Sloe Gin recipes and help required

[johnnytheboy]

Hi There,

I have seen a few sloes about now they are starting to look like they will be perfect for picking soon.

Now i know slow gin requires sloes gin and sugar, but when i read up there are a million different ways of combining the three, plus some recipes with added bits and bobs, almonds, cinnamon sticks etc.

But what i was wondering, could you guys recomend the way you make your sloe gin? whats your recipe? I'm gonna order some preserving jars and if i could get recipes it will give me a project to sample them over the winter to see what is my fav.

Anytips on where to get jars?

[ged]

Try it several ways, then you can do a side-by-side test one evening. :)

IMO if there's enough sugar any of the recipes will do, but we always use vodka instead of gin. I'm not big on the additives like cinnamon, but that's a personal thing and up to you. I prefer plain old blackberry vodka, the 2006 was superb!

You don't really need preserving jars, the alcohol will preserve it. We just use demijohns.

[Toddy]

Any bottle or jar will do fine. Just so long as it seals enough to stop the alcohol evaporating.

It takes a helluva lot of gin to fill a demijohn though :D

Seriously, I ususally just use whatever bottle/jar I've got to hand.
The basic recipe is just to pick over and clean off the fruits. They need their skins opened up a bit in some way or other; you can use a fork, a grater, a wire brush, or just put them into the freezer for a few days before you use them.
Then half fill whatever container you're going to use with the fruits.
I just cover with sugar (any kind, though everybody has their own favourite kind and more or less sugar) and then almost fill the bottle/jar with whichever booze I've chosen.
Screw the cap on tightly and give it all a good shoogle.
Shake it vigorously everytime you mind for the next week or so, the sugar should all dissolve in the alcohol and the colour of the fruits come out. Put it away in a cupboard and once a week or so, give it a good shake.
By Christmas it ought to be strainable, though if you forget and leave it longer, it'll do no harm.

That's it really, dead simple :D

My recipe ? I use soft brown sugar and I add a couple of tablespoonsful of the syrup from the stem ginger jar when I finally bottle it :D

cheers,
M

[antzy]

wait until the first frost though - lots about but not ready yet

[HeltorChasca]

...give it all a good shoogle....


Lovely terminology and an essential part of the process. I may steal this beauty of a word. With your permission of course. I also like the wire brush pricking method. Takes too long with a pin.........hc

[John Fenna]

I use old coffee jars and seal them up tight with insulation tape around the lid /jar join.
The recipe I use for both my sloe gin and blackberry vodka is the same ....roughly half fill the jar with fruit, add the half the weight of sugar as there is weight of fruit (that is - if it takes 1/2 a pound of fruit to half fill the jar add 1/4 lb of sugar) fill to near but not right to the top of the jar with your chosen booze (use cheap stuff as the fruit hides the flavour of the gin/vodka etc that you use) seal into the jar to avoid evaporation loss. Shake once a day until all the sugar is disolved then forget about them for a minimum of 3 months - longer if you can!
Strain through a jelly bag and then strain again through a finer cloth (I use parachute nylon....) to remove finer sediments and bottle.
Not too many complaints so far!

[johnnytheboy]

wait until the first frost though - lots about but not ready yet

When do you get your first frost in dorset? i dont think it will be long before we get ours, its been cauld in the mornings up here!!!

[wattsy]

the most important thing is not to use nice booze i almost cried seeing my nan use a botlle of remy martin xo cognac for blackberry brandy. the own brand stuff will do just as well and leave's your wallet heavier

[Tadpole]

Sloes are very useful and can be reused to make other drinks
600grms Sloes
300grms sugar
Couple almonds (optional)
Two litre bottle (empty)
1.5 litre budget gin
The sloes will with a bit of help fit through the neck of a two litre water bottle (plastic)
Pour in the sugar and the sloes top up with gin; add almonds, leaving an inch or so of air at the top of the bottles. Shake the bottles to dissolve the sugar.
Shake once a day for a week, once a week for a month, every month for three months. Leave for six months (total of Nine months) to settle and clear and then pour out gently so as not to disturb the sediment and strain the gin into clean glass bottles. Store in the dark until ready for drinking (a year is about all I ever manage)
Leave the sloes and sediment in the bottles and top up with cider, and 100grms of sugar. Shake until all the sugar has dissolved. Store in a dark place, shaking occasionally. After three months decant “slider” into glass bottles (this is the reason I use plastic bottles) cut off the top and either use the sloes for sloe blackberry and apple crumble, or make sloe and blackberry chutney (for the chutney you have to remove the stones, but having been soaked in gin/cider for over a years they shed their stones and their skins easy enough).

