Sloe Gin

This is my mum’s recipe, and because of this I have no idea who gave it to her, and all the measurements are imperial instead of metric, but we won’t let that stand in the way of a good tipple. There are many variations, but with sloes still decorating the hedgerows around here, there should still be plenty of time to go foraging.  By the way, some people say you should wait until the first frosts have worked their magic on the sloes, but with it being so mild this year, I didn’t want to risk waiting.

Ingredients
1lb ripe sloes
12oz sugar
1 1/2 pints gin

Method

• If the sloes are ripe enough, squish them to release the juice; if they are a little hard prick them all over instead.  Put them in a large sterilised screw top jar.  Add the sugar and gin, and seal the jar.
• Leave for 12 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking twice a day for the first week, then every now and then for the rest of the 12 weeks.
• Once the 12 weeks is up, filter the gin into a sterilised bottle, seal and label.

Yep, that’s it.  It keeps for years, and in fact if you can wait so long it is apparently best after 7 years.  That is only what I’ve been told – it rarely lasts that long to be honest, and I can vouch for its scrumminess if you can’t resist sampling it while bottling it!

This also works well with vodka, which gives a slightly different flavour.  My mum also does a version using blackberries instead of sloes, which is also gorgeous, particularly if you find some wild brambles, which have a much stronger, sweeter flavour than many supermarket punneted blackberries.

Blackthorn bush in bloom – sloes will follow!

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