Home made Sloe Gin

~ looks a lovely colour Amy!

does it taste like normal gin amy,, dont drink alot but i remember trying white gin and wasnt keen, years ago, love the pretty labels :o))

They look lovely and a nice colour I don't like Gin either San :o))

Well done Amy, looks like you're not going to know much about Christmas!!

I used to make this, looked out for sloes this year to have another go....as I do like it.....but couldn't find many.

Wow, it will blew your hat off! Well done Amy

not sure what sloes are to be honest :o)

San ~ Sloes are the berries of the blackthorn bush. They are blackish in colour about half an inch in size. Can be picked from October/November. Found amongst hedgerows. You can also make wine with them, as you don't like gin!!

thanx for info potty :o))

Thanks ... you can see a photo of the Sloes before I made the Gin on my page 3... 6th photo across Sandra ..

It's difficult to explain a taste it's more like a Liquor ,thicker than Gin because of the added sugar .. it dosn't taste so much like Gin but you can still taste it , it has more of a fruit taste ..... you definitely don't want very much , a little Tot will do ,everybody loves it ,they know I make it and when they come round at Christmas usually ask if it's ready ...LOL...

O.K see you all at Christmas then !

I'll be there Amy...I'll be there!!!

I will be calling Amy and I love the labels too!

Three lovely bottles. I don't like gin but I do like sloe gin :)

I can feel a party coming on ..... it's a date ....

You see Sandra, Gee dosn't like Gin but she does like Sloe Gin :o)

right may have to come and try it amy :o))

Only three bottles?

We have blackthorn bushes in the hedge Amy but not many sloes this year. How many sloes were needed to make your 3 bottles.

6 oz for each bottle Dawn and 4oz of sugar .. the Sloes have to be pricked several times with a silver fork to allow the juice to escape , the bottles have to be turned upside down every day for two months ....
You will be able to make your own another year .. :o)

Toto ... two for me and one for everybody else ......LOL........

Thanks Amy, not too many needed then. I'll have to get the complete recipe from you :-)

I didn't make any this year but I picked lots of sloes for other people. The bushes were heavily laden here.

We had a lot in this area Toto , they say you should pick them after a frost but as we haven't had any to speak of , i'm not sure whether it will make any difference ..

I will let you have the recipe Dawn :o)

If you want some sloes Dawn Iwill see if I can pick and send you some. Just let me know and I will see if there are some left.

Ours have all wizened up Toto , no good at all ..........

I fairly sure that I can find some good ones but I need to check.

Amy: The recipe would be great, thank you.
Toto: The sloes would be good too only if not too much trouble - dont want you to get prickled.

I'll check them out for you and let you know if I'm successful.

OK Toto thanks - maybe all this horrid wind has blown what are left away - no worries if not - there's always next year.

Why use a silver fork Amy?

Sorry PG , i've no idea .. this was a very old recipe ... I assume it would be more sterile being silver but then the alcohol would sterilise anything you used to prick them with anyway I would have thought ... ........

Out of interest I did a bit of research Amy. It is traditional...therefore in line with yours being an old recipe.... to use silver or a thorn from the bush the sloes were picked from...ouch! The only real suggestion of a reason is that other metals (anything with too much iron in it, which probably wouldn't be the case these days) may discolour the juice, making a brownish coloured drink instead of the lovely red that it is. That makes sense, I think?
I would want to stick with the tradition, even if Stainless Steel would be OK!

That's very kind of you PG to take the trouble to look that up , Thank you very much for the information .. I suppose because I had always done it that way I had never stopped to query the reason why .. .. I have a very nice little 3 pronged silver fork which is very handy 'cos you can make 3 holes at a time .... . :o)

Your welcome Amy :o)

I think we are all the same, we just do things because that's the way it is and it is only other people that wonder why! Then we go...yeah, WHY?! So we all learn then. :o))

We make this but not in the same way, 3lbs sloes 2lbs sugar I gin. We were told the sloes had to be the best you could find but the gin could be the cheapest, and after pricking the sloes put all together in a large container and seal and put in the dark to keep the colour, then shake or stir until sugar dissolves, and should be ready for Christmas!! if you can keep it that long, also can do this with damsons but it is sweeter, but, lovely

I'm sure there are lots of ways of making it DD , I haven't tried it with Damsons but I know people that have ... I have a small Damson tree in my garden that I grew from a pip it's about 16 years old and has never produced any fruit , I've given up on it now .... I don't think it ever will !

I think I would after 16 years, I have a wisteria going on 10 years and each year I say to it flower or your out!!! but have not got the heart to dig it up as it was a gift.....going back to the gin, damson has more of a fruity flavour wouldn't you say compared to the sloes?

Our Wisteria took a few years before it flowered DD not quite 10 more like 6 , in the end we pruned it hard it must have done the trick because it is always covered in blooms now ..
I think Damsons probably is a fruitier flavour , we don't see many of those growing wild round here , I will have to try it one year .. :o)

Just to be different I am making sloe brandy !!!

Oooh that sounds very potent N/apple , I bet you don't need very much of that ...LOL...

Hi Amy, I don't like Gin, but Sloe Gin is wonderful. But remember - Sloe Gin is not just for Christmas !!!! :~)

Oh No , definitely not , it's for as long as it's lasts Muddywalters ..LOL....