Superb sloe vodka recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 130 comments
Sloe vodka on day one
We have found that most fruit recipes work equally well with gin or vodka. With a few exceptions. Raspberry gin is sublime and dessert gooseberry vodka is to kill for. Their cousins, Raspberry vodka and dessert gooseberry gin are companiable and gluggable but not the super stars of the cocktail cabinet.
We traditionally always make sloe gin. Lots of it. This year I has so many sloes that I decided to give sloe vodka a whirl. A litre of vodka made two 750ml bottles of grog. One for the cellar and one for testing and tasting.
I need to clear a space on the shelves in the barn to put our sloe gin and vodka out of reach. When I do this, it matures quietly, without being disturbed. I haven’t had time to do his so our kitchen side looks like a sloe liqueur drinker’s paradise. It has also had an impact on using the toaster which sits behind the bottles and jars. A careful, crane like movement is needed to operate the toaster.
Late one night, I spotted the sloe vodka on the kitchen side and thought that I’d have a teeny taste. It was wonderful. Clean, crisp, punchy and absolutely delicious. It was barely three weeks old. Made with the sloes that I picked from John’s garden on October 27th.
I had another toot the next night and then waved the bottle in front of Danny’s nose. Then other visitors were introduced to this ambrosia. Reviews were good and glasses refilled.
I am ashamed to announce that our tasting bottle is almost finished but delighted that I tried sloe vodka this year. I hate to admit it but I think that sloe vodka is better than sloe gin.
I had a 800g of sloes in the freezer so Jalopy and I rumbled over to Tesco on Saturday and bought an extra large bottle of medium priced vodka. Made 2 x 75ml bottles as per the above recipe and was left with 570ml of vodka. I added the remaining sloes (336g) and topped up with just over a kilo of sugar. This will produce the really ‘thick’ sloe liqueur that loads of our friends adore. This is the bottle in the photo with the white label. The label is actually the sugar -scary stuff! If we have a super party and a tasting, the sugar lovers will not be left out for years, as they have been in the past. We like the sharp taste of our grog. This bottle will be for sweet toothed visitors only.
If you still have access to sloes try our recipe. You won’t regret it.
I will report back on how the thick sugar solution sloe vodka develops in a few months time!
| Superb sloe vodka recipe |
- 1poud / 500gm of washed sloes
- 4 ounces / 112gm of white granulated sugar
- 2 empty 75cl vodka bottles
- 1 litre of medium quality vodka such as supermarket own brands
- Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes half the sloes in each 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.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (try to leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year. As you can see from above it was overwhelmingly moreish at three weeks).
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We will strain and bottle any that’s left after six moths as I want to try making sloe sherry and slider (farmhouse cider and gin/vodka soaked sloes as recommended into the comments section of our sloe gin posts). Don’t leave the straining process longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur.
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In reply to doing chocolate with the sloes after, I made some lovely damson chocolate. I used the damsons from damson brandy and instead of chucking them away melted some good chocolate with them, put them into tiny petti four cases and served them with the damson brandy to visitors . It went down a dream. I’ve got some plum brandy on the go at the moment.
I’ve seen plenty of red coloured berries out but Im not sure what they are. There are so many varieties. I will have to find out what they are and if I can make anything with them. Has anyone done anything with them??
Ta
Mags
Hi Maggie
Great idea putting the chocolates in little cases 🙂
It’s well worth investing in a good book for identifying fruit. I recommend Hedgerow by John Wright – https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/hedgerow-by-john-wright-%e2%80%93-river-cottage-handbook-no-7-review-6914 as it has photos. Somethings growing in the hedgerows can poison you!
Jan! I was wondering when I should strain the sloes out of the vodka and gin. Now I know the answer is “Soon” so I get to make sloe chocolate – or maybe that should be “slow chocolate”
After 3 months, when you strain the gin from the sloes, keep some of the sloes and take out the stones. Make sure that you sqeeze as much liquid from the sloes as is humanly possible. Melt a big block of plain chocolate and add the sloe fruit. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into those little paper cake cases and put into the fridge to set. YUM!
Hi Fiona, Danny & everyone,
I have been reading your blogs with interest for a year now (when I decided to start preserving as a way of making Christmas gifts). I find it all very informative & at times it raises a smile & a chuckle or two.
I have decided to try the bramble brandy so fingers crossed it works. I’m eager to make good use too of the bullaces, haws, sloes & rosehips that seem to be plentiful this year (unless I just never noticed them before.)
Keep up the good work.
Hazel xx
You should be able to see the thorns. They are about an inch long, so be very careful with whatever you have picked. Advise you ask around and find a blackthorn bush.
Hi,
I am new to this foraging thing and was hoping someone might be able to help me. I have picked what I think are sloes, they certainly look the same as all the pictures I have looked up and so do the leaves. The only thing that is bothering me is that the blackthorn tree, is described as having thorns and the trees I picked my “sloes” from didnt. Well not that I could see anyway. So have I picked sloes or something else entirely? Can anyone advise?
Hello FN and all your correspondents. I happened upon your website when ‘googling’ sloes from my house in North Cyprus. What a lovely cheerful and merry! bunch of people. Thank you so much for the chuckles and the ideas. I have discovered a tree in my new garden which I rather think is a type of damson/plum with fruit very similar to sloes. I am going to give making a liquer a shot. Best regards, Anne.
After seeing sloes in abundance yesterday and seeing your recipes am looking forward to making both sloe vodka and gin,just ashame that have to wait for sloes to rippen….but should be excellent and well worth waiting for!!
Re Simons Skittles vodka….take out the purple and green ones for a better looking drink (it can look a bit brown and uninviting otherwise) you end up with a reddy orange colour drink…….very nice it is too
Further to my note on Cranberry gin (Nov 4th), add more sugar! Normal quantities turns it into something fit only for the lawnmower.