Free sloe gin in return for foraging rights
I enviously read the comments on our sloe gin articles from people who have exultantly harvested kilo upon kilo of fruit. I’ve been out on several mini forays where many large families have obviously harvested there before me and the remaining pickings were thin. Today, I was in our local shop, chatting to John about home made grog. Having lived in this area all his life he is a wonderful source of local knowledge and has a great fund of stories and reminiscences about the locals, living and dead. “Aren’t the sloes amazing...
read moreGilbert’s grape liqueur and grape wine update
We fancied a nightcap last night. I tootled out to the barn and spied the large Le Parfait jar of grapes in grape liqueur. Perfect. Danny’s face lit up when I carried in the bounty. I poured out two sizeable glasses. We nearly knocked each other in our rush for the sink to spit it out.It was vile.D challenged me to pull it around, firmly believing that you cannot convert sulphuric acid into honey. Oh yeah? Last year we were given loads of grapes from a local vine. Having made some wine, I converted the remainder into Gilbert’s...
read moreMike Murphy’s Spicy Mexican Coffee Syrup recipe
I must admit that if I’d heard the ingredients of Mike’s favourite childhood café Saturday morning breakfast, I don’t think that I would have tried his spicy Mexican syrup in my first mug of Sunday Saffron Walden coffee. Luckily chill con carne omelette hadn’t been mentioned at that point. Mike has a small chic espresso making machine that makes coffee to kill for. He usually makes an espresso in a mug for me, tops it up with water, sugar and milk. Yesterday he gave me a sideline glance. “You usually have sugar,...
read moreGreen Bullace gin recipe
I worked for a few hours today. Saturday. Sometimes it’s worth doing some time at the weekend when the builders are not there. It’s peaceful and I can crack on. Two hours usually seems to drift into four hours and suddenly I see the sun getting lower in the sky. I shot home at 4.30 pm, desperate to catch a couple of hours in the garden before dark. As I passed Broad Green I noticed the footpath to the bullace hunting ground. I had checked the bullace situation a few weeks ago. Hedge trimmers had ripped along the hedgerows, chopping...
read moreFermented sloe gin recipe: a new approach to making sloe gin
I don’t know whether you saw Colin Boswell’s comment on “The Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe”. He outlined a method of making sloe gin by fermenting the sloes first and then adding the gin to the liquor. Having been brought up on traditional sloe gin recipes his comment was a revelation. I love sloe gin and like most other sloe gin makers am keen to make a great brew. I hate to admit it but it would be great to impress my liqueur making guru, Gilbert. This recipe gives me the...
read morePreserves and liqueurs: where can I buy jars and bottles?
When we started making preserves we came up against a brick wall within days. No jars. I rang my mother. “We’ve just made some wonderfully bramble jelly!” “How lovely, Darling.” “We thought that you might like some.” “Of course I would. Do you need some jars?” She knows her daughter well. Now we save all jars. Even the jars that seemingly have no future. It’s best to wash them all immediately so that when you are in the mood for running up something delicious they just need a rinse, a...
read moreCider and Cyder (Premier Cru)
We have a glut of apples this year. I’ve been meaning to try my hand at cider for a few years now and I am hoping that this year will be the start of cider making at the cottage smallholder. I wanted to invest in a proper wooden cider press until saw how much they cost. So we decided to go down the economy route and invested in a plastic bucket and a slicing attachment that attaches to a electric drill. The Vigo Puplmaster (Walker Desmond) looks a bit lethal and would be handy if Triffids ever stepped through the front gate. Meanwhile,...
read moreThe Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe
No one seems to agree on the right time to pick sloes for sloe gin. “Pick after the first frosts,” advise the traditionalists. “Pick them in September, before the bushes are stripped bare,” chortle the enthusiastic. “Pick them now and give them a chilly blast in the freezer, to give the effect of the first frost,” suggest the practical. There are other questions too. If the sloes are left to mature until the first frosts, do they have a better flavour? Does the quality of gin affect the liqueur? Should one...
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