The Lazy Forager: #4 – Rhubarb Gin

The other day, I got given a load of rhubarb only twelve hours before I was due to go away for three weeks. The rhubarb giver, whilst very generous, was also fairly desperate for me to take the fragrant stems off their hands – I understand they were suffering from a bit of a glut!

So there I was, left holding the rhubarb, with not quite enough time to even contemplate the fancy heights of rhubarb crumble or rhubarb & ginger jam. Therefore, what else could I do but take my bag full of stalks on a detour to the shops, purchase some mildly decent gin, and manufacture a few litres of rhubarb gin...

So if you’re partial to a gin tipple (or have friends who are), next time you’re trying to dig yourself out of a rhubarb glut, try this:

- Chop up your rhubarb stalks

- Fill a wide-necked bottle about halfway with rhubarb pieces

- Fill to the top with gin

- Add sugar if you like – I prefer it with sugar, almost a bit liqueur-like, but tastes do differ!

Keep an eye on the colour and strain off the rhubarb once the liquid has taken on a beautiful, clear shade of pink. I left it a bit too long (five weeks) and ended up with a slightly muddy pink – thankfully however, this didn’t take away from the taste.

Enjoy your glut!