[Toddy]

Finally :D
A decent use for those gin soaked sloes :D

Cheers Stu :D

Mary

[MartiniDave]

Toddy,

After the sloe gin, I usually put a bottle of vodka in with the gin soaked sloes add sugar and leave for 6 months or so, and I've heard but not tried that after the vodka you can get a third hit by using cider.

Dave

[antzy]

When do you get your first frost in dorset? i dont think it will be long before we get ours, its been cauld in the mornings up here!!!

been cold on clear nights, but may not be a while . I'm half a mile from the sea so that helps.

Been a good year for soft fruit down here. Out collecting mushrooms yesterday - theyre out a plenty too.

[knifefan]

Generally the more sugar - the sweeter & thicker the end result will be. Also u can use the cheapest gin/vodka !!! The worst bit is pricking the sloes, some people prefer to freeze them the defrost and it splits the skins = i prefer to stik a fork in 'em :D

[Thoth]

If I want a very 'thick' Sloe Gin I add a little glycerin. You can buy it for food use (used in 'royal' icing I think) from Boots the Chemist etc. It gives the oily texture that clings to the glass like commercially produced liqueurs. Cheers, Steve

[IanM]

The testing is all important.

You sip a small glass every day to assess its quality.

Whenit is all gone it is now ready to drink.

[British Red]

It takes a helluva lot of gin to fill a demijohn though :D

About 3 litres once you have fruit in and leave shuggle room

I hope thats not a lot....really I do (otherwise the 5 demijohns I have on the go might seem excessive :o)

[Toddy]

"Hic ! " :D

You make a lot to give as gifts though BR, all I make is enough to fill the quaich a couple of times, and three or four hipflasks for presents. A couple of bottles does fine for that.

It's very pleasant to sip, but I really am not much of a drinker (my Doc has me down as a non drinker) No objections to anyone else, iimmc, I just never seemed to feel I needed to be having a drink to enjoy myself. I'm just as happy with a good cup of tea tbh. I like having some available to offer others though.

Five demijohns ? I struggle trying to fit the stuff I've got in my pantry as it is :)

cheers,
M

[gregorach]

About 3 litres once you have fruit in and leave shuggle room

I hope thats not a lot....really I do (otherwise the 5 demijohns I have on the go might seem excessive :o)

Since it's a once a year thing, that doesn't seem like enough. But then, I make 40 pints of beer every other week. ;)

[British Red]

Aaah the joys of having out buildings. I have converted the old "wash house" here into a still room. Currently has 8- pints of beer bottle conditioning, another 80 brewing, 3 demijohns of elderberry wine and 5 of various fruit spirits on the go. Shortly to be joined by a couple of 5 gallon wine batches and 40 pints of ginger beer :)

As you say though that, the soap, the pickles and chutneys are my contribution to the local barter economy. We had a ton pallet delivered today but the large pallet artic couldn't make it up the drive. Nice neighbour used the fork blades on his tractor to move it into location for me - and gave me a dozen eggs whilst he was at it. He earned his "lunchtime livener" ;)

So many nice farmers round here - it isn't really barter - just showing appreciation!

