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The Great Sloe Gin Challenge – Three variations of our sloe gin recipe

Sloes on a blackthorn bush against a backdrop of a beautiful blue september sky

Beautiful ripe sloes on the bush in September

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 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Add the almond essence.
  4. 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).
  5. 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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162 Comments

  1. Fascinating website. Making my first sloe gin this yearI take it that I can put the sloes sugar and gin in a Kilner jar and keep the lid closed. I don’t want an explosion.
    Many thanks

  2. Two things, the process is not actually fermentation so no gases are produced. All we are doing is infusing the spirit with the flavour of the berries.So you should not have popping corks. The sugar is to sweeten and does not convert to alcohol so the spirit you use will not cahge in percentage of alcohol.

    Try adding a stick of cinnamon or a few cloves it adds a touch of christmas to the liquer, it is lovely.

  3. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Graham

    As long as the fruit is not rock hard I reckon that it would be OK to pick them. Around here all the bushes are stripped by the end of September.

    Hi James P

    Thanks for this advice, much appreciated. Thank goodness that 2009 is a goos sloe year. Last year was awful.

  4. Graham – we’ve just been making sloe gin with this year’s sloes, and I think that as long as the fruit it ready to pick (i.e. it comes off the branch without too much resistance) then the earliness or lateness is irrelevant. There has been a better crop this year than I can remember, too, and some of the ones we picked were the size of grapes!

  5. It’s late August and I have just been on a walk.
    During the walk I have seen the largest number and size of sloes ever.
    The temptation is to pick them now (before anyone else!) as they look and feel ready.
    I know this is very early – what do you think?

  6. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Mandydep

    Good point. To avoid this possibility I always use corks – these will lift and avoid an explosion.

    I have no idea whether fermentation will start again. Didn’t do chemistry at school.

  7. mandydep

    Thanks fn. Likely a stupid question as my chemistry exams were many moons ago – Am I likely to cause any continuation of fermentation resulting in possible explosion in time or by adding a sugar and gin mix now simply fortifies the sloe gin that I already have – presumably the fermentation process has now finsihed now that I have removed the fruit and its been stewing for 2 years?? I have read many stories of people adding sugar etc at a later date and then finding that they have an unexpected explosion a few weeks later! I would hate to upset the wedding guests!

    thanks again!

  8. mandydep

    Hi

    I made sloe gin 2 years ago. Left the berries and have now strained it to bottle and serve as wedding favours for my sister. Its quite tart and alcoholic. Any ideas what I can top up with to a) increase the volume a little as I am short and b) sweeten slightly. I read above that I probably shouldn’t have left the berries so long… how do I know if its tastes good or not? Its quite medicinal in flavour at this stage. Any suggestions! Thanks so much….

    • Fiona Nevile

      Hi Mandydep

      The only way to increase the volume is to add more gin and a little sugar would make it sweeter. Why not experiment with a teaspoonful in a glass when you have got the right mix then replicate the additions in the rest of your sloe gin.

  9. RobertLea

    Hi there-
    Found your website- (which is fantastic), although I hope not too late!
    I started work on making my first ever flavoured gin last year- using a large kilner jar, some supermarket brand gin (I will move up to better brands when I have a better paid job!), sugar and a selection of fruits.
    Yes…I have only just googled gin-making. Am I wrong in thinking that I can use any fruits? I hope i haven’t just wasted the better part of a year on something which will taste horrible?
    My recipe:
    Blackberries
    Raspberries
    Strawberries
    Redcurrants
    Blackcurrents
    Vanilla pod
    Lemon Zest
    Nutmeg
    Plums.
    It is now a dark blood red in colour and is very syrupy. Because of the size of my kilner jar I had to add the ingredients in stages; allowing them to infuse and then removing to make room for the next batch of ingredient.
    When the first frost hits this year I wanted to add some sloes as the final ingredient before allowing the gin to rest and mature.
    Is there any point in my doing this? My father is quite the puritan and uses only sloes- I hope I haven’t ruined mine- as my significant other tried a teaspoon of it and told me it was syrupy like cough medicine!!!

  10. I made sloe gin and it tastes great!!!

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