Two recipes: Wild Damson Gin and Sloe Gin recipes
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 713 comments
Wild damsons are a beautiful rich dark colour
Unlike sloes, wild damsons are hard to find. For every thirty wild plum trees there may be just one wild damson tree. When I spot wild damsons in the hedgerows, they are harvested into a special bag.
These, and the diminutive bullace, are the kings of hedgerow fruit. These tiny fruit make such an irresistible liqueur that overnight guests have actually turned down Danny’s famous cooked breakfast, and gone back to bed to sleep off the excesses of the night before.
Our damson and sloe gin is not the thick ultra sweet variety. We prefer the sugar to enhance rather than shield the flavour. Every three months or so it’s sampled and, if necessary, topped up with sugar. Usually no extra sugar is needed.
We try to keep our damson and sloe gin well away from the drinks tray! Each year we make a lot of fruit gin and vodka (more recipes to follow, in time). Sloe gin is the big craze at the moment around here, as sloes are more plentiful.
Here are our recipes for both. We are also starting experimenting with sloe gin see this post for details
Tips and tricks:
- Make more than you need the first year, so you can compare different vintages. This liqueur does improve over time.
- Some people drain the grog through muslin after a couple of months, to clarify the liqueur and bottle. We don’t bother as one old soak tipped that, once the gin is drunk, you can pour medium sherry on the fruit and start all over again! The latter is devilish and drinkable within three months. We have a recipe for this in our wine and gin section.
- Keep your fruit gin away from the light as this will maintain the colour. Unless it is in a dark green or brown bottle. Wrapping it in brown parcel paper will keep out the light.
- Make notes on a label of your fruit gin/vodka /sugar ratio and stick it onto the bottle(s) so that you have a record, if you make a particularly good batch. We note our responses as the grog matures. Yucky after sixth months can be to die for in a year (you will probably not remember without notes). Notes seem boring when you are making the grog but they are so worthwhile when you start again the next year. It won’t be long before you will get a feel of what works well for your taste (and the notes will come into their own).
- Adding almond essence to sloe gin lifts it from good to great. I haven’t tried this with the damson gin but return in a years’ time for our review.
- Don’t kill the liqueur with too much sugar at the start. Use the amount above to start your sloe or damson gin and then every couple of months take a tiny sip. At this time add more sugar if it is too sharp for your taste.
- Gin v Vodka? Vodka can be used as the spirit for these recipes. Although I’m a vodka drinker, we tend to stick to a gin base for our fruit liqueurs.
- A good damson gin can be made from ordinary damsons available in the shops. As they are bigger you would need to put them into a larger Le Parfait jar (I’d use a 2 litre size).
- People have been picking sloes from September 1st around here. Some people say that you shouldn’t pick sloes until after the first frost. This can be circumvented by putting your sloes in the freezer overnight. We don’t bother with either method and always have great results.
- This year we have made up a number of small (1lb honey jars) of sloe gin to give as Christmas presents.
| Wild Damson Gin and sloe gin Recipes |
Recipe Type: Liqueurs
Prep time: 15 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- Wild damson gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed wild damsons
- 6 ozs/168gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle with stopper/cork
- Sloe Gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
- 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle
- 1-2 drops of almond essence
Instructions
- Wild damson gin:
- Wash damsons well and discard any bad or bruised fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place damsons in either a large
- Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre bottle.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim.
- 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). If you are planning to drink this after 3 months, have a nip afetr a month, and top up with sugar to taste.
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year. Don’t leave the straining process any longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur, as we found to our cost one year.
- Sloe gin:
- 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 strain and bottle after a year.
Leave a reply
Hi all, found this site after I made my first ever batch of sloe gin. Bit concerned as I didn’t wait til first frost or freeze them and I’m not sure all of mine were ‘fat and juicy’. As the cheapest gin I could find was just over £11 a litre and I used 2 litres I am hoping all will turn out fine! I think I may pick some more sloes in a few weeks and bottle up another batch trying the freeze method. It’s really interesting to see all the fruit gins/vodka’s its possible to make. May have to give something else a try too. Anyone know what I can do with pears? I thought cider but I don’t have a press and they are so expensive to buy. Any suggestions most appreciated Thanks.
