Highly Commended – traditional
Quardrum Plum Vodka
Judy Venables
An early fruiting Mirabelle plum tree provides the necessary fruit for my Plum Vodka.
I make three demijohns a year and the picking-up teams love it.
If you bottle it in early November it can be drunk by Christmas, but leaving it for a year alters the colour and produces a plummier taste, although it often doesn’t survive that long.
My recipe is technical and requires great expertise and careful measurement!
■ Mirabelle plums (I fill a demijohn one-third full with fruit from the tree in my garden)
■ Caster sugar (add enough to fill the spaces between the plums and to form a thin layer above them)
■ Vodka (enough to fill the demijohn)
The demijohn is shaken weekly and decanted into bottles after about four months.
The Field’s Hip Flask Championship 2013
Winner – Traditional: Raspberry Gin
Winner – Off-piste: Beetroot and horseradish vodka
Highly Commended – Off-piste: Toffee vodka
Highly Commended – Traditional: Chilli Sloe Gin
Highly Commended – Traditional: Quardrum Plum Vodka
Highly Commended – Traditional: Gooseberry Gin