Pimms?

[Eric]

Has anyone a recipe for something tasting like Pimms that they'd care to share?
Apart from not yet having a summer for such drinks and it not being everyone's tipple anyway, there's the problem of fermenting something that alcoholic. However, could it be possible something that was, say, 8% alcohol mixed with a lesser quantity of lemonade, or with a touch of cheap vodka, might make a suitable substitute?
I don't for sure know what Pimms tastes of, a little like alcoholic prune juice maybe, but it would be nice to learn about any nice homebrewed mixer suitable for a summer's day in the garden.

[danbrew]

I reckon if you had a play around with one of those liqueur kits and investigated the apparently vast array of flavourings available...

My experience of pimms is that it's mixed with so much other stuff (lemonade and fruit etc.) you could get a fairly close approximation and still not tell the difference, if you added all the same 'other stuff...' that is...

[Eric]

I reckon if you had a play around with one of those liqueur kits and investigated the apparently vast array of flavourings available...

My experience of pimms is that it's mixed with so much other stuff (lemonade and fruit etc.) you could get a fairly close approximation and still not tell the difference, if you added all the same 'other stuff...' that is...

Thanks, my hope was to avoid buying something commercial but that could be the best, maybe only route. As you say, mixed with many other things it should be possible to get somewhere near the real thing. Despite it being supposedly gin based, by itself it tastes to me like dry fermented prune juice and I was hopeful someone with a better palate and experience might make a stab at a recipe. Not a great fan of Pimms, such could even be an improvement as far as I was concerned.

[danbrew]

I must admit it's a while since I have had it so I can't recall the flavour... I know that fermented prune juice is one of the few true fruit juices in the supermarket that I don' seem to have seen any recipes for...

Having had a quick search around the internet there seems to be a few ideas for home made pimms but again based on a bottle of gin... and I have just had a quick look for liqueur flavourings and there don't seem to be any about that would fit either... So maybe make an alcotec (or whoever) gin kit and then make the pimms version with that... Who knows, all good fun trying though...

[Eric]

Who knows, all good fun trying though...

Who knows? Quite, let's see if someone might be wise or brave enough to offer a provisional recipe.

[Pinto]

Having not actually tasted pimms, I cant really offer any advice

Did find this tho...

"Bartenders who wish to make a Pimm's Cup without its main ingredient usually mix one part gin with one part red Vermouth and 1/2 part to 1 part of triple sec or Orange Curacao.
The original drink also contained Quinine and a secret mix of herbs."

Something to start from.... ?

[Eric]

Having not actually tasted pimms, I cant really offer any advice

Did find this tho...

"Bartenders who wish to make a Pimm's Cup without its main ingredient usually mix one part gin with one part red Vermouth and 1/2 part to 1 part of triple sec or Orange Curacao.
The original drink also contained Quinine and a secret mix of herbs."

Something to start from.... ?

I'll have to learn what Triple Sec or Orange Curacao is like, but yes, that could indeed be very helpful.
The idea was to improve the home drinks stock at minimal cost. My beer supply side is reasonably under control but all attempted wines have been sadly lacking, making even four quid supermarket plonks taste complicated, so wondered about the possibility of producing some substitute mixer. Pimms came straight to mind because I can't tell what it's like and possibly most mightn't notice the difference when given one.
Thanks.

[Pinto]

I noticed that there is a "pimms kit" on ebay but horrendously expensive - around £50 !

So...depending on how much work you wish to get involved with, i'd make a turbo wash to end up with 25l of 20% spirit base, then use essences to make my own gin and curacao ( bitter orange) liquers. Maybe attempt a TurboVermouth with lidl white grape juice, add some decent tonic water for the quinine and then produce a herb and spice tea to my tastes ( as the real recipie is secret )

Intresting project....lot of work tho !

[Eric]

Intresting project....lot of work tho !

Yes, no wonder there wasn't a simple ready answer when searching, initially thought nobody might like the stuff enough to have a go. My objective was to give the final product to others while I drank beer, believing, as already said, that by the time it was mixed with fruit to hand, a drop of cheap lemonade and a bucketful of ice, no-one would know the difference.
Quinine, can you get this? Buying decent tonic these days seems to work out as expensive as gin, for unless you buy little bottles it quickly goes flat.
Looks like this idea mightn't be very practical.

[danbrew]

....believing, as already said, that by the time it was mixed with fruit to hand, a drop of cheap lemonade and a bucketful of ice, no-one would know the difference.

In fairness Eric you could do that with any of the liqueur kits these days and pass them off as the real thing. I found in the past peach schnapps to be a very effective substitute for it's commercial equivilent so if you are not too precious about it being specifically Pimms then you would have loads of flavours to go at... A whole liqueur based cocktail cabinet can be created these days for not a great deal of money...

[Dr. Dextrin]

Given that a lot of the summer has already been washed out (and maybe the rest will be too) I can't see you needing gallons of the stuff.

So how about just buying some cheap knock-off Pimms? Aldi do stuff called Austin's that SWMBO reckons tastes the same when mixed, but it's much cheaper.

I'm not really a fan myself.

[Eric]

Great merit in both those views.
To be frank, my experience drinking Pimms is limited and certainly not one filled with excitment. Further, my attempts at making wine of any kind have been disappointing and have no real desire to venture into the world of kits. I had hoped someone might name a few fruit that when mixed with some sugar and yeast when spiced a half teaspoon of tabasco or something equally available would make a suitable substitue in the right circumstances. Probably the reality is that all my demijohns are empty and it's a long time since they produced anything worthy of consumption.
Thanks.