Thinking that he was a trusty tree

[venta]

Yesterday one of my colleagues asked - apropos of nothing - whether anyone knew where he could find a beech tree. He'd been told that a bottle of gin is much improved by having a few beech leaves pushed into it to infuse and was keen to try it but, like so many people, can only identify the larch.

I drive through a clutch of beech trees to get to work, so agreed to bring in some leaves. This morning I paused briefly, snapped off the end of a twig, and brough in a few leaves which are now sitting in a glass of water on my desk.

Except... I'm now suffering from a terrible crisis of confidence. I've picked what I've always believed to be beech leaves. But someone is going to imbibe them... what if I've collected, I dunno, deadly nightshade instead ?

Yes, I know there are tree-identification sites online. The trouble is that pictures on those sites never seem to match anything. Plus they all show mature beech leaves, and I've got extremely juvenile ones here. Besides, all the characterstics do match. I was reasonably sure in the first place that it was beech; having consulted the web I'm still reasonably sure.

But... if you hear of unexplained deaths in the Wokingham area, don't be surprised if I leave the country suddenly.

Comments

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure just shoving a few beech leaves in the bottle is going to have much effect. Ideally you want absolutely loads of them, such that the level of gin is only just above their surface, and to leave it to steep for quite a while. (And then mix with sugar to taste.)

I've never had it, but I've seen the recipe in Richard Mabey's book.