How to make homemade fruit vodka…

I walked past a blackberry bush absolutely covered in ripe blackberries last week and, rather than thinking about blackberry crumble or homemade jam, my first thought was blackberry vodka. 😂

I rarely drink these days, so when I do have a drink I want it to be something a bit more stand out than something I’d normally have. I love the idea of making something myself that I can bring out at Christmas or when we have people round, so homemade fruit vodka seemed perfect.

It also helped that we had a giant bottle of vodka in the house that we weren’t going to drink as it was, so I wasn’t even going out and buying a bottle especially to make it.

The blackberries themselves were completely free as I picked them locally, which made it feel even better. Free fruit + vodka we already had = something that should hopefully taste much more interesting by the time Christmas comes around.

And honestly, homemade fruit vodka couldn’t be much easier to make.

Why I’m sharing this before it’s ready…

I’m actually sharing this before my vodka is fully infused. It’s been going for about a week now and I can already see from the colour and how much the fruit has infused into the vodka that it’s going to turn out really well.

Normally I’d wait until something was completely finished before sharing it, but there’s a good reason I’m not doing that this time. If I leave it another few weeks before I write about it, anyone who fancies making their own for Christmas is losing valuable infusing time.

So I’m sharing it now while there’s still plenty of time to get a batch started, leave it to do its thing and have it ready well before Christmas.

I’ll come back and update this post with the finished results once mine is ready – and let you know how my rhubarb and ginger experiment turns out too.

How I made my blackberry vodka…

The first thing I did when I got the blackberries home was give them a good wash and get rid of any stalks, leaves or less-than-lovely berries that had made their way into my haul.

I added the blackberries to a clean jar and poured over enough vodka to completely cover them.

You can add sugar at this point if you want a sweeter vodka, but I’d rather start with less sweetness and add more later if it needs it. You can always make something sweeter, but there’s not much you can do if you’ve gone too far the other way.

Then it’s simply a case of sealing the jar and leaving it somewhere cool and dark while the vodka does all the work.

I give mine a gentle shake every few days and I’ll leave it for a few weeks before I start properly tasting it. Once I’m happy with the flavour, I’ll strain out the blackberries and pour the finished vodka into a clean bottle.

I’m in absolutely no rush with this one as I’m hoping it’ll be something we can enjoy towards Christmas.

And then I remembered the rhubarb in the garden…

While I was writing this post and thinking about other fruit vodkas I could make, I suddenly remembered that I have rhubarb growing in the garden! We halfheartedly tried to get rid of it a few months but it keeps growing, so for now, we’re embracing it and have become the street’s rhubarb supplier. 

I’m not actually a huge fan of rhubarb on its own, so plain rhubarb vodka doesn’t particularly excite me. I do really like rhubarb and ginger gin though, which got me thinking.

So I’ve made a small experimental batch of rhubarb and ginger vodka too.

For my little test batch, I used three big stalks of rhubarb, a couple of spoonfuls of sugar and a few slices of fresh ginger. I popped everything into a clean jar and then poured in enough vodka to cover it all.

There was no cooking involved. I just washed the rhubarb, removed the leaves completely, chopped the stalks into small pieces and added everything to the jar. I added a few slivers of fresh ginger in later as I didn’t have any in when I had the rhubarb brainwave. 😁

I’ve given it a good shake and now it’s stored somewhere cool and dark. I’ll give it another shake every day or two at first to help the sugar dissolve.

Because ginger can get pretty punchy quite quickly, I’ll start tasting this one after about a week. If I’m happy with the amount of ginger by then, I’ll take the ginger slices out and leave the rhubarb to carry on infusing for another couple of weeks.

I’m only making a small amount because there’s no point using half a bottle of vodka to discover that I don’t actually like it. If it turns out anything like the rhubarb and ginger gin I like though, I’ll absolutely be making a bigger batch.

And the rhubarb is from the garden, so again, the only real cost is the vodka and a tiny amount of sugar.

