How to make spiced gin

Gin is in – sales last year topped £1 bn for the first time. I love a G&T too (I like to make mine with Hendricks gin, Fever-Tree Naturally Light tonic, a few drops of lavender bitters and a slice of lime).

And around this time of year I usually hit the hedgerows for a spot of foraging and make sloe gin – here's how – which is a lovely winter warmer. I've also made cherry gin: recipe here.

But new to me is spiced gin. Back in July I went to Marks & Spencer's Christmas press show. Among all the delicious treats to sample (chilli chocolate tortilla chips and metallic macarons, mmm) was a make-your-own-spiced-gin stand. There was an expert on hand to advise on which of the array of botanicals (flavouring ingredients) would work well together.

Things got a bit messy, using the little spoons to shovel a few seeds of this and a blade of that into the narrow neck of the bottle And there were certainly spillages at the gin dispenser (not guilty). I went for juniper berries, cassia, coriander, lemon peel and cardamom. 'Try it in around three weeks,' said the gin expert. 'Ha-ha: fat chance,' I replied, thinking I'd be unable to resist a nip sooner than that. But then the bottle of gin got tucked away behind some other bottles, after a kitchen reshuffle...

Freshly bottled, all of those botanicals were floating on the surface. Opened this week, four months on, they've slumped to the bottom of the bottle, sozzled. The gin is a warm, amber colour and its scent is cinnamon-like (from the cassia, I think, as they're related). Its taste is warm and fragrant, with a dry base note that I like. And I'll definitely be making more, possibly for a few pressies...

Spiced gin recipe
Pour 500ml reasonable-quality gin into a clean bottle with a lid. I'll be adding five strips of lemon zest, half a teaspoon of coriander seed, and a quarter of a cinnamon stick to mine, but you can also use cloves, juniper berries (of course), cardamom...

Seal the bottle, label, and leave in a dark place for around four weeks - perfect timing for Christmas.