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
Janet, Have you tried blackberry vinegar? It’s a very old-fashioned remedy for colds;
Cover blackberries with cider vinegar, steep for a week, drain liquid off, add 1 lb sugar per pint, boil gently for 5 mins, skim scum, & bottle. Add a teaspoon to a glass of water, or use as a cooking sauce….yummy!
Hey Janet, My sister Rose moved to BC around 15 years ago; Vancouver, then Galiano Island, Abbotsford, now Halfmoon Bay, VON 1Y2. Contact me on ralphccAThotmailDOTcoDOTuk if you like & we’ll compare notes!
I too am very fond of bramble wine!!
RALPHY!! are you joking?? I grew up in Halfmoon Bay! Our son and his family own their home in Halfmoon Bay now, and our daughter and her little family are living on Redroofs road in Halfmoon Bay, as well as my in laws.
What an incredibly small world! Did your sister move here from England?
We do make our own blackberry wine which is soooo good! And of course the venison in the stew I cooked was caught by my husband and our son in Halfmoon Bay! lol… still can’t get over it!
Jane, you are right; Blackthorn is an introduced species to B.C.so a rare find for you as my sister found out- (She lives on the Sunshine Coast Highway, Halfmoon Bay).
Sloe Gin is VERY different to damson. It requires more sugar as sloes are incredibly bitter, and the flavour of the gin is bracing to say the least.
I never add almond essence to damson gin as they often impart a cherry-like almond flavour to the liquor naturally.
Please let us know if any local fruit experiments work!
I did some investigating and the blackthorn (prunus spinus) is available in a very limited way here. I am going to try to get my local nursery to get one for me. In the meanwhile, I’ve started a batch using the damsons I had in the freezer. It is already tasting very good! lol
Is the taste of the sloe gin very different from the damson gin?
Janet, having some knowledge of BC (and a love for the place)I am sure there will be fruits you can collect and and use. Vancouver Island seemed abundant.
I tried googling “foraging in Canada” and found a number of sites with information but no mention of Sloes. One excellent piece of advice I did read was “speak to old local farmers as they will know what is available and what can be done with it”.
There were frequent references to Mullberries. those emust present some great opportunities.
Janet, don’t order anything yet – there must be something local that you can find which has a similar taste and characteristics. There’s a forager’s bible in the UK which tells you what, where and when you can find stuff and what to do with it – there must be an equivalent book in Canada, or local knowledge in someone’s head.
Hello from Canada! I found this site while searching for recipes for venison stew with juniper berries. What a wonderful site! I’m so happy I had stored my damsons in the freezer until I could find another use for them! My gin is brewing now! I added a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon and about 3 drops of pure almond extract, the kind in alcohol! It will only be 2 months till Christmas, but I know we will be drinking it then none the less! We live on the west coast of British Columbia where our climate is almost identical to that of Devon or Cornwall. Unfortunately to my knowledge we do not have sloes growing here but has anyone tried using dried ones? I may be able to order these online. I plan on using the damsons after removing from the gin, in a yummy sounding venison stew recipe I found… again, so happy to have stumbled across this lovely site!
I am amazed at the abundance of hedgerow fruit again this year! Arguements will always abound about the classification of fruit; but around my part of Wiltshire I can find sloes nearly as big as ‘cherry’ damsons; damsons that are everything from cherry to plum and then wild plums thereon.
Brambles I prefer to infuse with vodka/scnapps thus; only just cover the brambles with vodka & add a sprinkle of sugar. steep & shake for a few weeks, then filter if you like, bottle & drink. great for winter shoots!
Hi
I was just curious about your damson gin recipe
although I have found wild damsons in hedgerows near
where I live (location a secret …lol) I have also found a lot of greengage trees ,also wild the variety ( So I,m Told ) is bulis, a small yellow fruit about the size of a damson very sweet taste a lovely to eat (make a crumble to die for ) well I was wondering if your damson gin recipe would work
the same If substituted the greengages for damsons?
look forward to your reply on this
Thanks Tim
Hi Tim
Yes wild greengages do work. I’ve tried these myself and the results are excellent 😉