Red

[Toddy]

I've got four sheds and a greenhouse and I'm still cramped for space :sigh:

I'm in the midst of a major clear out though. I want rid of at least one shed, and I really would like to see at least a bit of the floor I laid in the loft :o

I like the barter system, and the Good Things Network; nothing should really go to waste with a little thought :cool:
It's the womble again, isn't it ? :D :D

Talking of which, totally O.T. but does anyone in the Glasgow area want a big fish tank ? It's empty, clean, but it's up two flights.

cheers,
M

[British Red]

Aaah - you need a wife like mine. My last present was seven sets of industrial racking - takes 250kg per shelf - 2m tall, 60cm deep shelves. I racked out one wall of a small barn. Then got load of lidded boxes (wheeled ones on the bottom, smaller ones on the shelves). I now have a bay for preserving kit and jars, a bay for brewing, a bay for soap and potions , a bay for tools, one for traps and misc, two for gardening stuff. Works really well. The "wash house" is lovely and dry, has a woodburner etc. That has shelves for spices, overflow pantry, bottled beer and wine, demijohns etc. Effectively one for storage, one for working. The third is full pf coal and junk, fourth has all the garden equipment and the old garage is the wood store.

I too am running out of space - looks like we'll need to restore the ruined barn :)

[Toddy]

Oh I have the Dexion, but it's not ideal tbh. It ends up so cold at times that condensation becomes a problem I find.
I prefer the wooden racks in the other sheds, but there's just so much stuff. We're a family of a thousand interests :rolleyes: and it shows in the kit we end up with.

It's either take over next door or clear out.

I'm trying to clear out :)

cheers,
M

[johnnytheboy]

Mary you could line your dexion with wood, we have it at work and its to cold to store our paint on, so we have had it lines to keep the paint of the cold metal shelving, just a thought.

Anyway to drag you sheddists away from comparing notes, good news on the sloe front, first frost this morning, so I went up and had a look at the sloes, they have been spot on for the last couple of weeks I’m sure but I was away last week on holiday so now I'm back I thought they would be perfect for the picking. Every tree had foot prints around it, taking there is a few of us on the same shooting ground; I guess the other guys have got there first. Nevertheless there was enough left for me, I tried to gauge 1lb as that’s all I really wanted just now, what felt like 1lb in the bag turned out to be 3.5lb on the kitchen scales, oops!!!

The cheapest gin in Tesco was 1.5litres of London dry gin at £18, there was some at £7 for 75cl but it didn’t say it was distilled and looked very much like a compound gin which I just couldn’t face.

Toddy, any bottle and jar to put it in was a challenge until I realised wine bottles will do just fine, in fact I will have a surplus of bottle as usual lol.


I will try the recipes I have so far

1 – Toddy

Half fill the bottle with fruit, cover with sugar (soft brown) bottle with the syrup from stem ginger (my wife’s favourite)

2 – John Fenna

Half fill the bottle with fruit; use half the weight of fruit in sugar, I think this might be sweeter than Toddys

3 – Tadpole

600grms Sloes
300grms Sugar
Couple of Almonds
1.5 litre of Gin

This one will be the hardest of them all, as it needs to be left for 9 months, will power, will power!!!

[British Red]

I buck the trend now and add no sugar during the tincture process. Its not as though we are brewing - just infusing.

When the brewing is complete I then add a sugar syrup until I get the required sweetness.

I find this leaves me more "in control"

[Toddy]

:D
Hadn't thought about lining the Dexion.....it drips on the stuff at the bottom and it actually soaked the floor in one of the sheds so much that it sagged under the weight of the shelving and contents.
I had to re do the floor with planks :rolleyes:

The cheap gin from Lidl's or Aldi's works fine for sloe gin. I tried Tankary, London and Gordon's to compare, and there really is no difference, and it's a fraction of the cost :D

I tried Gordon's own sloe gin and it wasn't good, it really wasn't :(

Best of luck with your three, it'll be good to hear how you get on :cool:

cheers,
M

[British Red]

My shelves are all wood infilled - does save on the condensation

[Toddy]

I buck the trend now and add no sugar during the tincture process. Its not as though we are brewing - just infusing.

When the brewing is complete I then add a sugar syrup until I get the required sweetness.

I find this leaves me more "in control"

I wondered about trying that, but then I thought about the sugar desiccation processes for fruits, and I really do want to pull the goodness out of the fruits in the sloe gin or whisky.

