Took the nectar to Devon last week to try out on my grandparents as they are a pair of lushes. :P All I can say is, roll on Autumn, I have advance orders, will need gallons of gin and buckets of sloes! :o It was devine, delicious, umptuous, smooth, heavenly! :P :P :P Need I go on...problem was, we did, go on drinking that is, and all ended up rather squiffy and in just 4 evenings managed to almost polish of a litre of the stuff! There is just enough for my mum and the inlaws to have a wee tipple. If you have never made it, I suggest you give it a go! ;D
Gather that you got the taste for it EJ!!! :o :P :D
Good stuff aint it.????
Shaken over ice.......Mmmmmmmmmmm :) Haven't started on our litre yet ;D But working through the elderberry wine nicely ;D
Oh BB, like you wouldn't believe! Didn't try it over ice, just neat, but boy was it more-ish!
Must confess, it was absolutely excellent....... ;D ::) ;D
....well done EJ........ ;D ;D
..it reminded me of quite a light port.....with a hint of "spring garden".......about it........... ;D
Just noticed that the pub down the road from work is doing Sloe Gin & Tonic as well as Pimms -summer must be here!
Hmmm now that is worth a try! Thanks Derbex!! Oh BTW EJ, did you put almond essence in yours?
No Doris! What a blinding idea!! Bottle is now almost empty :'( but shall be picking quadroooople this year to be sure of at least 4 bottles. I shall give the almond essence a go! ;D
sloe berries? where do they come from and how long to grow? reading all this is making my mouth water ???
Sloes grow on the blackthorn, a rather scruffy hedgerow tree. Our hedges in this part of sunny Essex are packed with them, and the fruit starts to show in the autumn. I picked my bucket full about last October as the gin was ready New Years Day. :P :P Sloes are deep purple in colour with a white dusting to them and they are quite small, about the size of a......erm....eerr....a malteser! ;D
Google /put a search on Andy someone found a picture last year.Best to know what you are looking for.They are found pretty much all over i know for sure they are in North and West Yorkshire.Cos i like the stuff as well it leaves a nice warm glow .Best to get them from a field i was going to say as polluted from road side but with pesticides who knows.Well worth the effort .......Best method will no doubt be discussed at a later date.Quite a number of Alcis/Experts on site..........who said that!! ::) ::) ::)
Love the stuff,but our blackthorn hedges in the garden just cut back as we had a dose of the lurgies in them.Still never know!Otherwise I will just have to trawl the canal banks here!
Sublime stuff,yet to meet the person who didn't love it!
BTW anyone any other types of gin they can recommend from garden or hedgerow produce? :P
I've never tried sloe gin so will have to make use of the sloe berries off my hedgerow this year. Judging by all the oooooh's and aaaah's here I am missing out of something yummy, will be looking out for a recipe here later in the year. :D
Did see somewhere while trawling the Net (no longer trawl pubs) that blackberries and vodka done the same way as sloe gin provides a very acceptable alternative. Can't speak from experience tho, can't think that it would be quite so liqueurish.... but then it also said to wait for one year before use :-\
Wow Wicker,worth trying though!Might just experiment! Thanks for the idea.
Jesseve,Sloe gin is just so easy to make and so tasty,and inebriating that I recommend it! ;D
Toots
I'm sure damson gin was discussed, and a friend of ours makes sloe vodka, puts hairs on your tongue tho! I can't see why any of those plum like fruits can't be used, and if you use plums or damsons, I guess you could use the boozy fruit after to make a 93%proof fruit pie! ;D
Found this, what about cherry brandy!
Ingredients
300g cherries
600ml brandy
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp sugar
Method
1. Place the cherries in a clean preserving jar. Pour in the brandy and add in the cinnamon stick and sugar.
2. Seal tightly and store for 2 months to infuse.
or....
Ingredients
900g cherries, stoned
225g caster sugar
400ml brandy
few drops of almond essence
You will need:
Scales, cook's knife or cherry stoner, chopping board, measuring cup, mixing bowl
Method
1. Place the stoned cherries in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle over the caster sugar, cover and leave overnight.
