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
We picked 23lb of damsons this year and have made damson cheese (using the pulp ie stew and push through a sieve) and am trying damson gin/vodka for the first time. We are also using the sieved damsons for ice-cream sauce and to make ice-cream. It makes great ripple for bought vanilla ice-cream if you haven’t got an ice-cream maker too.
Hello Derek
I’m sure that you could use rum but I’d cut down on the sugar by about a third.
Yes you can freeze the berries rather than pricking.
Hi Marilyn
It looks as if it’s going to be a bonza year for sloes! Do try the damson gin/vodka – it’s superb.
Hi Peter
Experimentation is advised. I like my raspberry gin chilled but my sloe gin/vodka at room temperature. Sloe vodka and soda is a real stiffener too. Hic.
Hi Rich
The split damsons will not harm the grog.
Do try and find some sloes – homemade sloe gin is much better than the commercially made stuff.
Hi Marilyn
You are safe using destoned damsons. I’d love to see your recipes for blackberry, raspberry and chocolate cream liqueurs. The more the merrier.
Hello Mary
During the first six months, before siphoning it off keep it somewhere fairly dark and cool. If you are going to freeze it do this just before you are going to drink it as it will stop the maturing process. The longer that you leave it to mature the better that it will become.
Re picking sloes. If they are soft they are ripe. Freeze immediately or they will go bad, like any fruit.
Hi Johnny H T
Sorry I haven’t tried this so can’t advise.
Hi Trev
Loved this comment – especially the part about the dog ? Isn’t it great finding new foraging and hunting grounds…
Thanks also for the tip about using up sloe gin that is too sweet. I made a litre of undrinkable sloe vodka that’s sitting in the barn. Have added lemonade to my shopping list.
Hi Marie
Welcome to the world of damson liqueur.
Hi Trish
With wild plums and damsons (much smaller and with dolls sized stones) I often use Delia’s trick of simmering them in a little water and removing the stones when they are cold before making the jam.
Hi Amanda
Don’t worry. Just keep shaking the bottles for a bit longer and the skins will break down. Re pears – thanks for asking this question. I can’t wait to try Andy’s perry.
Hi Clare
Thanks for the tip off – that’s a bit naughty of Wikipedia. Not very impressed with the photo either – plastic bottle?!
Great to see you back.
Hi James P
Oh that’s a great deal for Gordons. Thanks for the tip.
Re Newsflash
Gordons is £12 a litre in Morrisons at the moment. Not sure for how long though…
FWIW, the last bottle of gin I bought to drink was Blackfriars export strength (43%) from Sainsburys. This is made by Greenalls and was on offer at about £14, which I thought was pretty fair. It is (was) very nice…
I’ve been lucky enough to find masses of wild black plums: bullace rather than damson, I thought, but decided to check. A couple of mouseclicks later, and I find that the Wikipedia article on “Damson Gin” is a clear copy paste from Cottage Smallholder, but without any credits!! I think it was the “leave it until you can resist no longer” that tipped me off to it being Fiona’s words!!
Anyway, thought you might like to know that you are the gold standard on damson gin :o)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damson_gin
Thanks for all that info Andy. I have a couple of cooking apple trees as well as my pear tree but the apples usually get ‘scrumped’ by friends and family or end up in crumbles. The pears never seem to get used as they are the hard type. No one in my little clan is keen on them and invariably they end up dropping to the ground, rotting and then get binned. Such a waste, (although I do have a resident blackbird who gets sloshed on the rotting pears each year so I guess she appreciates our lack of interest!)
I really appreciate all your advice, thanks once again.
I was trying wild cherries soaked in amaretto at a friend’s house and I would like to try to make a similar dish using damsons and brandy. does anyone have a good recipe? Also does anyone know a good place to find sloes in west central Scotland?
Newsflash…. Gordons Gin for £9.99 at Somerfields right now…
The other day we were in Sainsburys getting more supplies to use with our bag of sloes when I made mention of buying something or other. My wife said in reply, “No, we can’t afford it, we’ve spent nearly £40 on gin this week!” much to the consternation of a passing elderly lady who nearly crashed into the baked beans!
Hi Amanda,
3rd time lucky…
7. (cont) …surface and form a cap, which you need to stir back into the liquid. When the cap stops forming on the top…
8. Sieve the liquid into a clean container and add sugar. How much depends on the original pears; if sour/hard, 1 kilo per 5 liters of liquid. If sweet/soft, 1 kilo per 7 liters. Also add the juice of 1 lemon for each 2 liters liquid (note, fresh not bottled lemon juice – the bottled has preservative which will kill off the yeast in the liquid). Stir well to dissolve and cover again. A vigourous fermentation should start within 1 – 2 days.
9. Depending on the temperature, this will take 10 – 20 days to ferment out to dry. Once it has stopped, taste the juice. If it is dry, it’s done. If still sweet, you have a “stuck” ferment. You can restart by adding yeast nutrient, available from any “brew it yourself” supplier.
10. Once it’s done, strain the liquid into a clean, closable plastic container using a close woven cloth(I use 20 liter water jerrycans, which have a useful tap on the bottom).
Tips for keeping: sterilise the final container with sterilising solution (from brew supplier). Apply crushed campden tablets (from brew supplier) to the Perry according to the instructions to inhibit any secondary fermentations. When you crack a big container, empty it competely into smaller containers – like wine, the perry doesn’t like contact with lots of air.
This also works well with apples – in fact, that’s the original recipe. Cider purists will no doubt object, but if you don’t have a scratter and a press, and only a limited supply of fruit, this works and the taste of the fruit certainly comes through.
Empirical testing tells me this comes out about 8% alcohol or better…so careful if you are drinking pints. It cuts well with soda / fizzy water. Good luck!
Hi Andy, Thanks for the advice for using pears. I have managed to get some plastic wine buckets with lids and some demijohns so I am raring to give it all a go now! Can you please just fill me in after the fruit rises to the surface please….got it up to there.
Hi Marilyn, please could I have the recipe for the chocolate vodka using Aero? Being a Baileys addict my mouth was watering just reading your description of it! I did try to find a choc vodka recipe and interestingly found one you make by putting the bottle in the dishwasher cycle. Sounded about as easy as you can get! Have to say the description of it didn’t sound quite as good as yours. Maybe for the sake of fairness I should make and try both!
Hi Amanda,
you don’t need a press….
1. Wash the pears, cut out any rotten bits (leave the bruises, they’re just pre-juiced)
2. Grate the fruit into a clean bucket using a coarse grater – peel, pips, stalks and all.
3. When the bucket is about 1/3rd full, stop and fill to 2/3rds with tap water.
4. Wizz with a wand blender until the pear is in bits about lentil size (note, if your blender dies, put it in the fridge for 1/2 hour and resume – they get a bit hot with continuous use)
5. Fill the bucket to about 80% with tap water. Cover with a cloth, secured with a bungee (keeps out the fruit flies)
6. Continue until you run out of pears / buckets / patience.
(you can transfer the buckets to a larger container – I use 60 liter plastic drums with lids. But the whole thing works perfectly well with buckets…)
7. Stir twice daily with a stick for about a week. After one – two days, the mashed fruit will start to come to the surf