The Humble Sloe, Natures Christmas Gift.
As the nights draw in and the cold sets in, my heart is lifted by the call of the Sloes. These little purple berries have been catching my eye for a few months now, but the best time to pick them is October, so I have to be a little patient.
Well! It is October now and I have been busy out gathering these little gems. This year 2010 has been a great year for Sloes and it looks to be a bumper harvest. I alone have managed to collect 5kg, which makes me very happy, as I will be able to make a drinking and keeping batch. Having watched my father make Sloe Gin growing up, I now take over and my aim is to make the best possible Sloe Gin. To achieve this will take good planning, a lot of research, a little love and passion.
I want to make my Sloe Gin just right, not too sweet or dry. As I am making 2 batches the mistakes I make on the first will be rectified for the second batch, to be kept for next winter. I have been looking at many recipes in preparation of developing my own.
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| My bountiful harvest of Sloes, October 2010. |
The Recipe:
I am currently working on this and will be updating you soon.
Now I have made the Gin what can I do with the Sloes?
It surprised me to find out that the Gin soaked Sloes have not given up all of their essence. By soaking these little fruit in Gin and sugar they are transformed from a bitter tasting berry to a versatile fruit.
So what can we do with the Sloes? Well I am going to make a boozy berry muffin and for the rest I will be soaking them in Sherry. Probably the best Sherry to use is Amontillado a medium Sherry.
I will be updating you once I have chosen the recipe and then purchased the Gin.
Whilst researching recipes for Sloe Gin at, Legendary Dartmoor, I came across an intriguing site, giving readers an insight into Sloes on Dartmoor and local tales of the Tavistock Badger, click on the Badger to learn more!
News Flash, Reuters.
A badger in Germany got so drunk on over-ripe cherries it staggered into the middle of a road and refused to budge, police said on Wednesday.
A motorist called police near the central town of Goslar to report a dead badger on a road only for officers to turn up and discover the animal alive and well, but drunk.
Police discovered the nocturnal beast had eaten cherries from a nearby tree which had turned to alcohol and given the badger diarrhoea.
Having failed to scare the animal away, officers eventually chased it from the road with a broom.
A motorist called police near the central town of Goslar to report a dead badger on a road only for officers to turn up and discover the animal alive and well, but drunk.
Police discovered the nocturnal beast had eaten cherries from a nearby tree which had turned to alcohol and given the badger diarrhoea.
Having failed to scare the animal away, officers eventually chased it from the road with a broom.
Was this the Tavistock Badger?
My Sloe Gin Experiment
After a very cold morning on Thursday and having spotted an untapped sloe bush I decided to run a little experiment to see what the best sloe gin method is.
The first frost method
After the first frost last week, I decided to collect some sloes to see if this method makes better sloe gin. Having picked sloes both before and after the first frost the main difference I have noticed so far is that the sloes are easier to pick.
You will need:
1.5 Lit Kilner Jar
1 Lit of Sainsburys London Dry Gin
200g Unrefined Can Sugar
500g of Sloes picked after the first frost.
Several Bamboo Skewers
I chose the 1.5 Lit Kilner jar as it is the perfect container for 500g of sloes, 200g of sugar and 1 Lit of Gin.
Prick the sloes using the skewer, I make 4 holes on the top and bottom of each sloe, for 500g worth this can take around 1 hour 30 mins, place into the jar. Then add the 200g of sugar and finally the gin. Close the lid and shake.
If you buy several litres of gin, you can use the empty bottle. Using the same recipe as above but reduce the sloes to 250g, 125g of sugar and 1/2 lit of gin.
Shake the jar(s) every day for 2 weeks, then every other day for 2 weeks and reduce to once a week for 2 months, this will ensure the sugar quickly dissolves in the gin.
Sweet, Medium or Dry?
Using the above recipe per 500g of sloes and 1 litre of gin, use the following rule as a guide;
Dry 125 - 150g of sugar
Medium 200 - 225g of sugar
Sweet 250 - 325g of sugarWhat are the benefits over fresh or frozen sloes?
I have used both and I have found freezing the sloes when they are fresh and dry, preserves them perfectly until the day you need them. I have stored sloes in sealed plastic containers for several weeks now, defrosting them in their containers, which prevents them from being covered in water vapour during the thawing process. I have found the sloes retain their firmness and freezing them does not split their skins. I have still had to pierce the sloes with a wooden skewer to release their deep purple juices.
Freezing the sloes to keep until you are ready to plunge them into gin will not affect the quality of your sloe gin.
Freezing the sloes to keep until you are ready to plunge them into gin will not affect the quality of your sloe gin.
