It’s Time to Make Your Own Sloe Gin

Make Your Sloe Gin - nessymon

 

It’s Time to make Your Own Sloe Gin

I’ve finally done it! After years of thinking ‘Ooh I should do that!’, I’ve finally got my ass in gear and got everything together and have made some sloe gin, which should be ready in time for Christmas.

Where do I get sloes?

It’s Time to make Your Own Sloe Gin
All the Sloe Gin Ingredients

First issue I had was where on earth I would get sloes? I live in London, not exactly widespread countryside. My first point of call was to try some supermarkets, none of which had any in stock. I then asked the lovely people in Turnips in Borough Market, who hadn’t any either. In the end, I went to ebay and found 2lb s of sloes, ricked and vacuum packed in Wales for £15. Since I bought these, I notice that the price has gone up. If you need some, get in and get them quickly.

The sloes arrived a couple of days later, vacuum packed, everything beautiful. I stuck them in the freezer overnight and separated the packet in two.

Adding sugar to the sloe gin potion
Adding sugar to the sloe gin potion

Recipe for Sloe Gin

When I was looking for a recipe, I decided to go with one Nigel Slater wrote in The Guardian in 2010.

Here’s the thing, I’m not a gin drinker. Nope, not a clue do I have about what is a good gin and a bad gin. In his recipe, Nigel said not to spend a fortune on an expensive gin, so I headed to Lidl and got a litre of Finton’s gin for £15. with a standard bottle being 75cl, that meant I had to adjust the recipe. 33 per cent more.

I put in the gin first, added the sugar then bashed up the frozen sloes a bit and put them in a jar.

Here’s what I used:

1 litre of Finton’s gin
600g of sloe berries
466g of sugar

The Waiting Game

For the first week, I stirred the potion everyday, this ensures that the sloes don’t clump together and the sugar gets a good chance to dissolve.

Now, I’m still stirring the jar, once a week. I’ve chosen Sunday so I won’t forget to. After two weeks, I’ll admit, I’ve taken a lick of the spoon and there is a gorgeous sweetness battling against the gin. Now, myself and Talulah just have to sit tight and not touch the jars until at least Christmas. It’s going to be a yummy one!

Sloe Gin - The Waiting Game
Sloe Gin – The Waiting Game

How about some Sloe Vodka?

Once I had the sloe gin all sorted, I wondered what I would do with the leftover sloes. After a quick google, I decided to try sloe vodka.

Our friends in Lidl have a Putinoff vodka which comes on 50cl bottles, perfect for the amount of sloes I’d left over. Adjusting the recipe to suit, I now have sloe gin and vodka sitting on my shelf.

Sloe Gin - Bashing up frozen sloes
Bashing up Frozen Sloes