Can anyone (with a spare few mins!) Type me out a fool proof 'Top tip' method of making Sloe Gin please?
(Really looking for people's personal tried and tested methods rather than an 'internet recipe')

And it has to be foolproof! Because if I can blow up the house I will..... :-D

Oh, oh.... and do you think I can use Hendricks (Cucumber) Gin or would that be over egging it and a waste of a good bottle of H??

MUCH appreciated if anyone can help me out!!

I don't know about Sloe Gin, but I can neck a bottle of Gordon's in no time at all. ;)

My friend makes the best, will ask her x

Don't get too excited and drink it before it's ready, my s.mum always falls at that hurdle :)

what is it??

Take a large haul of nice plump sloes and freeze them (saves pricking them to release juice).
Into large kilner jars one third fill with the frozen sloes, add one fresh almond and about the same of sugar top up to top with gin..any old gin I use own brand. The sugar disolves slowly in the gin if you invert the jars gently each day.

Taste after a week and add more sugar, invert and keep in low light to keep its nice colour.
I keep the invert/top with sugar until no more will dissolve.
After 3 months you can bottle by filtering through coffee filter papers into dark bottles then store in dark for at least a year.

Well that's the theory and I made 3 litres last October and its all gone so none for saving to mature.
This year Im going to try 5 litres - may just be enough!

The Hendricks bottles come in very handy for bottling as they are pretty but I just need to keep the stuff long enough. Most of ours was slurped straight from the Kilner jars :-)

I seem to remember about 3 years ago we filled bottles half full of sloes, then covered them solidly with sugar, then topped up with gin. Sounds disgusting? I thought so too, it seemed a bit too close to Benylin for my liking. I gave away several bottles and the last was left here by my erstwhile partner until I tipped it down the sink recently. It was a lovely colour, though :)

Don't waste flavoured gin on it, sloes are quite strong tasting and will kill off any subtle flavouring.

No NO NO   Do not use Hendricks, if in doubt send the Hendricks to me to be savoured lol

You're a bit early for making it for next year, Liv - and a bit late for this year!

Sloes are generally ripe by the end of October/beginning of November - best after a frost if possible.  If not, pick 'em (wearing thick gloves - those blackthorns are real beasties!) and put 'em in the freezer for 24 hours.   If they've not been in the freezer (when they will start to burst) you should prick them once or twice (I had a large darning needle that I would stab the little blighters with).    Put 1 lb of them in a kilner jar (large, of course), add a couple of oz of granulated sugar and top with gin - I've used Gordons, Plymouth & Asda - wouldn't waste the Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks on it - same them for the summer :)

Put the jar(s) in a cupboard, but give them a good shake each day.  After a month or so (I used to do it at the end of November/beginning of December) taste it - add some more sugar if you really want to - I prefer it on the dry side - and then strain and bottle it.  Then the birds can have the sloes! (not too many at a time though - dont want the dicky birds falling off their perches!

Now comes the hardest part :  LEAVE IT ALONE!!!   It really is best left to "mature" - traditionally it was opened at the start of the shooting season the following September/October.    It really is lovely if you can leave it for that length of time - so smooooth!  

I'd be happy to act as your taster/sampler......maybe I ought to go out & try & find some sloes myself .....must be some at Cudmore Grove.........

Hi, make it in similar way.

Weigh bottle I'm going to use. Fill almost to the top with sloes. Sloes should have been frosted or frozen, have given up attempting to prick them with needle, slit them with a knife, this is easier & less messy if frozen. Weigh bottle again to find amount of sloes & add same in weight of sugar & top up with Gin. Save anything decent & use an own brand, Lidls is good. Seal and shake to disperse sugar then shake daily until you can no longer see the sugar. Store somewhere dark for three months. Strain through coffee filters, a boring job, I place filter in colander over large bowl and keep toping it up whenever I go by. Bottle and store for as long as possible, its drinkable immediately but gets better the longer its left. Don't leave gin on the sloes for much longer than three months as it tends to go cloudy. Happy drinking.

There's a contradiction in terms, Liv, they way I've seen you drink gin it's anything but sloe!

> There's a contradiction in terms, Liv, they way I've seen you drink gin it's anything but sloe!<

:D :D :D

(((((( 3 months!!?? ))))))) 

*Faint*
*Thud!*

Thank-you everyone! am now taking bets on wether my 'Slow' gin will make it to 2011... or not? ;-) and indeed wether I will make it to 2011!!

> Liv, they way I've seen you drink gin it's anything but sloe!

I resemble that remark!