One Calgary-based duo are spicing up gin-making this holiday season by crafting a do-it-your-self homemade kit – the perfect Gin 101 set for those who have always fancied making their own liquor at home.
Colin Leach, the owner of the Silk Road Spice Merchant, and Kevin Kent, the president of Kent of Inglewood and Knifewear, have taken their collective interest in cocktails to a whole new level. Getting crafty in the kitchen, Leach and Kent have ascertained the ingredients needed to create their favourite spirit, gin, which is essentially vodka with a blend of botanicals added, at home.
The Kitchen Alchemist’s Botanical Gin Kit contains everything you need to turn a generic, run-of-the-mill bottle of vodka into a remarkable and delicious home-blend gin.
Photo courtesy of Kent of Inglewood (Gwen Evans)
The homemade kit features 12 ingredients (sans vodka) packaged in individual sachets to infuse the spirt. They include hand-selected unique blends of botanicals (licorice root, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, lavender, orris root and Angelica root), spices (cinnamon, cardamom, pink peppercorns, grains of paradise), and juniper berries (an essential component of gin). The kit also comes with its own gin recipe.
Using the kit, the entire small-batch home-brew operation takes about a week and requires no special distillery equipment. The final taste result depends on your palate, as much or as little of the ingredients can be added or withheld. The kit comes with ample ingredients to infuse gin two or three times over, and will make 26 ounces of gin on each infusion.
Currently the Kitchen Alchemist’s Botanical Gin Kit is available for $30 from The Silk Road Spice Merchant, 1403 9 Avenue S.E., and Kent of Inglewood, 1319 9 Avenue. S.E. There are also a limited number of the kits available at the Silk Road Spice Merchant’s stall at the Calgary Farmers’ Market.
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