Did you find any difference in the taste ? or were the fruits more useable afterwards ? The sloes from my bottles usually end up in the compost heaps, I can't find any taste left in them worth having. That's why I was intrigued with Stu's idea for using them again for cider :cool:

cheers,
M

[British Red]

I find the fruit pretty flavourless once infused tbh. One of the reasons I now add sugar later is that the alcohol is a solvent. I work on the principle that I want it to work entirely on fruit flavour rather than dissolving sugar. Since I add syrup later, I am simply blending already dissolved sugar.

I work on more intense flavours than many recipes - so equal volumes of fruit and vodka. When I add the syrup later I'm going for less sugar on the damsons and raspberries as I like the taste as is. A bit more to counteract the sourness of sloes.

I'm doing elderberry tincture this year (for health purposes) and plan to try honey to take the edge off that.

Red

[johnnytheboy]

BR - what ration of sloes to gin do you use i'll try it your way as well!!

[Toddy]

I find that if I pucture the sloes and cover them with sugar, the sugar itself pulls out a fair amount of liquid before the alcohol is added. Not as much as rhubarb or strawberries, but it's still a fair old amount.

Incidentally I sugar dehydrated strawberries from the recent end of Summer glut, and they are really, really good :D

cheers,
M

[British Red]

Sloes I go 2:1 sloe:vodka jtb. Everytthing else 1:1, but I find sloes too strong taste woody. This years batch has two cinnamon sticks, 20 cloves and a couple of tablespoons of dried hibiscus flower in it too - I was feeling frolicsome (and I wasn't going to bother but a navy pilot mate brought me a bagful from "inside the wire" on his base so wth.

He did leave with a thick ear though when he enquired "should I have bothered with the blueberries? We left em for the birds - must have been a couple of hundred pounds of them".

Sigh.

Red

[wildjetskier]

Hi there I am new to the forum and would like to say Hi to all. I would like to make my own Sloe Gin and was wondering if it really made a difference whether I used a cheap Gin or expensive. Wouldn't cheap gin give you a cheap hangover. Many thanks, a great forum by the way

[Tadpole]

Hi there I am new to the forum and would like to say Hi to all. I would like to make my own Sloe Gin and was wondering if it really made a difference whether I used a cheap Gin or expensive. Wouldn't cheap gin give you a cheap hangover. Many thanks, a great forum by the wayReal gin is a must but cheap gin is ok, I get my gin from Aldi.

[wildjetskier]

Real gin is a must but cheap gin is ok, I get my gin from Aldi.

Many thanks Tadpole

[ged]

Hi there I am new to the forum and would like to say Hi to all. I would like to make my own Sloe Gin and was wondering if it really made a difference whether I used a cheap Gin or expensive. Wouldn't cheap gin give you a cheap hangover. Many thanks, a great forum by the way

Welcome! My head seems to object to darker beverages. I don't know why. Clear spirits like gin and vodka (Cointreau is one of my favourites) give me no trouble, whether they're cheap or expensive, but dark beer, red wines and some whiskeys give me terrible hangovers. I wouldn't mind about the red wines... :(

As for making your own sloe gin, I'd have thought it's worth trying several different ways so you can, er, find out what works best for you. :)

[Toddy]

I like Cointreau too :)
Dharma drizzled it over ice cream for me, it's absolutely lovely :approve:

cheers,
M

[ged]

I like Cointreau too :)
Dharma drizzled it over ice cream for me, it's absolutely lovely

So we have something in common after all! :)

[mike 01302]

just found a boat load of sloe bushes looks like a very merry xmas yeehaa

[paulnb57]

My Sloe Gin recipe is simplicity itself - I use;

A 1.5 litre lemonade (or similar) bottle
Fill it with Sloes just up to where the bottle starts to curve at the top.
Tighten the lid and chuck it in the freezer overnight. This weakens the skins ( life is too short to prick sloes with a pin.....)
Remove from the freezer and using a funnel add 15 flat teaspoons of granulated sugar.
Fill the bottle with Gin until it covers the Sloes 75cl fits a treat (keep the Gin bottle)
Shake the bottle once a day for a week to disolve the sugar.
Then leave as long as you can!!
Check if its sweet enough, add more if you wish and shake for a few days to dissolve the sugar I find my amount just right.
Decant back into the Gin bottle
Enjoy!!
If I wait for frost down here they are all gone!!

