Ballyvolane House finds a use for its crab apples – gin

We had a crab apple tree in our garden when I was growing up. Every year I would be ordered to harvest the crop. My mother was one of those war children who couldn’t waste anything; a woman ahead of her time. It was a chore, although better than picking gooseberries, but I never really saw the point. I tried eating a few but they were ferociously tart and sour. My mother would turn them into apple jelly, which I never really liked.

So I have ignored crab apples ever since. Until recently when a bottle of Bertha’s Revenge Crab Apple Gin arrived on my doorstep. It is made primarily from crab apples supplied by grower David Keane in nearby Cappoquin, Co Waterford, supplemented by some of their own, along with local honey, jaggery, cloves and Bertha’s Revenge gin of course. Justin Green of Ballyvolane House Spirits explained, “We have these crab apple trees in Ballyvolane, and we were trying to find a use besides apple jelly. David Keane grows them as pollinators, as they have a very long flowering season. The jaggery adds a perfume that we like.”

This is a delicious drink, not too sweet and full of spicy apple flavours. You could use it as a base for cocktails, but I really enjoyed mine neat (the abv is 31 per cent) is with a few cubes of ice. After all these years, I now see the point in crab apples.

There are a few recipes online for making your own crab apple gin, but to be honest, it seems easier to buy Bertha’s Revenge either direct online or in select off-licences such as Bradley’s and the Celtic Whiskey Shop, €35 for a 500ml bottle.