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
My heart bleeds for you….about 15 proof
Can I ask if anyone’s tried pouring a sample of the liqueur through an activated charcoal water filter (Britax or similar)? I stress a sample, ‘cos you may also lose colour / flavour.
Never added any flavourings beyond the fruit, so never had the problem….
Late thought – if the globules are on the surface and won’t filter out, you could try siphoning out the gin below it with some tubing pushed below the surface. I’m thinking of those old gravy jugs with a spout that allowed you to pour out the juice and leave the fat behind…
Fiona – I think the globules are more likely to be an oil/alcohol reaction than with the plastic. Clear water bottles are made from PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) which has good alcohol and oil resistance (a lot of cooking oil is sold that way) and I think it only isn’t used for spirits because of market perceptions – i.e. people spending £15 on a bottle of gin expect it to come in a decent bottle!
Having said that, I think glass is still the favourite for long-term storage, but I didn’t like the thought of you throwing gallons of sloe gin away because it might have reacted with the plastic, which I think is unlikely. Can you filter out the globules, e.g. through some tights?
Sorry to burst the bubble but mine are in glass, all of them!
No matter how I say this it will sound rather smug so I hope you will forgive me, it is not intended.
Spirits come in glass bottles for a reason, essentially that alcohol and the other constituents do not react with glass. I am sure if spirits were safe in plastic bottles they wuld be used widely for cost reasons. Therefore when making drinks containing spirits it is always safer to use glass containers. My cardinal rule has always been to use the same materials as the commercial industry and am pleased to say I have never come a cropper yet (from the containers). The ingredients and recipes are of course a different matter! Go glass.
I also have said problem, checking my almond oil it is obviously the same make ,I have tasted it mixed with tonic and It doesn’t taste horrid, I hope I’m not going to die!!!!
Since posting my comment a few days ago about gelatine-like globules in my sloe gin, I am convinced that the new brand of almond extract I’m using has reacted with the plastic of the water-cooler bottles I’m storing the gin in. For years I have used Lakeland Almond Extract whose almond oil is diluted with alcohol, whereas the new batch with the problem globules is made with a well-known household name (I won’t mention as I’m writing to them to try and get compensation!!), whose almond oil is diluted with sunflower oil!! The abundance of oil in the product is what has had a adverse reaction with the plastic – not had a problem with the other brand, nor with the liqueurs I’ve made where almond extract wasn’t an ingredient. My advice – check the label – if I get no-where with the afore-mentioned manufacturer, I will mention the name here so that others don’t fall into the expensive trap I have!! Good luck
Weirdly, I have had the same problem with globules too. I made two batches last September and I bottled the first batch around Christmas-time. I don’t remember having globules in the first batch, but it’s now all been drunk or given away so I can’t check it!
The second batch I bottled around March/April time, this one had the globules. I had added a touch more sugar to it around Christmas because it was slightly too tart for my liking, but that is the only difference. So I’m wondering if it might have been the extra steeping time or the extra sugar that’s the problem, but I’m not entirely sure…
Hi F Dilks – yes I’m panicing as well for the same reason – I’ve made sloe gin for years in 3 litre plastic food storage containers, but I bought some water cooler bottles last year as I make quite a lot for friends and family, Christmas presents etc. Almost all is absolutely gorgeous but one bottle has these globules – like gelatine -, which has tainted the taste. I’m worried that it’s from the plastic bottle and I’ll have to throw all 10 litres away but am hoping that it’s something else that’s not poisonous. Please somebody help!
Hi F Dilks
Yes I’ve had this problem when I added almond essence in an oil base. Six bottles have been huddled in the barn waiting for the time I get an asnwer.
I’ve tried everything that I can think of – even freezing the bottles in the hope that the oil would thicken 🙁