The Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 162 comments
Beautiful ripe sloes on the bush in September
“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 strain gin from the sloes after three months, six months, ever?
I telephoned Gilbert to discuss this multiple conundrum. His advice was simple.
“Whatever you do, write it down on a label and stick it on the bottle. Then, if your brew is superb, you have the recipe. Note the tree, the time of picking, the gin and the amount of sugar and sloes. If you used almond essence, note how much on each label.”
I recalled that the most interesting part of his cellar was the vast liqueur wall. The label on each bottle and demijohn was covered in microscopic notes.
“Remember that the combination of gin, sloes and sugar is always better that the separate ingredients, no matter what you do.”
He is right. sloe gin sipped on a cold winter’s night is deliciously dangerous.
We have decided to run The Cottage Smallholder sloe gin test. We are going to make sloe gin now under laboratory conditions in the Cottage Smallholder kitchen. The sloe gin will by tasted and evaluated by a team of three experienced sloe gin drinkers.
Using the same gin (supermarket medium quality) and the same recipe, we are going to make sloe gin with three batches of sloes harvested from the same tree.
- The first bottle will contain freshly picked sloes, picked now in mid September.
- The second will have fresh sloes picked now but which will have had a night in the freezer.
- After the first frosts we are going to return to the same tree with a ladder to collect the frosted sloes that an average height forager can’t reach. The third bottle will contain these.
We will publish are results in a few months time.
Two years later we published the results of the sloe gin recipe challenge.
Sloe Gin Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
- 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
- 1 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle
- 1 small quarter tsp almond essence
Method:
- Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes in either a large Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre 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.
- Add the almond essence.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year).
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We usually strain and bottle after a year. We use some beautiful old heine brandy bottles with cork lids. If you are feeling flush Lakeland sell some pretty bottles here. Don’t leave the straining process any longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur.
For loads more tricks and tips on making sloe gin see the original sloe gin recipe
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Hi Gill
Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
I am not an expert in poisons but there are only tiny amounts of cyanide in fruit stones and apple pips etc. The amounts are so infinitesimal they will not effect you.
However. The Romans used fruit kernels to kill enemies. You need an enormous amount and they were cleaver in the way they processed them.
Lots of people add almond essence to their sloe gin. We always do.
Hi Pamela
They same applies to the pips in apples. I used to eat these as a child and survived!
I checked all this out last year when someone could smell almond in their sloe gin, from the stones.
I make lots of veggie juice but often include apples. However since my little sister told me not to juice the whole apple as the pips contain cyanide I always take out the core. I am sure that if there were any risk we wouldn’t be able to buy and eat apples the way we do but … still that lingering doubt remains in my mind and I will continue to remove the core from my juicing apples.
I forgot to strain my sloe gin made in 2006. Now it is June 2008. The gin taste fine but my son says the cyanide from the pips could have leached out into the gin. I added a pear cider to the strained sloes and that tastes fine.
Are tey any experts who could tell me if I should throw away my precious sloe gin because of possible cyanide from the pips.
PS I sometimes eat apples core and all and know that apple pips are supposed to contain cyanide like bitter almonds.
Hi Helen
I haven’t got a recipe but I’m going to make some myself this year. I’m going to chop the rhubarb fine and fill a third of a demi john. Cover with the a quarter of the weight (rhubarb) of sugar and top up with vodka. After a month, taste and adjust sugar. Remove fruit after 8 weeks, pour through muslin and bottle.
I’ve heard that if you leave the rhubarb in the vodka/gin too long it can remove the fresh taste of the grog.
I have made sloe and damson gin and loved them and so have my friends so I have none left. Is it possible to make a fruit gin using rhubarb? I have loads in my garden. If anyone has any recipes I would be very grateful. I think it would make a super summer drink.
Hi Remio,
Christine might answer but in case she doesn’t I would imagine that she uses a New World wine – something that has a fruity undercurrent. Examine the labels of the bottles where you buy wine they will provide you with the clues that you need. You could always find a local independent vintner – who would be happy to help you.
Hi Christine,
Your recipe looks very interesting.
Could you please be more precise about the wine you use, give examples?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Christine
Thanks so much for dropping by and leaving this comment. Yours is a great recipe. I wouldn’t have thought about adding wine to the gin. Much more economical and as you say, less heavy.
The sloes left in the bottom of the bottle probably wouldn’t make very good sloe gin but they make great sloe sherry https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=104
and there are lots of ideas for gin soaked sloes in this post https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=37
Hope this helps.
Hi
Just found this site and thought l would share my recipe! Not my recipe exactly but one l picked up about 15 years ago from a friend. l put 4 oz pricked sloes, 4 oz caster sugar and 1/2 bottle of gin into a bottle and top with a fruity red wine up to the neck. Shake daily for 2 weeks then leave until christmas. l have been making this for years and is loved by friends and family as a tipple thats a bit lighter and fruitier than most sloe gin recipes. I was interested in your comments about leaving sloe gin as l accidently left a bottle at the back of a cupboard and found it after 10 years, it was honey coloured and delicious!! Can the sloes at the bottom of the bottle be re-used to make more sloe Gin, l wonder?
Hi Debbie,
Cheesy checks are what it is all about on the light hearted side of SG making!
Thanks so much for the update. Do hope that the cinnamon stick infuses the grog. Please update us with your progress!