Reply With QuoteSloes. And even if they're not, it's a member of the plum family which pretty much all work for making fruit liqueur / infused gin. Enjoy.
Hi all
I am toying with making some sloe or damson gin and need to confirm I have the correct berries.
Can anybody identify these??
I'm hoping these are one of the above?
Thanks
Mike
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Last edited by sweetpea; 20th September 2017 at 17:13.
Sloes. And even if they're not, it's a member of the plum family which pretty much all work for making fruit liqueur / infused gin. Enjoy.
Wow thanks for the quick response..... just to confirm they also have small stone in them as well.
Thanks mike
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My Plum Gin says hi....Originally Posted by Man of Kent
Looking good.... just picked these and washed them. I'm going to freeze them overnight and then follow the recipe that I have been given. Fingers crossed should be ready for Christmas!
Mike
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On second thoughts they might be a bullace, bit hard to tell. Sloe or bullace gives a similar product though.
Gosh yes.... just googled they do look identical don't they. As you say though.... don't think it matters and hopefully will produce same results..... fingers crossed.
Mike
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If you bite one and it is as sour as sour , then it's a sloe , they are usually about the size of a peanut MM .
Freezing them is good as it saves pricking them all .
Remember to knock of the excess ice as you do not want to dilute the end product !
Wonderful stuff , I've made it for years and it was the welcome drink at both my son and daughters wedding , mixed with fizz .
Commonly known as "sloegasm".
It set both days up splendidly !
Blackberry Whisky is also a good one as is Raspberry Vodka for the ladies !
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Thanks Norbert..... already looking forward to these.....
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Yep they are sloes. If you eat one and it turns your face inside out they are definetly sloes.
I always use this recipe, You don't need Sipsmith Gin but it is best to use a decent one rather than real bargain basement.
https://sipsmith.com/how-to-make-the-perfect-sloe-gin/
Tesco had a 43° Tanqueray in 1 litre bottle for £18 last Sunday. Just saying
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Many thanks all..... think I'll be picking a few more bags worth again tomorrow!
Mike
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sloe or sloe and apple jelly is very nice and quite easy to make as well if you fancy something other than Gin!
Mike don't know where you are in the North West, but Holmes Mill in Clitheroe has just opened a food hall. There are hundreds of gins available. Also the Fence Gate near Barrowford boasts one of the largest gin collections in the Uk
Its in the Guinness book of records!!
https://fencegate.co.uk/Eat-and-Drink/Gin-Selection
Above advice if you are looking for new flavours or inspiration, or just a pleasant tipple.
Steve
My wife normally makes Sloe gin for Christmas, last year a friend of ours announced that there was not nearly enough sugar and proceeded to add some, and again on his next visit, and so on.
What we ended up with was a very drinkable Sloe gin syrup, which we may try and replicate again this year....purely for medicinal purposes you understand!
Thanks Steve.... I'll be sure to check that out. In Manchester Btw Mike :)
Once you've made the gin save the gin soaked sloes and check the out recipes for sloe port.
Some great ideas here... keep them coming i can see this becoming quite an addictive hobby albeit only once a year.....
Mike
The wife started ours with the very same Damsons like yours last week, just in time for CrimboHi all
I am toying with making some sloe or damson gin and need to confirm I have the correct berries.
Can anybody identify these??
I'm hoping these are one of the above?
Thanks
Mike
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Damsons are more purple and slightly larger I believe
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I bought some dried ones from Ebay and with a litre of gin, some sugar and three months later your there, maybe not the same as fresh but still tasty.
Lemon gin is a favourite of mine, and no waiting 3 plus months like sloe gin. You need:
4 large unwaxed lemons (aldi seem good for these, or you can un-wax waxed lemons if needs be)
200gms caster sugar
70cl gin
Finely grate the zest of 3 of the lemons into a large saucepan and then squeeze in the juice of all 4 lemons.
Add the sugar and heat very gently until dissolved, bring to the boil and turn off immediately. Pour in the gin and stir, cool completely and strain through a fine sieve before pouring into bottles.
I have it with lemonade and it basically makes a strong drink that tastes (and looks) just like traditional lemonade, just nicely alcoholic.
Orange whisky is also very pleasant , you can make it with normal oranges or the Seville type used in marmalade . The finished product is not to dissimilar to Southern Comfort.