Paul

[johnnytheboy]

I asked the same question on the airgunbbs forum which is about the only other forum with as knowledgeable people as here, someone said to take the used sloes get the stone out, marinte them in cointreau and serve as a desert with a little cream, sounds excellent!!!!!

[ged]

Don't think it's been mentioned that if you crack the sloe stones and leave them in you can get a nice almondy flavour.

[telwebb]

er - is that the cyanide? :confused:

[ged]

er - is that the cyanide?

Only if you use bitter (wild) almonds. :)

[British Red]

Actually there is cyanide compounds in the stones of many wild fruit including members of the prunus family

[badgeringtim]

for my tuppenys worth;

Dont wait for the first frost - it makes little to know difference to the flavour (although may speed the rate of exchange as some cells are broken when it freezes) or just freeze em overnight.
Pricking with a pin is time consuming but i find leaves you with a liqour requiring less straining and with less sludgy at the bottom (although i use this in trifle and its very good).
While cheap booze i reckon is ok you can taste the difference, also if you use cheap they tend to be 35% not 40% so you have 5% less room for juice, you need the booze to stay high enough ABV to preserve it all.

The measurements i have been using for a while now are by eye (since the fruit flavour is so variable having constant measurements is unnesesairy in my book)

I add a small amount of sugar to the sloes enough to dust them while shaken - leave this for a day or 2 shaking, it pulls a lot of juice out. Then just cover with booze and shake reguularly. Taste it after a couple months, i leave adding more sugar till right at the end as it can be easy to put to much in.

Right im off-a picking!

:-)

[badgeringtim]

Oh yes stones - contain cyanide, all of the prunus family does, damson, cherry plum, etc etc
If you sit stones in liquor or crack them and add the kernels you get something that tasted of disserano. Very nice, although always been worried as to how much would be bad for you.
Actually i used the stoned from cherries used to make cherry jam and reckon the heating actually allowed the liberation of more of the almond flavour, getting 2 bites of the cherry you might say - which i particularly liked!

[johnnytheboy]

All the sloe bushes at our shoot have a good trampling around the base, I think there is more than just me at this!!!

[HeltorChasca]

My turn to add my ten cents!

I foraged for my sloes today. I have a few top tips:

Don’t go out on a cold day with wet hair (today was warm so that was ok);
Take the dog and walk far till dog tired (saves her bothering me while I’m in the kitchen);
If you leave your forage for as late in the season as possible, the sloes improve and the nettles around the trees die back. These sloes are so sweet you can eat them off the tree (just!);
Wear long trousers for the nettles that are still hanging in there;
Use a berry comb like one on RM’s website (saves a proper scratching and is dead quick);
Take tea;
Take a bag to carry the dog home in.
"EDIT" Must mention that taking a set of cheap, pocket fishing scales out with you is a good idea to weigh your fruit. You don't under collect or take more than your fair share depriving the wildlife or the tree's self-seeding chances.

This year I’ve left it late to see if I get any improvement in the berries’ sugar (fructose?) content. The sloes really have shrunk down and some even have spilt a little. I’m not worried: that’s what wine farmers leave their grapes to do for dessert wines and sauternes. I’ve used mainly soft brown sugar as I’m not a fan of the refined stuff. And finally as an experiment I’ve used just over 2l of cheap gin to which I have added almonds, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries and juniper berries. I’m keen to try this spicier mix as the plan is to leave it for next year’s Yuletide feasting and drinking.

Here’s my “Thumb-suck” recipe:

About 2kg of sloes
3 x 70cl bottles of cheap gin
600g of soft brown sugar
200g white sugar
4 almonds
2 cinnamon sticks (snapped in half)
4 allspice berries
8 juniper berries

I’ve frozen the berries to split them, dissolved the sugar in the gin and added the spices and left that over-night while the sloes split. Then the whole lot goes in together and is left in a dark cupboard next to the dog’s food so I remember to “shoogle” it all up (cheers Toddy). The whole lot fits in a demi john.

