Candy Cane Gin Homemade Liqueur

Nothing is more festive than candy canes. Now just bring gin into the equation and you have candy cane gin homemade liqueur. Sweet and minty and with the punch of a jolly good gin. It’s Christmas cheer in a glass!

Don’t you just adore the colour of this amazing homemade liqueur? That pink is just so fun, frivolous and festive, I love it!

Now the taste is amazing too. It is tinglingly fresh and minty and sweet too. But the gin takes the edge off that sweetness to make this a grownup liqueur even if it does look as if it might be best suited to Barbie.

2 ingredient candy cane gin liqueur!

Yes, that’s right. There are only 2 ingredients in this homemade liqueur.

Gin and candy canes.

What type of gin to use

Use a basic gin. Nothing fancy and highy flavoured here. A simple dry gin like Gordon’s or a supermarket own brand.

Remember you want your own candy cane flavour to shine. Not the taste of an already flavoured gin. So step away from your Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks please.

Equipment for making this homemade liqueur

Simply one thing. A nice big jar. One that will hold a bottle of gin really. That’s it! Oh, and your bottles to pour the resulting homemade liqueur into for giving.

How to make candy cane gin

Break up the candy canes and put them into your jar. Now simply pour the gin over the candy canes. Pop on the lid and shake your jar.

Immediately you will see that the gin is leaching the colour out of the candy canes.

Set the jar aside and shake it every day for a week.

After this time all the candy will have dissolved completely and the gin will be bright hot pink in colour.

Sterilise the bottles

Once you have this marvelous pink homemade liqueur it is time to bottle it up.

Make sure that you sterilise your bottles first. Follow my simple process for How to sterilise bottles and jars.

What type of bottles to use for homemade liqueurs

I like to give my homemade liqueurs either in fancy little bottles that I find in charity shops (thrift shops) and the like. Or I use those mini wine bottles.

Obviously I have to drink the wine first (the things I have to do to make nice foodie gifts!) but then I have a great little bottle that will hold 4-6 shots my homemade liqueurs perfectly.

Pink gin!

This really is a pink gin liqueur, isn’t it? Very girly and a lot of fun. Candy cane gin tastes very much of peppermint of course. Plus the taste of the gin in there too.

If you like the taste of mint and you are into gin then this homemade candy can gin liqueur is for you.

How to serve your candy cane gin liqueur

You can serve this as a little shot. I like it ice cold so keep a bottle in the freezer. I also pop my little shot glasses in the freezer too sometimes.

Serve your candy cane gin as you would any other gin with a mixer of choice. I’d go for soda here as the peppermint flavour is strong.

Grab your shaker and make a cocktail!

Candy Cane Gin Cocktail

One large measure of candy cane gin, swish the glass with vermouth.

Pour the measure of gin into a cocktail shaker along with ice and shake like mad.

Pour it into a cocktail glass that you have already rimmed with crushed candy cane. serve with an extra candy cane just in case this isn’t frivolously festive and sweet enough already.

How long will this homemade liqueur last

This candy cane gin will keep for up to a year. Bet it won’t be lurking around for that long though!

Looking for more super easy homemade liqueurs to make for the holidays? Then check these out before you go;

Homemade Kahlua Coffee Liqueur

Christmas cranberry and orange gin

Homemade limoncello liqueur (with step by step video)

How to make your own Baileys Irish coffee cream liqueur

Blackberry and apple gin

Scotch Mist liqueur (copycat Drambuie)

Grapefruit and ginger gin

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.