Sloe gin

Right I have got two and half pound of sloes, one bottle gin and one bottle whiskey..... now what do I do?????

Can I use plastic bottles or does it have to be glass??

Hoping to have it ready for christmas

I used a glass bottle last year, not sure about plastic, I'm sure it'd be ok? I filled 1/4 of the bottle of sloes, 1/4 sugar then filled up with gin, shook every day for a week or until the sugar dissolved then left for a few months. If I made it again I'd use less sugar though as it was very sweet and syrupy! If you are using fresh sloes you need to prick each one with a pin to release the flavour.

Karen is having a go at this - we've also just picked a big vatch of elderberries.

I thought they needed to picked after the first frost as the bitterness turns sweet but bt all accounts you can do that in the freezer.

http://www.sloe.biz/

Sloe gin ~ lovely stuff I've made it for the last 3 or 4 years but I make it by the demi-john as a bottle wouldn't last 5 mins in my house!

Last year we thought we'd found some huge sloes until some kindly passer-by pointed out that we'd been picking damsons And we hadn't even noticed the completely different leaves. But the mixture of sloes & damsons produced the best tasting "sloe" gin ever so I'm doing the same this year.

I started mine yesterday to be ready for bottling before Xmas & given as presents. I picked the sloes & damsons several weeks ago & put them in the freezer. When they defrost the skins burst which saves having to prick each berry with a pin ~ life's too short!! I half fill the demi-john with sloes/damsons, add about 1lb of sugar then top up with gin. I'm doing 2 demi-johns of gin & 1 of brandy this year. I shake the demi-johns every day for a week, then probably every few days, or when I remember after that. I'll taste it in a month or so too see if needs more sugar.

Mid-december is bottling time. I strain through a fine sieve, then let it drain through coffee filter papers. It takes a bit of time but worth it as the result is sparkling clear dark pink gin.

Personally I love sloe gin icy cold from the fridge in a shot glass, but it's also good mixed with tonic, lemonade, whatever you fancy.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for the heads up.....

but......

The sloes have had to go in the freezer..... due to lack of gin.........

Will try again this coming weekend

ive got damson on the go but cant get sloes for luv nor money lol xxx

Yahoo a very dear friend brought me a large bag of sloes last night,, so i now have damson and sloe gin on the go and trying sloe vodka this year ,, yummy

Well got the sloe gin and sloe whiskey done and in the cupboard!!!
Am off looking for more and going to try sloe vodka.....and might even do a very sloe brandy

Thanks for the help xxx

Rasberry Vodka, Elderberry Vodka & Summer Berry Vodka (bramble, elderberry and rasberry) all made and bottled tonight !