Sloe Gin time

[grahoom]

 

Fortunately, sloe gin doesn't taste even remotely like gin. If it did, there would be no point in making it.

 

 

 

tastes ginny enough for my better half not to like it....

[Dekazer]

Mmmm, just decanted out the first batch of sloe gin, blackberry whisky and blackberry vodka. YUM. Still more waiting for next weekend, happy happy days.

 

Just a quick question. I hope some of you might provide the answer I'm hoping for

 

The hawthorns round us are still dripping with sloes. They're in pretty good shape, plump not withered. I just wondered if there was anything at all to stop me still picking them? Other than supersition... I just can't believe how long they've been around - since at least August.

 

Thanks!

[Paul Evans]

Mmmm, just decanted out the first batch of sloe gin, blackberry whisky and blackberry vodka. YUM. Still more waiting for next weekend, happy happy days.

 

Just a quick question. I hope some of you might provide the answer I'm hoping for

 

The hawthorns round us are still dripping with sloes. They're in pretty good shape, plump not withered. I just wondered if there was anything at all to stop me still picking them? Other than supersition... I just can't believe how long they've been around - since at least August.

 

Thanks!

 

Mmmm! Can I come round?

 

If the hawthorns round you are dripping with sloes you do have a prize. Round here, haws (small red berries) load the hawthorn and sloes load the blackthorn. Do you have the right fruit?

 

Assuming you do have sloes, I know of no reason why you should not pick them but make sure you leave plenty for the birds. They are going to need them this winter.

[Dekazer]

If the hawthorns round you are dripping with sloes you do have a prize. Round here, haws (small red berries) load the hawthorn and sloes load the blackthorn. Do you have the right fruit?

 

Oops, wrong one, I do indeed have sloes from a blackthorn. Or a sloe bush as I prefer to think of them

 

Good point about the birds. I shall make sure and leave plenty. (I'm only short so the tall bushes pretty much escape unscathed )

[jake_crew]

For Crimbo I was given a bottle of Slider.

 

Dry cider tumbled (quote Lawson) onto the spent sloes after gin making.

 

MMmmm,luverly, not very alcofrolic but most pleasent.

 

Guess what I'm going to do when I rack off MY sloe gin.

 

Hint - dry cider already bought.

[Guest wanted]

Nearly made it!

 

It has long been my aim to make a batch of sloe gin that steeps for a whole year instead of the usual 6 months of waiting and 6 of sampling.

 

So I went for a stroll around Barnes wetlands centre the other day and spied a few as yet ripe sloes. This reminded me of the demijohn full of gin I have had stashed under my bed since October.

 

Now, I will have to try a wee nip tonight but I think I may have cracked it!

 

 

How long have you gone?

Edited August 31, 2012 by wanted

[Dekazer]

We're still drinking the massive batch I made for our wedding last December, so that's been knocking around for a year, but bottled, not steeping. I still have one remaining kilner jar still steeping - I might strain that soon!

 

Might also make some more blackberry liqueurs this weekend - loads of blackberries round here. Sloes looking like another bumper crop too

[Guest wanted]

We're still drinking the massive batch I made for our wedding last December, so that's been knocking around for a year, but bottled, not steeping. I still have one remaining kilner jar still steeping - I might strain that soon!

 

Might also make some more blackberry liqueurs this weekend - loads of blackberries round here. Sloes looking like another bumper crop too

 

Fantastic, I have just started a batch of lemon vodka, playing with the amount that of sugar at the mo so will post when I get it right.

 

I also have a bottle of rum that would welcome some blackberries....

 

I haven't been up to 'our' sloe spot yet but I am pretty sure it will be doing alright.

 

[Cosmic]

I make sloe gin using cheap gin and decent sugar. The last lot I made was Tesco cheap gin and Sainsbury's dark brown soft sugar. Turned out delicious.

 

I made blackberry vodka the same way. That came out very rich but a little flabby, so I added some spices (cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom) - perfect, but cloves can be a bit overpowering.

