This super simple strawberry and lavender gin liqueur is the true taste of summer sunshine in a glass. Super easy to make, once tried, you’ll be whipping this up every week!
Today is another lovely strawberry day. I’m off to BBC Radio Scotland this morning to be on the McAulay & Co show again this time to chat about alternative uses for strawberries – Think Outside The Punnet!
One of the recipe ideas I’ll be sharing is how to make Strawberry & Lavender Gin liqueur.
Whenever I make this I smile. Not just for the whole summer berries, smell of lavender or even the booze element, no, I smile because I remember that this one recipe started it all for me. It got me to places I’d never dreamed of. You see when I wrote my first book, So Easy Herbal back in 2010 I published it myself.
I practically pounded the streets to try to get some publicity and boost my meager sales. One of my PR efforts was to badger the producer of The Hour, a daily TV show at the Scottish Television Centre in Glasgow.
My TV debut!
He liked the sound of that strawberry & lavender gin and I was invited on to the show to demonstrate how to make it and chat about my book. I was overjoyed and loved every minute of it. That one visit to the studios led to 1 1/2 years of my own bi-weekly slot on the show where I would demonstrate how to use herbs around the home, doing everything from making your own kitchen cosmetics to home remedies, cleaners and of course booze!
That show finished but I wrote more books, have written for lots of magazines and became a regular on the foodie and crafting demonstration circuit. I have also been fortunate enough to become a regular contributor to the McAulay & Co Show on BBC Radio Scotland.
All this going back to one idea, a few words, one little recipe – strawberry and lavender gin liqueur.
Ingredients for strawberry and lavender gin
Strawberries
Sugar
Gin
Lavender
Can you use frozen strawberries?
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries for this strawberry and lavender gin liqueur recipe, just defrost them first.
What type of lavender?
You can use either fresh lavender sprigs or dried lavender to make this liqueur.
How do you make strawberry and lavender gin
Quite simply you are going to infuse the gin with the flavour of the strawberries and the lavender. You do this by placing all the ingredients in a nice big Kilner type jar and popping it into a dark cupboard for a week.
Shake it every day to make sure the sugar dissolves completely.
Finally, strain it through two layers of muslin/cheesecloth or kitchen paper and decant into a sterilised bottle. That’s it folks!
How long will strawberry and lavender gin keep?
This liqueur will keep for up to a year stored in a cool dark cupboard.
How to serve your strawberry and lavender gin liqueur
Serve this liqueur ice cold in a little frozen shot glass. Over ice. With your favourite mixer like tonic water or soda. Or as part of a cocktail like a strawberry martini.
Cheers!
Now before I forget. Don’t throw out those gin soaked strawberries. You can make them into my gorgeous Strawberry Gin Jam. If not making the jam right away, then just pop the strawberries into a freezer bag and store in the freezer till you are ready to get crafty in the kitchen again.
Looking for some more fabulous strawberry recipes? Then check these out;
Strawberry and Basil Ice-cream
Italian Inspired Strawberry Jam
Looking for more homemade liqueurs to try? Then check out my Homemade Liqueurs & Infusions section.
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.
Strawberry and Lavender Gin Liqueur
Ingredients
- 400 g strawberries
- 5 heads lavender or 2 tsp dried lavender
- 750 ml Gin
- 175 g caster sugar
Instructions
- Wipe over the strawberries and hull them by removing leaves and stalks. Cut them in half and drop into a wide mouthed jar, Kilners work really well for this.
- Add the lavender heads and don’t be tempted to overdo it as lavender has a strong flavour and can get too medicinal if you use too much.
- Pour in the gin (normal supermarket stuff is what you want here, not to expensive stuff)
- Add the sugar, seal jar and give it a good shake.
- Put in a cupboard and shake every day for a week to get the sugar to dissolve completely.
- After a week the strawberries will have lost their colour and the liquid will be a gorgeous pink colour.
- Strain the liquid through 2 layers of kitchen paper in a sieve and decant into a pretty bottle.
- Serve ice cold as a shot or with ice and tonic water, fizz or lemonade.
I make a lot of my own infusions using Gin and Genever (I live in Flanders) but I’ve never come across this one. It sounds great. All I have to do now is wait for summer … 🙁
Hi Steven,
Thanks for the comment, you just have to try this one as soon as the strawberries are about.
K x
How long does this keep for?
Hi Rachel
This will keep for up to 1 year in cool dark place like a cupboard.
Kx
I live in California and it gets very hot during the summer months. I’m concerned the heat might affect the process. Should I store it in the fridge instead?