Cross fingers for 2011.....hc

[Tadpole]

These sloes are so sweet you can eat them off the tree (just!);
I think if your sloes are sweet enough to eat, they're not sloes, they may be bullaces. Six years of trying and sloes, even when they are so ripe they start to rot, are never sweet enough to eat. Sorry, they still work, and just need less sugar. MHO

[HeltorChasca]

I think if your sloes are sweet enough to eat, they're not sloes, they may be bullaces. Six years of trying and sloes, even when they are so ripe they start to rot, are never sweet enough to eat. Sorry, they still work, and just need less sugar. MHO

Good to flag this up as it's an interesting ID pointer. The ones I got were definitely Prunus spinosa, not P. domestica which is very similar but doesn't have thorns. Maybe it's my palate that can handle the bitterness later in the season. It's my hands that can't handle the thorns which can make my work interesting sometimes :)

[lannyman8]

when i do mine i fill a wine bottle 1/4 to 1/3 os sloes put in any 3 table spoons of sugar and top up with booze, shake every so often for 2-3 months min. but best to leave it for up to a year......

chris................

[MartiniDave]

Just picked my sloes for this year. I've noticed quite a lot of them are starting to split on the bush, also quite a lot are shrivelling up like sultanas, so I daren't wait for a frost on them.
I'm trying one bottle with brown sugar this year to see if it makes any difference - I'll let you know in about 12 weeks!

Dave.

[British Red]

Much nicer with demerara sugar and better yet with muscavado. Can't abide refined white sugar

[jimjolli]

Great thread.

I all for keeping the sloe gin simple - just sloes, sugar and gin.
I froze my sloes to mimic the first frosts and then cut a slit in them all. The wire brush technique will definitely be used next season.
Somebody mentioned using a berry picker like the one found on the RM website. I was thinking of getting one, are these any good? If you use them to pick softer berries do they just squash the berries? Don't they just collect as much other stuff (twigs & leaves etc) as they do fruit?

Also, what I'm interested in is what to do with the sloes after the gin has been drunk?? I'm loving the idea of 'slider' as mentioned by tadpole in post 9. Any other ideas?

Jim

[iamasmith]

My turn to add my ten cents!

I foraged for my sloes today. I have a few top tips:

Don’t go out on a cold day with wet hair (today was warm so that was ok);
Take the dog and walk far till dog tired (saves her bothering me while I’m in the kitchen);
If you leave your forage for as late in the season as possible, the sloes improve and the nettles around the trees die back. These sloes are so sweet you can eat them off the tree (just!);
Wear long trousers for the nettles that are still hanging in there;
Use a berry comb like one on RM’s website (saves a proper scratching and is dead quick);
Take tea;
Take a bag to carry the dog home in.
"EDIT" Must mention that taking a set of cheap, pocket fishing scales out with you is a good idea to weigh your fruit. You don't under collect or take more than your fair share depriving the wildlife or the tree's self-seeding chances.

This year I’ve left it late to see if I get any improvement in the berries’ sugar (fructose?) content. The sloes really have shrunk down and some even have spilt a little. I’m not worried: that’s what wine farmers leave their grapes to do for dessert wines and sauternes. I’ve used mainly soft brown sugar as I’m not a fan of the refined stuff. And finally as an experiment I’ve used just over 2l of cheap gin to which I have added almonds, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries and juniper berries. I’m keen to try this spicier mix as the plan is to leave it for next year’s Yuletide feasting and drinking.

Here’s my “Thumb-suck” recipe:

About 2kg of sloes
3 x 70cl bottles of cheap gin
600g of soft brown sugar
200g white sugar
4 almonds
2 cinnamon sticks (snapped in half)
4 allspice berries
8 juniper berries

I’ve frozen the berries to split them, dissolved the sugar in the gin and added the spices and left that over-night while the sloes split. Then the whole lot goes in together and is left in a dark cupboard next to the dog’s food so I remember to “shoogle” it all up (cheers Toddy). The whole lot fits in a demi john.

