Recipe for Sloe Gin?!
Thanks.
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Answers: Does anyone have their own tried and tested recipe for Sloe Gin ?
Thanks.
.
ooh i was going to ask this same question as today is going to be sloe gin making day for me.
according to my dad you turn the bottle three times a week until Christmas (you make it when the sloes are ripe and the first frost has hit- so today!) and then leave it without turning for six months after Christmas for the best effect. I normally have drunk all mine at Christmas!!
the recipe i use is from Richard Mabey's book food for free:
mix sloes with half their weight of sugar ( i use a little less 'cos i find it a bit too sweet)
half fill bottles with this mixture
pour in gin until they are nearly full
seal tightly
shake regularly to disperse the sugar
alternatively replace the gin with brandy or aquavit
enjoy- it's the season for scrumping the hedgerows.
PS having read another reply DO NOT DISCARD THE BERRIES
they turn from being sour and horrid to delicious and sweet and heavy with gin.
To make sloe gin, the sloe berries must be ripe. They were traditionally picked in late October or early November after the first frost of winter, although with spring now arriving earlier followed by warmer summers, the berries are now ripe by mid-September. A wide necked jar that can be sealed is needed. Prick each berry and half fill the wide necked jar with the pricked berries. Folklore has it that when making sloe gin, you shouldn't prick the berries with a metal fork, unless it is made of silver. The established traditional method is to prick the berries with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which they grow.
For each pint (0.5 litre) of sloes, add 4oz (100g) of sugar and fill the jar with gin, adding a few cloves and a small stick of cinnamon, as well as the almond essence. Seal the jar and turn it several times to mix, then store the jar in a cool, dark place. Repeat the turning every day for the first two weeks, then each week, until at least three months have passed.
The gin should now be a deep ruby red. Pour off the liqueur and discard the berries and spices. Alternatively, the left-over berries can be infused in cider, made into jam or used as a basis for a chutney. The liqueur can be filtered, but it is best decanted back into clean containers and left to stand for another week. Careful decanting can then ensure that almost all sediment is eliminated, leaving a clear liqueur.
Made in this way, the alcohol extracts an almond-like essence from the sloes, avoiding the need to add almond essence. Home made sloe gin is a much more complex and subtle drink than that produced commercially. The sweetness can be adjusted to taste at the end, but sufficient sugar is required at the start of the process to ensure full extraction of flavour from the sloes.
2 measures gin
1 measure lime juice
cracked ice cubes
soda water
slice of lemon
1. Build this cocktail straight into a chilled highball glass or goblet.
2. Pour the gin and lime juice over the ice.
3. Top up with soda water.
4. Stir gently to mix and dress with the lemon slice.
ENJOY!!
http://www.webtender.com/
the only place i go for drink ideas..
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1. Sloe Gin Cocktail (Ordinary Drink. Alcoholic.)
Ingredients: Sloe gin, Dry Vermouth, Orange bitters
2. Sloe Gin Collins (Ordinary Drink. Alcoholic.)
Ingredients: Sloe gin, Lemon, Carbonated water, Lemon, Orange, Cherry
3. Sloe Gin Fizz (Ordinary Drink. Alcoholic.)
Ingredients: Sloe gin, Lemon juice, Ice, Soda water
4. Sloe Gin Flip (Ordinary Drink. Alcoholic.)
Ingredients: Sloe gin, Light cream, Powdered sugar, Egg, Nutmeg
5. Sloe Gin Rickey (Ordinary Drink. Alcoholic.)
Ingredients: Sloe gin, Lime, Carbonated water, Lime
6.
Wash 1lb sloes, prick them with a fork. Put in a container with 3oz granulated or caster sugar and 2 bottles of gin (cheap gin is ok). I use a plastic "Tupperware" type container which is air/moisture tight.
Leave the container for three months shaking it occasionally. Then strain the liquid and bottle.
It can be drunk at this stage but it is best if left for at least another 3 months.
Prick ripe sloe berries with a pin or fork and place in a clean bottle or jar. Cover with gin and leave for some months.
You now have sloe gin.