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
Leave a reply
Hi, what a superb site, so much info. I was given raspberry whisky last year which was incredible, does anyone have a recipe as i am keen to make a few gallons this year!
Hi Christine
I’ve perked up at the idea of not having to add grog to the mix! Buying gin and vodka can be quite a big investment.
Now I have more information, I can give a bit more advice. Rather than jettisoning the 2 other bocals, I’d still try adding more raspberries and a tiny bit of sugar (a half teaspoonful). If you add yeast you need to ferment the grog like wine (in a demi john with an airlock -this lets he gasses escape and avoids explosions). Try adding just the raspberries first though and leave for at least a week before you do anything else.
Love to hear how you get on.
Hi –
Thanks so much for your quick reply. I should have noted that I made the liqueur from a recipe in Anne Willan’s “From My Chateau Kitchen,” which describes a very rustic method of layering raspberries in a bocal with an equal weight of sugar and letting it sit for about 6 months. She indicated that the contents are likely to bubble and ferment and when the bubbling ceases, the “liqeur” is ready to drink.
Sugar and raspberries were the only ingredients I used. The jar that I have (which is bubbling) smells like a berry liqueur/wine. I didn’t add any vodka or eau de vie to it but I think I will try to do so for my next batch.
I’ll be sure to let you know if any of my attempts turn out. Thanks again. Cheers!
Hi Christine
Your liqueur shouldn’t ferment as such. The sugar i the fruit and the added sugar change into alcohol. Any fermentation is minimal – that’s why you can make it in glass jars and glass bottles.
If you’ve added too much sugar – taste it to see how sweet it is – you could try dividing the liquid between 3 jars rather than 2 and adding more raspberries. Raspberries are quite tart and might do the trick.
We have a recipe for raspberry gin https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=53 and raspberry vodka https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=362 . Both are tried and tested and should give you a good indication of the ratio of sugar to raspberries.
I’d be interested to hear how you get on!
Hi,
I just found your site and it’s wonderful. I recently started making liqueurs and ratafias and all the information here is great.
I have a question…I think I may have added too much sugar to the raspberry liqueur I was making. I made 3 bocal jars — only one is fermenting after 1 month whereas the other 2 are not fermenting at all (there’s just a bunch of raspberries sitting atop a pink liquid). Should I just wait and see or could I try a few things to get it going again? Or did I just kill the yeast and now I’ve got to throw it all out? Thanks for any info…
Hello Matt
Would love to hear if you do get a definitive answer!
Hi Anna MacKenzie
I make blackberry wine so will try your bramble gin in the autumn. Thanks for the nudge. Do hope that the sherry extension works with the blackberries. Any feedback would be great if you have a moment.
Just tapped into this site for the first time.
I have been making bramble gin for years. Same recipe as for sloes, but as we don’t get them on the Isle of skye we have adapted it for brambles. You get a gorgeous deep purple colour and the mixture improves with age. interested in the sherry variation, must give that a go.
Thanks, will keep looking!
With all this advice I’ve got a lifetime of Gin ahead of me..
Hi Matt
I think that it’s the same as for homemade wine. Although presumably you have already paid duty on the gin so it may be slightly different.
This is a helpful pointer http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070719170850AAB1En5
I’ve had a sniff on the web and can find no useful information on this. Might be worth ringing your local trading standards officer.
Does anyone know the legality of selling sloe gin at country fairs or where I could find out?
Many thanks,
Matt