Marie, I always make damson jam like this and the stones bobble around on the surface. You can see them as it is getting hotter and lift them out with a slotted spoon.It would take ages to remove them like this though. I never remove all of them becasue I think it takes the charm of it actually being damson jam away.
If you want to have jam without stones I would try removing them by cutting across the fruit twist to open the flesh then pinch the stone out of the middle. It is a tiresome job and I suppose you could always use a jelly bag or as you say, make something else like a liqueur instead.
Just stumbled across this website as I looked for recipes for damsons. I followed a recipe for jam (not from this site) which said to cook the damsons whole and the stones would rise to the top as the fruit broke down. It lied. Just spent hours squidging jammy damsons to remove the stones. I’ve decided to use the rest of them to make a liqueur instead… Sounds yummy!
T’rific website!
Apparently we have got an early crop this year.
I got a load of damsons from a tree round the corner from me, and they are now sitting steeping in gin under the kitchen sink. Today we walked the dog down to Pevensey Castle (where William landed and prepped himself ready to conquer)and found tree after tree brim full of sloes that I previously didn’t know were there. And blackberries. Not on the same shrubs obviously 🙂
Even the dog had a productive day, catching a rabbit and toying with it until I shouted at him, turning his proud ‘Look what I’ve got, Dad!’ expression into a ‘I didn’t mean it, Dad!’ look as the rabbit shot off back into the undergrowth.
So tomorrow it’s back to the shebeen (Tesco) for more spirit, then into the frost simulator (deep freeze) for the sloes, and by the weekend there’ll be a few more jars under the sink. Far nicer to look at than bleach and floor cleaner!
In the past I’ve used too much sugar, making a syrupy liqueur rather than a basic spirit, but that’s easily remedied by drinking it long with lemonade. Hic!
Hi again,
Also what happens if you pick Sloes too early? And how do they feel when they are ripe, i have only just been picking the softest ones. if i do pick them too ripe should i leave them out on a tray for a few days then freeze?
Has anyone ever used honey for liquors instead of sugar, if so how was it and how did you work out ratios?
Hi,
This is my first year making sloe gin, as i have
only just found the bushes, i have made blackberry gin and i was wandering how to store it as it tastes better cold. I have found leaving it in the frezzer is fine as the jar does not crack because of the sugar and gin.
In answer to the last blog from Rich on 20th August, the damsons we picked I’ve taken the stones out with the intention of making damson jam but have changed my mind and am now going to make damson gin. I’m not sure if breaking up the fruit will affect the finished product but I’m going to have a go and will report back – we only get cheapy gin from Tesco or Sainsburys if we’re experimenting with a new recipe to see how it turns out so not to waste too much money. We’ll be interested to hear whether other people take the stones out first.
We also make blackberry and a raspberry liqueur if anyone’s interested in a recipe. Also a very drinkable chocolate vodka cream liqueur made from Aero and vodka which tastes like chocolate Baileys if you can imagine that.
Hi all, im quite new to the site and must say very impressed. I have enjoyed both Sloe and Damson Gin on many a cold days shooting but shamefully despite living in an area surrounded by wild fruits I have never made it, often prefering to buy it. (there is no excuse)
But tonight I have took the plunge and have just finished preparing some damson gin, I have used a sterilised 5 litre Demijohn and despite having a wide neck some of the fruits did break up as I pushed them through (not many thankfully).
Will the broken/split fruit have any detrimental effect to the grog as it matures as I am concerned I have just buggered 3 litres of Gin?
I’ve got a couple of damson trees, and am proposing to make some damson gin this year, if i remember to buy the gin this weekend, and can find a suitable bottle or two. What I’ve not seen covered on this website is how damson gin is best drunk – neat or with soda or tonic, chilled or at room or cellar temperature? I suppose I can always experiment!