2. Next day pour the brandy and almond essence on and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Bottle the cherry brandy in a sterilised jar and leave to rest for at least a month.
YUMYUM! :P
Wow Emma Jane,
lots of ways to make fruit liqueur-type booze!Thank you!
I did try Bullace once(least I think it was,not sloe)but not so tasty and more acidic it seemed.The Sloe has that magical flavour.Toots
I've just bottled up some strawberry vodka. 8oz strawbs, hulled, 1 70cl bottle cheap vodka. Let stew for 48 hrs, shaking when you pass it, strain through double thickness muslin with 3-4oz sugar to taste and (the tricky bit) leave for at least two months. Just been out to the shops to buy more vodka to do more!! The smell is fantastic, can't wait to drink it!!
Oh, Angi!! Don't need so much strawberry jam nowadays so surplus of strawbs and, guess what??!! I like vodka - now isn't that a coincidence ;D ;D while I'm sipping away at the strawberry/blackberry/anyotherberry vodka liqueur I'll be able to kid myself "it's fruit it's good for me".
No access to sloeberries so my gin will stay with tonic - lovely.
Damson Gin is lovely too. Afraid I rambled a bit about this under 'Elderflower Cordial'. In fact I prefer the Damson to the Sloe actually!
To all Sloe ginners, DON'T throw the sloes away after making the gin. Keep a box of flesh (pips removed) in the freezer to add to your Christmas Truffles! Absolute word beater! Cheers, Tony.
Too right Tony,
now how about a truffle recipe -mine was far too rich last year (ate them anyway :))
Come to think of it maybe it was the chocolate -it was very strong, dark and bitter (there's a joke there, somewhere) 80 or 85% stuff.
Jeremy
Hey -- sloe down everyone .... is there a definitive recipie ?? and does it matter if you buy cheap gin?? I've got my eye on a cache of sloe berries and want to give it a whirl -- any assistance would be appreciated.
Doris gave a recipe in the Sloe Gin thread further along in drinks.
I buy the cheapest Gin I can Muddy, after a couple of glasses you can't tell!! :o ;D Honestly cheap is fine!
Here is the link http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=287 (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=287)
Brilliant -- just what I needed -- the berries are in the freezer and I'm counting down the days... cheers everyone :)
As a regular producer of Sloe Gin, it is said thet it starts to taste better after seven years! Also they say not to pick the sloes untill they have had a frost on them, but with this farce they call global warming a night in the freezer may have to surfice. Cheers, Tony.
7 YEARS!!!!!!! :o :o :o I am lucky if I can keep away from it for 7 days!
Got sloe gin brewing. Got damson gin brewing. What about bullace gin? Have masses in my freezer and am reaching jam explosion zone! ;D
Hubby and I drank the last of his Dad's Sloe Gin the other week, and it must be about 6 or 7 years old, as his Dad died 4 years ago.
Our verdict was that we thought it needed drinking up, and possibly wouldn't get much better!
It was a really nice way to remember his Dad, but we feel we should make our own now to keep up the tradition!
Do make it, good for tradition, good for the soul, bad for your head! ;) Made it for the first time last autumn and it was lucky to last until Spring! Have made double the quantity this year and a batch of damson gin also. Shall bring it out in smaller bottles this time so it lasts a touch longer!
All the local sloes have been 'acquired' - I let the damsons mould during the week we were feeding 18 - so why not plum gin? Any thoughts, please?
We've got masses of unusually small Victorias this year. = Tim
Well why not Tim. I have access to bucket fulls of Bullaces and was thinking bullace gin has an unusual ring to it..... ;D
Chuckle - I quite like this. Grabbed one of many sweet jars for the brew. Only later noticed that it was labelled 'nitro-chalk'. Do you think that that will keep the predators away??
Something must!!
Now only waiting for 5 1/4 pints of gin from Tesco.......$$$$ = Tim