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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“Put in as much gin as will go”
That’s my sort of recipe! 🙂
WRT bottles, you might find something suitable among the liqueurs on sale. We have a few quite decorative ones (esp. one with Cassis in) but of course you have to decant the contents if you’re not drinking them straight away. Still, you’ve got three months…
Hi Chris
I’d be interested in hearing how it tastes if you go down the brown sugar route.
Hi John
I think that I’ll try unrefined sugar this year.
Hi Lesley
Oh thank you so much for this recipe.
I’m not sure about using sloes with hard brown bits – have you thought of cutting them out?
No Idea where you can get little bottles like that, perhaps someone else can help.
It might be worth posting on the forum.
Hello to all contributors
Just found the site – so many different ideas is brilliant.
My Mum was married in 1943 and her book gives the following which, according to several years sampling with friends, is the clear winner.
Fill a container with sloes.
As you go along fill the spaces with pounded sugar (this was 1943)
Put in as much gin as will go
Shake each day for a week topping up with gin if needed
Leave for 3 months shaking once a week
Enjoy
However, I am going to try freezing sloes this year. Does it matter if the skins of the sloes have bloom or a small area of brown-like hard skin?
What started me off with sloes was my husband’s colleague (Paul). One Christmas he gave us some fabulous sloe gin in a beautiful bottle. It was clear glass, about half a pint with moulded grapes on the outside. Do you know of anywhere I can buy a bottle like this? Unfortunately, Paul retired to Spain and two hours on the Internet has revealed no results!
Here’s to a happy harvest this year
No but I used unrefined caster sugar.
has anyone made sloe gin with brown sugar?
and brambles soaked in schnaaps to the same ratios as sloe gin makes another nice winter warmer.. and the fruit is easier to “recycle”
Hi Katie
You haven’t missed a link as we have never published our findings. I will write a post tomorrow and give the results.
Please, please – what was the outcome of the experiment? sorry if I’m being blind and have missed a link somewhere!
Hi Boots
Thanks for this advice. Love the idea of adding spices!
Hello Richard
The kilner jar will be fine. You need to keep it closed to keep the air out. It will not explode.
Hello John
Thirty year old sloe gin I can’t imagine what that tastes like 🙂
What a great reason to live to a 110 years old!
Hi Kristina
Lucky you – the wine must have been good to start with!
I’ve never managed to keep any homemade grog longer than five years – and that was only becuase I lost the bottle.
That’s a wonderful story,
My neighbour, who is the same age as you gave me a bottle of rhubarb wine that he had made in 1986 that he found in the depths of his garage. Just the most divine taste !
I am making sloe gin this year also and I think I might just have to keep a bottle for 30 years…possibly 32 when I reach my 80th 🙂
Enjoy this years harvest.
I have recently opened a bottle of sloe gin which I made about 30 years’ ago. I don’t know why I have never drunk it before but there seems never to have been an opportunity. Anyway, I have kept the sloes in the bottle the whole time and the flavour now is absolutely delicious. I am making a lot more this year with the wonderful crop that we have but am very concerned that I don’t think that I will be able to taste it in 30 years as I will then be 110.