Sloooooooooooooe Gin

Here's what Wikipedia had to say. I don't even know what sloe berries look like, sadly! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloe_gin Good luck with the recipe (and drinking thereof).

aren't you supposed to wait for the first frost before picking sloes to make sure they are ripe? We make Sloe gin every year (well we pick 'em and give 'em to my Mum to make it for us) she says...prick each sloe with a pin and simply plonk 'em into a bottle of housewife's ruin, don't bother to buy 'really' expensive stuff as long as it's a London gin you'll be fine. xx

Trouble is with waiting for the first frost, the birds pinch them first... unless you can net the bushes, you're better to pick them now (according to Charlie greengrocer round the corner from you). Mum kaes it Fish, she pricks them with a pin too, but you need to add sugar also - I have her recipe somewhere, will dig it out. Sloe gin is marvellous... like a deep velvet dressing gown made liquid.

The Wikipedia link actually has what appears to be a good, easy to understand recipe, including specific objects with which to prick the berries. I'm most intrigued; if I liked gin I'd probably try it!

2 tried and tested West Country recipes: SLOE GIN Put 3 pints of ripe, dry sloes in a gallon jar with 1 oz of sweet almonds and 1 1/2lb of cube sugar. Then pour in 4 pints of gin, then cork. Shake the jar every 3 days for 3 months. Strain off, bottle and seal corks. Will keep for years, depending on willpower! SLOE WINE 2 pints sloes, 2 pints boiling water, 1 lb+ cube sugar Add boiling water to sloes. Cover and leave to stand for 4 days, stirring once or twice each day. Strain and add, to each 2 pints liquid, 1 lb cube sugar. Leave for another 4 days, stirring each day. Bottle after it has well settled, but do not cork tightly until it has finished working. No yeast needed - enough in the skins. Bootiful!

We manage to make it most years - don't go with the almonds - tried it one year and it ruined the gin! Just prick the sods with a sharp fork, add the sugar and gin and leave in a dark space for as long as you can, giving it a good shake as often as you remember. The first bottle normally gets a 'tasting' at Christmas and the whole lot is gone by March. Ho Hum. Happy pricking.

I have just made some of this. Drank a sip when not ready. Gross. Hoping that by christmas it will be lush. Fun to make if watching a film. Span

Can you use anything other than sloes to make a comparable tipple?

I made it last year with blueberries - it was horrible. I'm not mad about gin (who wants to drink something that tastes of pefume) and to me, it still tasted very gin like, whereas sloe gin tastes nothing whatsoever like gin. I did the same with a bottle of cheap vodka and a pint of blueberries - also horrible. Sadly, this one did stop it tasting like vodka, which i do like, very much. I had to throw that away. The grief was unimaginable. Fish I seem to recall that the offy in Murky sells a respectable sloe gin? If all else fails, we can use that as a back up.

I'm not that keen on gin, except perhaps a couple of glasses first thing in the morning to kickstart the nervous system.

lol There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed - Dennett

A Gin Breakfast is good... only thing is, it tends to be followed by the Gin Brunch, the Gin Elevenses, the Gin Lunch, the Gin Afternoon Tea... ... ~PEPS~ You can’t finish a man till he’s finished his Texan Bar

Vodka can be flavoured very easily - all those expensive ones that are sold to you are a complete rip off and can so simply be created. A lemon vodka, for example, is made by taking one peeling off the side of a lemon, tieing a length of cotton around it, putting it in the vodka and then leaving it in the sunlight for 24 hours. Pull out the lemon slice and taste the vodka - yum yum yum.

Sounds good, TC! But would that be one lemon per shot or one lemon per bottle? (I can't see myself waiting 24 hours for a single shot of lemon vodka!) ~PEPS~ You can’t finish a man till he’s finished his Texan Bar

It's one SLICE of lemon peel per bottle. Just get your potato peeler and slice off ONE section of a lemon and put it in - any more and it will overwhelm the vodka.

Sadly I do not possess such sophisticated items as these things you call "potato peelers"... will a "knife" do? ~PEPS~ You can’t finish a man till he’s finished his Texan Bar