You don’t need perfect fruit…

One of the things I like most about making fruit vodka is that you don’t need to go out and buy expensive punnets of perfect fruit.

Obviously, don’t use anything mouldy or spoiled, but fruit that’s a little too soft to be particularly appealing to eat can be ideal for something like this.

I’d be looking out for reduced fruit at the supermarket, using up anything we had too much of at home or, as I did with the blackberries, seeing what I could pick for free.

And if you’ve got something growing in the garden that needs using up, even better. I genuinely forgot about my rhubarb until I started writing this!

Other homemade fruit vodka ideas…

Now I’ve started, I’ve already been thinking about what other versions I could make because there are so many possibilities.

These are some that I think would be worth trying:

• Raspberry vodka
• Strawberry vodka
• Damson vodka
• Plum vodka
• Raspberry and lemon vodka
• Blackberry and apple vodka
• Cherry vodka
• Cranberry and orange vodka
• Mixed berry vodka

Raspberry and strawberry would both be great for using up reduced fruit that’s starting to go a little soft, while damson and plum would be perfect if you know someone with a tree who ends up with more fruit than they know what to do with.

Cranberry and orange sounds particularly lovely for Christmas and I think it would look gorgeous in little glass bottles too.

I definitely wouldn’t go out and spend a fortune buying fruit specifically for these though. For me, half the fun is turning something I’ve picked for free, grown myself, found reduced or already have in the house into something that feels a bit special.

I also tried making Werther’s vodka…

Because one homemade vodka experiment clearly wasn’t enough, I also had a go at making Werther’s vodka.

I completely forgot to take a photo of this one, which is annoying because it actually tasted really good.

There was one problem though.

It doesn’t stay nicely mixed once it’s been sitting in the bottle. It separates and needs a really good shake to bring everything back together again.

That’s absolutely fine when it’s just for us because a quick shake sorts it out, but I wouldn’t make this one to give as a gift. It looks a bit ugh when it’s been sitting for a while and I don’t think handing someone a bottle of separated-looking vodka with instructions to shake it vigorously has quite the homemade Christmas gift vibe I’m going for. 😂

Great to make and try for yourself though. 😉

Turn your homemade fruit vodka into a Christmas hamper…

This is another reason I’m making fruit vodka now rather than waiting until Christmas.

By December, the blackberry vodka should have had plenty of time to infuse and, assuming it tastes as good as I’m hoping, I can decant some into smaller glass bottles and make it look really pretty.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on a fancy wicker hamper either. I’d use a little gift box, basket or even a nice pre-loved container from a charity shop, add some tissue paper and make the vodka the star of the show.

I’d then add two or three little treats to go with it. Some nice chocolates, a pretty glass, some posh crisps or nuts, homemade sweet treats or a little bottle or can of mixer would all work.

A handwritten label and a bit of ribbon around the bottle would finish it off. I love the idea of a simple little label saying something like “Blackberry Vodka – Christmas 2026”.

If you’re making a decent-sized batch, you could potentially get several smaller gift bottles out of one jar too, which would make it a lovely homemade gift without costing a fortune.

Obviously, if you’re giving homemade vodka as a present, make sure the recipient is an adult who drinks alcohol and label the bottle clearly so they know what it contains.

Is homemade fruit vodka worth making?

I’ll give you a definitive answer when the blackberry vodka and my little rhubarb and ginger experiment are actually ready to drink, but I’m already sold on the idea based on the sneaky sips I’ve had so far.

The blackberry vodka has given me a use for fruit I picked for free and vodka that was sitting untouched in the cupboard, while the rhubarb and ginger version is using something that’s literally growing in my garden.

Neither has taken much effort and, if they turn out well, I’ll have something a bit different to drink over Christmas as well as a lovely idea for homemade gifts.

Considering this all started because I walked past some blackberries and thought “vodka”, I feel like it’s escalated quite nicely. 😂

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