[Guest wanted]

I make sloe gin using cheap gin and decent sugar. The last lot I made was Tesco cheap gin and Sainsbury's dark brown soft sugar. Turned out delicious.

 

I made blackberry vodka the same way. That came out very rich but a little flabby, so I added some spices (cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom) - perfect, but cloves can be a bit overpowering.

 

I always think that the cheaper the gin the better the sloe gin, Asda works for me!

 

Try adding a splash of amaretto to sloe gin, works really well.

[chazzy]

Is blackberry vodka made in the same way as sloe gin?

[Cosmic]

Pretty much. It's difficult to go too far wrong, really, although I would use less sugar than for sloe gin. You can always add more vodka/sugar/spices/whatever you fancy to make it taste the way you want it. I made quite a few different things the year before last - crab apple, plum, sloe, raspberry, with vodka and vinegar. The crab apple was a bit harsh, but the others were fine. It depends whether you want a liqueur or a flavoured vodka.

[Dekazer]

The main difference with blackberries is that you really need to strain them out by 3 months otherwise the flavour goes really woody. Otherwise the same old fruit+booze+sugar combination is all you need, with added flavours according to taste

 

Last year my favourite flavoured vodka was Christmas Pudding Went down so well with one friend I gave her a make-your-own kit for her recent wedding.

[chazzy]

Thank you Cosmic and Dekazer for the replies, I'll go for a liqueur rather flavored vodka if I can get it right

[Caprifool]

As a Swede I wouldn't put anything in booze that contains water. Diluting perfectly good alcohol, bah! Now herbal infusions like St Johns Wort, Bog Wort or Wormwood........aaaah, delicious!

[Domino_2]

I was always told by my now dead grandmother that to make to make really good sloe gin, the sloes had to be picked AFTER the first frost. What difference this makes, I have no idea.

[Mac of Cygnet]

As a Swede I wouldn't put anything in booze that contains water. Diluting perfectly good alcohol, bah! Now herbal infusions like St Johns Wort, Bog Wort or Wormwood........aaaah, delicious!

 

Ah yes, Wormwood. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder............

[Guest wanted]

Ah yes, Wormwood. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder............

 

And your mind go wonder!

[Peter-Bullfinch]

It's quite embarrassing going into Booze Buster and asking.g for two gallons of your cheapest gin please.

[Caprifool]

No need to go all the way to absinthe. A few dry sprigs left in good vodka 24 hours to no longer than tre days makes a lovely bitter we call Beska Droppar. Perfect for crayfish parties. My favourite is Bog Wort though. Two or three fresh sprigs picked in the afternoon of a sunny day. Stuffed in a litre of vodka left for three days and then aged a few months. It's like reopening that very same sunny day when sampling it. Some pickled herring, spuds, sour cream and chives.........*dreamy sigh*

[Grace and Favour]

As a Swede I wouldn't put anything in booze that contains water. Diluting perfectly good alcohol, bah! Now herbal infusions like St Johns Wort, Bog Wort or Wormwood........aaaah, delicious!

 

Cinnamon & fennel?

 

It's quite embarrassing going into Booze Buster and asking.g for two gallons of your cheapest gin please.

 

My first wife used to do that regularly . . . . . . . . and she never bothered flavouring it with sloes either

[sueb]

After you drain the gin off the sloes fill the jar with sherry and leave for a while. Two drinks for the one lot of sloes. Damson rum is lovely.

[Swallowman]

I was always told by my now dead grandmother that to make to make really good sloe gin, the sloes had to be picked AFTER the first frost. What difference this makes, I have no idea.

 

She was right. A Touch of Frost helps to break up the berry cell structure and allow more of the flavour and colour to be extracted. Putting the berries in the freezer is another, possibly better way of achieving the same end because if you leave them on the trees until the first frost some other bugger will get them before you do.

[Dekazer]

Don't know about the rest of you, but the bushes near us are heaving with sloes this year. After last year's poor crop I'm chuffed Blackberries too, so we can stock up on vodka and brandy too!