Peach Aperitif

When I set out to make this recipe I was trying to make something that resembled RinQuinQuin but when I read more into it and saw they used things like distillates of peach stones and leaves as well as macerations over long periods of time I realised that wasn’t going to be as simple as macerating peaches in wine and spirit and blending. Instead I decided to make my own peach flavoured/wine based aperitif that was easy to replicate at home and good for summer months.

• 700ml Rose Wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

• 500g Peach Flesh

• 250ml Gin (Feel free to substitute for Akvavit or Vodka)

• 1 x Teaspoon Wormwood

• 2 x Teaspoon Dried Orange Peel

• 1 Lime

• 1 Lemon

• 5/6 Cranks Black Pepper

• 200g Runny Honey

Start by chopping the peaches into small 1cm chunks removing the pits. Add to a large jar with 750ml Rose Wine and set aside. Try to avoid shaking it too much as I did as it will give a slight cloudiness to the final product.

For the next part I probably should have weighed the ingredients precisely but my micro-scale decided that this would be the perfect time to stop working and so I went basic and eyeballed everything. Really you can do the same at home. The fine measurments can be tailored to taste and so start with my guidelines and feel free to adjust for yourself.

Take the 250ml of your chosen spirit and add: 2x teaspoon dried orange peel, the grated zest of 1 lime and 1 lemon and 5/6 coarse cranks of black pepper. Pop this in a jar and leave for around an hour to infuse.
After 1 hour add a heaped teaspoon of wormwood to the mix, this is going to add some dry grassy notes and the bitterness we want.
Shake the jar and leave for 5-7 minutes. Be careful in this stage, the wormwood will give a lot of bitterness pretty quickly.

Once its finished infusing strain this mix through a mesh sieve then a paper coffee filter.

You will lose some of the vodka in this process. I came out with just over 200ml from the initial 250ml, but I was also lazy and probably could have let it drip longer in the filter, or give the botanicals a press to get more liquid.

Once you have your strained botanical infusion, add an equal part of runny honey (so I added 200g to my 200ml of spirit) and mix well to combine.
Add all of this to the peaches and wine and leave to infuse for around 48hours in a cool dry place or in the fridge.

After the 48 hours its time to filter the liquid. I ran it though a paper coffee filter to get it as clear as possible and would definitely recommend doing the same.

Thats it! Bottle it up and store in the fridge. It’s great to drink over ice, mixed with tonic, as a replacement for vermouth in martinis or in a cocktail like this.

‘Moving To The Country’ Cocktail