Also my late mother used to put a dash of almond essence in her Sloe gin which gave a very nice subtle flavour .
Another tip was to use the sloes from the gin into sherry .
Then once they were removed from the sherry into a trifle , the stones were out on the fire from the side of the plate and as kids we loved the blue flames that soon appeared ... enough now !
Loads of these old winter warmers , just can't remember them all .... too much sampling over the years.
Enjoy natures harvest it's a big one this year for all hedge row fruit and nuts .
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Nobody's mentioned the pest that is the sloe worm yet...
Sloes grow on a thorn bush and OP the leaves don't look right to me, so I don't think they are sloes. Once you have made the sloe gin, don't throw away the sloes. You can add port to them to make Nelsons Blood.
Slow gin, damson gin, raspberry vodka, redcurrant vodka, lavender gin, stag's breath, Nelson's nipples....there are some superb fruit liqueurs to be made. All follow the same general process apart from lavender gin - that just needs 60 minutes or so for the gin to extract the oil from the lavender. Like blackberry gin, leave it any longer and it can become "woody"
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I love got a nice rhubarb gin that goes extremely well with Fever Tree ginger tonic.
Cheers..
Jase
Alternatively, cut large strips of peel from the lemons, and add to a freezer bag / zip lock or sous vide pouch with a couple of teaspoons full of sugar. Rub it all together and seal. Place in the fridge. Each time you pass by, give it another rub. Over a couple of days, the oils from the peel will dissolve the sugar and you'll be left with an almost oily liquid - oleo-saccharum. I've flavoured gin with this, as well as vodka, and it's rather good. But then, I like dry drinks (I only use half the sugar of most sloe gin recipes as you can always add more, but can't remove it). You can do something similar with thumb-sized pieces of rhubarb and a couple of tablespoons full of sugar. Mixed with gin it's astoundingly good. A light poaching in the bag gives a jammier flavour more suited to vodka.
Do you have a recipe for the rhubarb gin? We've had a glut from the garden this year.
I'm afraid that one is a pre bought one, but I dare say there are recipes out there, I expect it's the same as any other infusion, sugar and fruit and left to stand for a few months. The Plum recipe was 250g of caster sugar, 8 plums, pricked and sliced and 1L of gin in a sterile Kilmer jar shaken daily.
Cheers..
Jase
Slow gin = cough syrup
Follow mine above. Use raw rhubarb if you like it dry, and poach in a bag at c55-60 degrees for fifteen to twenty minutes if you like it jammier. It'll only take a couple of days in the gin / vodka to extract most of the flavour. I've found it's diminishing returns after a week. Needs a good strain through muslin or coffee filter papers (or both) to remove the fruit. I store mine in the fridge. I also add lemon peel to the rhubarb, or orange, or even ginger, depending on the way it tastes and the flavour profile of the base gin.
Try it with ginger ale, I was pleasantly surprised.
Try it with a healthy squeeze of lime juice (if not an entire lime) and soda water. It's a nice version of the classic Gin Rickey.
Agreed, if there are no thorns it's not Sloe (AKA Blackthorn) and is likely Damson or Bullace. But as noted above they're all in the plum family.
Plum Rum is the favourite here - the Demerara flavour of the rum works really well with the fruit.
We also do 4 or 5 litres of sloe gin every year and give most of it to local friends. Our kids are very popular with their teachers...
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Well..... thanks to all the really helpful suggestions and replies on here.... I have now managed to make my first batch of Sloe Gin
I have collected about 3lbs of Sloe and followed a couple of recipe suggestions and have bottled approx 3 litres worth of the stuff using half decent quality gin.....
Just need to leave it now for 3 months..... fingers crossed should be an interesting Christmas
Mike
Okay I will ask, what does sloe taste like ?
Thanks
Apart from the obvious reply, it’s quite sweet and more like a syrupy liquor in viscosity ( depending on the amount of sugar used) , and fruity in taste.
Cheers..
Jase
sloe gin is sweet (you use alot of sugar in the recipe) and tastes of berrys and almonds to me
raw sloes are very acrid and one bite will dry your mouth out , they are not something you would eat raw or cooked without sugar.
Last edited by pugster; 26th September 2017 at 15:11.
I will certainly let you know in December......
Mike
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