The Sloe (Blackthorn) berries and how to ID them for Sloe Gin...

As promised here is a quick recipe on how to make slow gin...

Sloe Gin Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
• 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
• 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
• Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle
• 2-3 drops of almond essence (OPTIONAL)

Method:

• Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes in either a large Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre bottle. I put several sloes in my palm to prick them rather than picking them up one by one.
• Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim. Always open sugar bags over the sink as sugar tends to get caught in the folds at the top of the bag.
• Add the almond essence.
• Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year).
• Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year. Don't leave the straining process any longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur.

Note: Folklore has it that when making sloe gin, one should not prick the berries with a metal fork, unless it is made of silver. The established traditional method is to prick the berries with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which they grow.

[WayneSadler]

Hi Martin I am not sure as I have never tried it... I can't see why it would however the only way to tell for sure is to make one of each... and report back... so others can share your opinion... 

[martinauckland]

could brown moscavado sugar be used, would this aid or spoil the flavour ?

[WayneSadler]

Thanks Codenamebravo
The whole idea of my videos is so that you get a better understanding of the item which I think TV lacks as they seem to show you but not because the item you really want to see is shown at a distance...

[emmashoop]

Hey, I was just wondering if it matters if you use sloes that are still quite small in mid september?