I was round at my mams for dinner on sunday and she had a mountain of strawberries….. she asked if I would like some with ice cream. I’d read this recipe on Saturday tho so I declined but just asked if she could fill one of her kilner jars with them, nabbed some lavender heads from her garden and rushed home to add the gin and sugar. 3 days later, the strawberries are almost white and the gin is the most gorgeous colour 🙂 I’m counting down the days till sunday when I filter it and get a wee taste 😀
thanks for the recipe!!!
Sorry not to reply sooner Karen, hope you managed to wait out the week and that the strawberry and lavender gin is as good as you hoped!
K x
I have frozen some strawberries, can they be used to make the strawberry and lavender gin. Also would i need to defrost them.
Hi Marie
I would defrost them first but remember they contain more water when frozen so use more as water content will dilute flavour a wee bit.
Cheers!
K x
Sounds lovely, as soon as the homegrown strawberries appear I’ll be making this
Oh you have to make this one, a classic!
K x
This is my third season making this gin, and each time I make larger quantities to share: It’s magical. One of my favorite gifts to give, and one of my favorite homemade indulgences to enjoy myself. Thank you for sharing it!
Thanks for this lovely comment. I am so pleased my Strawberry & Lavender Gin is such a hit with you and your friends.
K x
Hi Karon, I’ve made severak Gin based liqueurs over the years , sloe, damson and raspberry usually. This year I’ve tried rhubarb and ginger, which is lovely, and a small test batch of strawberry….. I’ll retry that with the lavender now!!!
Thanks for sharing a wonderful secret!!
Colin
Halesowen, West Midlands, UK
Hi Colin
Great to hear from a fellow liqueur maker. Hope you try the lavender with your strawberry gin this time.
K x
This sounds amazing!
We were going to make sloe gin for our wedding next May (to go with fizz) but want to try this now as it’ll be more summery and very different!
However, we are now completely out of season for both strawberries and lavender… So, if I bought dried lavender flowers would this still work? The strawberry season I can get around as they are sold all year round in supermarkets – unfortunately they just won’t be British.
Thank you in advance!
Just use less of the dried lavender as it is stronger tasting than fresh. A teaspoon should do a bottle of gin
Fabulous, thank you Karon
Wondering if you have to remove the flowers from the lavender heads?
no you use the flower heads
K x
Wonderful recipe Karon, thank you so much for sharing it with us.
I made a couple of batches in December (minus the lavender as I wasn’t able to get any sadly) to give in Xmas hampers I made up for family and friends which went down an absolute storm with everyone, most of all my partners Mum who is a tad obsessed with it.
It is now routinely made in our household to keep her Mum fully stocked at all times.
One question I have is whether this would be possible to make the same swapping the Strawberries for Raspberries? I searched some recipes online but many suggested a 4-week time scale for it. I would have thought surely it would react the same unless I am missing something.
Looking forward to trying more of your recipes through the year for further gift hampers
Hi Jamie
I’ve done this recipe with raspberries too. Just use exactly the same measurements and time scale. Have some great new liqueurs coming up this year.
K
Hi Karon
I have just made this, using half of the ingredients in your recipe above, but now, after reading through the comments, someone asked about using dried lavender and you answered to use a teaspoon, as it’s stronger, but I’ve used 1 tablespoon (half the amount in the recipe) is the recipe correct, or should it be teaspoons?
Hi Tracey
Thanks for pointing this out. I’ve been updating posts and the plugin I used for the recipe card has messed up my measurements here. It should read 2 tsp NOT tbsp of dried lavender.you should be fine with your one tablespoon though. Check the gin after a few days to see what you think of the flavour and check every day then decant through muslin.
Hope this helps and sorry for the confusion
K
Absolutely delicious! I am going to make the family a bottle each together with a jar of strawberry gin jam made fromm the strawberries left after straining. Thank you.
Hi Elizabeth
Now that’s what I call a jolly good foodie gift. Hope the family will love it and so pleased you like the recipe so much.
K
Karon I wonder if you can help me. I made strawberry gin in July. I now have white sediment which is a blob floating in the gin. I’m not sure if it is ok to drink the gin. Have I kept it too long?
I have used your tip for the gin soaked strawberries snd made jam.
Hope you can help. Thank you.
Stephney Gourley.
Hi Stephney
I have made this so many times and never had this happen. Try just scooping it out. Taste the gin. The amount of alcohol in there should kill anything. It’s entirely up to you. I would try it, but then I make these things all the time.
K
Hi Karon, am also in Scotland but as of today, my lavender is only budding, hasn’t yet flowered but I’ve got a glut of strawberries I just harvested. Can I still go ahead and use the lavender? When you say 5 heads off lavender, do you mean 5 lavender stalks? Use only the buds or also with the leaves? Thanks!
Hi Jan
I use 5 heads meaning the end of the stalk with all the flowers and I do it when my lavender is open. Why not freeze the strawberries then just defrost when your lavender is fully open.
K