Sloe Gin recipies please

[bagman]

I fancy having a go at some sloe gin this year and I have a spare bottle or so in case it goes badly wrong :-D

What do I do please?

[Ed]

1.Take 1 gallon of gin, 3oz bitter almonds, 3lb sugar, 6 pints of sloes. (some people mash the sloes, but i just pierce the skins)

2.Put everything in a big bottle (or several small) and shake a few times each week.

3.After 2-3 months, syphon off into bottles :-D

Thats a basic recipe, some people like a bit more sugar (to give that thick liquer texture), or different sugars. I use just normal granulated sugar.
The longer you leave it the better it will taste.... and it will keep for years.

Ed

[Ed]

Take a look here...... http://www.liqueurweb.com/sloe.htm :-D that should give you something to read... There are more links at the bottom of that page.

Ed

[Roger Gregory]

This is a simple recipe, it has to be simple, it's for Harvey

1 bottle gin (70cl)
1lb sloes (454 grammes for the 'measurement-challenged')
8oz sugar (work it out)

Freeze the sloes for a couple of days, it's easier than pricking them all with a fork and quicker than waiting for the first frost.

Put the sugar and sloes in one or more containers.
Pour on the gin.
Put on the lid (ready for the next step!)
Shake daily until the sugar has dissolved.
Place in a darkish place for a couple of months.
Strain the gin off the sloes.
Drink the gin.
Eat the sloes.

Roger

[MartiniDave]

I use the same recipe as Roger now, but I have used up to 12 oz of sugar.
I've also substituted damsons or cherries for the sloes, both work well but you really have to leave for about a year before syphoning off. The cherries made interesting eating too! :-P Hick!

[bagman]

Thank you Roger, now you can get back in your box :-D

I just need to sure it sloes that I am picking now :roll:

[ESpy]

Come on, Harvey - you've got the pictures to work from now. :-D

You could also jab yourself with the thorns to be sure - if it swells up & is extremely painful (out of all proportion to the size of the thorn), it was blackthorn...

Peter

[Roger Gregory]

Dave, I have also used more sugar, I think one batch was 1lb sloes, 1lb sugar and 1 litre of gin ...... it doesn't matter, the stuff's always good
Vodka also works as an alternative to gin.

Dave, you need to find a bigger box to put me in!

Now, apart from following Peter's suggestion ... which is good .... your sloes should have a light white bloom on the surface. Try chewing on one, if it tastes as sour as 100 lemons and also very bitter, it's probably a sloe!

Roger

[bigjackbrass]

Perhaps the only truly foolproof recipe:

1 large bottle of Bombay Sapphire
1 generous portion of sloes
1 measure of vermouth

Method:

Pour gin into large glass. Sit back, keeping a wary eye on the sloes and vermouth. Drink.

If vermouth or sloes make a move for your gin, shoot them.

[Bosun]

This may be a bit late now, as the sloes are best picked in September however, we're having our first go at sloe gin this year.

The recipe we've used comes from Rose Elliot's "Vegetarian Christmas", published by Thorsons (ISBN 0-00-710130-9).

450g/1lb ripe sloes
70cl bottle gin (doesn't have to be the good stuff)
125g/4oz caster sugar
few drops of almond extract

I squished the sloes. It took ages doing them one-by-one and popping them into the empty 1l plastic water bottle, but it kept me out of mischief. I then added all of the other ingredients.

They're to be left for two months, shaken daily. Our first bottle will be ready in about a couple of weeks, the other one in mid-December.

With hindsight we should have made four bottles - two bottles for this Christmas and two for next. We'd make up another two bottles next autumn, so that we've always got two "maturing" under the sink.

I'll try to remember - alcohol permitting - how it turns out.

Cheers

[Rob]

Maybe a bit late for the sloes, although frozen ones seem to work very well.

1L bottle
75cl cheap gin
1 good size cup of sugar
Same cup full of sloes.

Dump it all in

Agitate regularly then drink at christmas :-D

[gb]

here's the one i have tryed this year from 'food for free'

put the sloes in a bottle to about half full
add half the wieght of the sloes in sugar
fill the bottle up with gin
leave for at least 2 months

youd be surprised how much better the gin tastes even after just a week

cheers