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Sloe Gin

17:44 / 01.10.06

I got my sloe gin underway yesterday. The woods around Hertfordshire are packed chocka with blackthorn trees all in fruit and yesterdays ramble brought home 2 Kg of sloe berries.

We used the following recipe:

2 Kg of Sloe berries, washed and individually pricked with a blackthorn.
1 Kg of Sugar - I might add more to taste when the gin is ready (or at least drinkable)
20 Juniper berries
3 litres of the cheapest gin I could find.

I have mixed these together and am shaking once per day. I am told this would be drinkable in 3 month, great after a year and fantastic after 2 years.

Making this is new to me. I was wondering if anyone else has any Sloe-Gin type recipes or experiences they would like to share. All I know if its going to be a very slow 2 years but September 30th 2008 is going to be a very happy day

18:01 / 01.10.06

Experiences? Ummmm... nicking my Mum's entire supply over the course of a few drunken puke-ridden weekends?

Ah, memories...

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

18:04 / 01.10.06

Gordons actually make a sloe gin, which I've enjoyed on several occasions.

I'd love to try making it, but I've no idea where to find sloe berries, or even what they look like.

18:10 / 01.10.06

Medium-biggish, dark purple blobs. Covered in white yeast-dust. If you bite into them your face contorts like a cat's bottom.

18:25 / 01.10.06

Another lovely thing to add instead of juniper berries is almonds or almond essence. Actually, I don't know about instead since I've never come across juniper berries in a recipe. Maybe you could put both juniper berries and almonds in.

An easier way to prick the sloes is to get a bunch of cocktail sticks and put an elastic band around them. Some people suggest briefly freezing the berries too, but I don't think it really makes that much difference.

People here in Birmingham don't seem to be too big on making sloe gin, the sloe bushes are full of berries. In Somerset you have to fight people for the berries. There are Sloe Wars and everything.

19:02 / 01.10.06

Not sure if this counts as a 'sloe-gin type' recipe but if you take a bunch of lemongrass (not a bunch as in 'some' but a bundled set of stalks) and chop it into inchlong pieces on the diagonal and shove it down the neck of a bottle of vodka or silver tequila, after a few weeks on this windowsill the liquor will turn a rosy color, smell strongly of lemongrass, and have very little alcoholic bite left. Good for cocktails for those who like to drink but don't like the taste of alcohol.

21:23 / 01.10.06

Fred, that sounds really interesting. I'm going to try it.

Paolo, sloe gin that's made now is fine for Christmas day and is an excellent present. I don't agree with the two year estimate though. My best sloe gin has always been a year old. Having said that, I don't think I've ever left it two years. It's always too nice and I can't wait.

07:08 / 02.10.06

Try that recipe with potchim. Whooooooo mama!

08:38 / 02.10.06

Lula - Thanks for the tip about the pricking, it was a slow painful job. I'll also try this with almonds - sounds fantastic.

I did read that this was drinkable in about 3 months but told it gets even better after a longer time - I might divide up the quantities into 3, try one in 3 months, one after a year and one after 2 years as I am really curious as to how good it can get. If its good I think that will be difficult as I know too well what I am like.

The River Cottage cookbook actually says to do this vodka arguing that it gives a purer taste the Gin. I might try this although having only recently tried Gordons Sloe Gin I am a total convert to its niceness. Tequila and Lemongrass sounds good too. Will definitly try that as I am growing some lemongrass and will have loads by end of next year.

For people looking for Sloes walk along the hedgerows and look for the tell-tell berries. It was the first time I went last weekend, and to start I went to Wikipedia, looked up Sloes (they grow on blackthorn trees which have wicked thorns so wear gloves) and made a note of the leaf type I was looking for. When I was walking I looked for leaves the same as the second link below and from here found berries.

Wikipedia page

Close up of a blackthorn

Some trees seemed empty or only had a few berries on them but walking off the beaten path soon lead me to trees laiden with the berries. Do be careful though and sure of what your picking as I would hate anyone to pick the wrong berries.

09:03 / 02.10.06

I've never made it, but the stuff my Grandfather made (and no one else in the family drank) did fuel many of my adolescent parties.

09:14 / 02.10.06

Blackthorns are generally found near to Hawthorns and Hawthorns are much easier to spot. For people who live in cities good places to look are round the edges of parks or golf courses and nature reserves. I found mine in Moseley bog in Birmingham.

These days I think that a lot of the sloes get picked really quickly which is why you find bushes with only a few berries on.

I vehemently don't agree with Hugh FW in the River Cottage book. Sloes go very well with gin, the two flavours compliment each other. If you take the gin away you're taking away half of the taste.

10:41 / 02.10.06

I've got three decanters steeping as we speak, already a month old *smug*. I've not heard of putting juniper berries in though, seems pointless since the gin tastes of juniper already.
We put equal amounts of sloe and sugar in and then top it up with gin, froze the berries instead of pricking (much easier) and made sloe jelly out of the excess (mmm). I was considering experimenting with a vanilla pod or some cinnamon sticks or something but the stuff is so nice I'm unsure- might try almond essense though, that sounds good.

18:29 / 02.10.06

A guy in the wiccan group always makes sloe-gin fermented with Fly Agaric. It can take some people in mediocrely unpleasent ways. I like it though.

18:34 / 02.10.06

Define mediocrely unpleasant. Sounds interesting.