Wine/Spirits
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Wont simmering cook out the alcohol?
Posted by: Franchesca S | 01/04/2012 at 11:33 AM
I don't understand this ingredient:
1/2 ounce plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Posted by: LPB | 01/05/2012 at 06:51 AM
Wouldn't simmering neutral spirits on an open flame mean big trouble (as in big explosion)?
Posted by: Michael | 01/05/2012 at 10:46 PM
In answer to the questions posed here about simmering the mixture. There is no danger in any sort of explosion. The only part that is simmered is the white wine mixture if you read the recipe carefully, and it is only a slow simmer for a couple of minutes. - Greg Easter (the author of this article)
Posted by: Greg Easter | 01/09/2012 at 11:56 AM
The recipe is not clear. doesn't the sentence "Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive pan and bring to a simmer for about two minutes." include the vodka? There is no mention of adding the vodka later.
Posted by: john | 01/09/2012 at 10:13 PM
huh?
Combine all ingredients in a nonreactive pan and bring to a simmer for about two minutes.
Posted by: Beau | 01/10/2012 at 06:33 PM
The recipe is easy. Stop making it so difficult. 1/2 ounce (weight) of sugar then add an additional 1/2 tsp. EASY
There is no danger of nuetral spirits "exploding" because there are none used in the recipe.
I personally want to try this and I am in no way concerned about blowing myself up.
Posted by: TrueGrit | 01/11/2012 at 08:45 AM
Pretty much confusing- why add Beefeater's to your 'homemade ' gin?
Try writing the formula again- and add the cost of ingredients. Bet it's MORE than Tanqueray.
Posted by: Neil Mitchell Cowan | 01/11/2012 at 06:38 PM
agree with neil, what is the point of adding gin to "gin"? this is the kind thing people who watch the food network will do and not question, then brag to their other loser "foodie" friends about homemade gin. who is responsible for editing this garbage?
Posted by: bgsbnny | 01/12/2012 at 11:28 AM
Cool, interesting 1924 Gin receipt
Posted by: keith | 01/17/2012 at 10:50 AM
Why not just spend a little extra and get a decent gin in the first place like bobay saphire or tanqueray? Same messing around
Posted by: Bob | 01/17/2012 at 04:24 PM
I believe the point is that it turns a low end gin into something that, in a blind taste test, people like BETTER than high end gin. I believe this because that's what the article says. (Reading--a lost art). Also, note that you're making enough of the "base solution" to dope many bottles of crappy gin. If you use a cheap Trebbiano wine and smoky-but-really-cheap scotch, and happen to have a fairly full spice cabinet, you can taste what a doped / infused gin tasted like.
Posted by: JFS | 01/21/2012 at 08:08 AM
In re-reading both the article and the comments, it becomes clear there is a disconnect. The author clearly states this as a way to "customize and elevate mediocre gin into something with more character". He then goes on to explain it came in handy in "parts of the world where premium gins were unavailable",
I agree that the "1/2 Oz + 1 tsp for the sugar is confusing (why can't that just be x tablespoons or 1/8 cup or..)
I'd be interested to hear of results if anyone tries this.
Posted by: Michael | 01/23/2012 at 10:57 AM