Cross fingers for 2011.....hc

Now that sounds like a nice recipe :)

I was somewhat disappointed when 'sloe gin help required' wasn't about not being able to finish it though :D

[HeltorChasca]

Great thread.

I all for keeping the sloe gin simple - just sloes, sugar and gin.
...
Somebody mentioned using a berry picker like the one found on the RM website. I was thinking of getting one, are these any good? If you use them to pick softer berries do they just squash the berries? Don't they just collect as much other stuff (twigs & leaves etc) as they do fruit?...



Hi Jim. I'm a real fan of the scandinavian berry picker that you can get on RM's site. There are loads of other sites too though. I use mine for haws and sloes and even with soft, very ripe fruit they don't get mashed. I still hand pick blackberries as bramble seems to stagger the ripenening of the fruit. The combs on the berry picker are an exagerated, elongated "U" shape so there aren't any points to puncture the fruit. In Scandanavia they use them for the softer, higher altitude, cold weather fruit like cloud berries and my assumption is that if they pick the fruit without damage, that is why they are so popular.

Really you should be picking fruit when it's about to drop off the shrub/tree so they should pop off with ease. They tend to only pick the berries and the leaves and twigs escape capture. Only a few end up in the picker, but so few, it outweighs hand picking them by a mile............hc

[British Red]

Bottled mine today

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5196109828_4460ce1570_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/british_red/5196109828/)
Tinctures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/british_red/5196109828/) by British Red (http://www.flickr.com/people/british_red/), on Flickr

We have done a variety this year using up our hedgreow growth, including Damson, Sloe, Bullace, Elderberry, and Raspberry (all vodkas of the cheap variety except the raspberry which went into brandy for reasons that escape me). The elderberry was to make a medicinal tincture....and tastes like it :yuck::yuck: even sweetening with honey only made it tolerable.

However, I have never been blessed with a large supply of bullaces before, but bullace vodka with muscavado sugar is fantastic even before maturing!

Thanks to Toddy for the source of bottles for "minitaures". I used about 60 for liberally passing out amongst neighbours and local farmers who have all been very welcoming. The very nice ones (like the one who kept me in vag all year - for free!) get a big bottle :)

Red

[johnnytheboy]

Red whats a medical tincture when its at home? I used your advice to make elderbery vodka and wonder what i have made lol I have a 3 litre jar in the cupboard just ready for emm whatever a medical tincture does lol

[Linden]

My bottle has gone a nice red/plum colour, but also has a less nice white-ish scummy residue at the bottom, is this normal? first time I've made it, and not found a mention of this scum (i know it would leave some sort of residue at the bottom!)

only a small bottle, been in about 2 months, with a little bit of muscavado sugar.

Cheers for help!

[British Red]

Red whats a medical tincture when its at home? I used your advice to make elderbery vodka and wonder what i have made lol I have a 3 litre jar in the cupboard just ready for emm whatever a medical tincture does lol

Elderberry tinctureis supposed to have antiviral properties JTB. Basically take a teaspoon 4 times a day and it reduces the impact / duration of colds & flu (at least so says the theory). Don't worry too much - the icky face was elderberries in vodka with no sweetness. I added honey because I don't use sugar much in herbal tinctures. For recreational use, it should be quite palatable with sugar added...err....I hope :o

[Dan Wound]

So as the time for bottling approaches, some questions. Is a jelly bag best to strain through or can I just use some muslin ?? Also if making 'Slider', is it simply a case of filling a bottle with gin soaked Sloes and then covering with cider ??

It's been a thoroughly enjoyable exercise and will make great little gifts.

All the best.

[MartiniDave]

Don't know anything about "Slider", but I do usually strain my sloe gin through a bit of muslin, or a CLEAN handkercheif.

Dave

[John Fenna]

I tend to strain all my hedgerow booze through - a jelly bag, then a coffee filter (mesh NOT paper) then parachute silk. I find that I get a verry fine sediment, especialy with blackberry Vodka, if I do not filter it all very fine.
Call me obsessive - most do - but if the Vodka is tripple distilled then I think it deserves triple filtering! :D