Superb sloe vodka recipe
Comments(119)
We have found that most fruit recipes work equally well with gin or vodka. With a few exceptions. Raspberry gin is sublime and dessert gooseberry vodka is to kill for. Their cousins, Raspberry vodka and dessert gooseberry gin are companiable and gluggable but not the super stars of the cocktail cabinet.
We traditionally always make sloe gin. Lots of it. This year I has so many sloes that I decided to give sloe vodka a whirl. A litre of vodka made two 750ml bottles of grog. One for the cellar and one for testing and tasting.
I need to clear a space on the shelves in the barn to put our sloe gin and vodka out of reach. When I do this, it matures quietly, without being disturbed. I haven’t had time to do his so our kitchen side looks like a sloe liqueur drinker’s paradise. It has also had an impact on using the toaster which sits behind the bottles and jars. A careful, crane like movement is needed to operate the toaster.
Late one night, I spotted the sloe vodka on the kitchen side and thought that I’d have a teeny taste. It was wonderful. Clean, crisp, punchy and absolutely delicious. It was barely three weeks old. Made with the sloes that I picked from John’s garden on October 27th.
I had another toot the next night and then waved the bottle in front of Danny’s nose. Then other visitors were introduced to this ambrosia. Reviews were good and glasses refilled.
I am ashamed to announce that our tasting bottle is almost finished but delighted that I tried sloe vodka this year. I hate to admit it but I think that sloe vodka is better than sloe gin.
I had a 800g of sloes in the freezer so Jalopy and I rumbled over to Tesco on Saturday and bought an extra large bottle of medium priced vodka. Made 2 x 75ml bottles as per the above recipe and was left with 570ml of vodka. I added the remaining sloes (336g) and topped up with just over a kilo of sugar. This will produce the really ‘thick’ sloe liqueur that loads of our friends adore. This is the bottle in the photo with the white label. The label is actually the sugar -scary stuff! If we have a super party and a tasting, the sugar lovers will not be left out for years, as they have been in the past. We like the sharp taste of our grog. This bottle will be for sweet toothed visitors only.
If you still have access to sloes try our recipe. You won’t regret it.
I will report back on how the thick sugar solution sloe vodka develops in a few months time!
Superb sloe vodka recipe
Ingredients:
- 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
- 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
- 2 empty 75cl vodka bottles
- I litre of medium quality vodka
Method
- Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes half the sloes in each bottle. I put several sloes in my palm to prick them rather than picking them up one by one.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim. Always open sugar bags over the sink as sugar tends to get caught in the folds at the top of the bag.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (try to leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year. As you can see from above it was overwhelmingly moreish at three weeks).
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We will strain and bottle any that’s left after six moths as I want to try making sloe sherry and slider (farmhouse cider and gin/vodka soaked sloes as recommended into the comments section of our sloe gin posts). Don’t leave the straining process longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur.
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The sloes from the blackthorn in our garden are destined for sloe vodka. I’m looking forward to it . . . but the sloes are still in the freezer and there are 2 large bottles of vodka still sitting on the kitchen table (and getting strange questioning looks from visitors!).
I must get the ‘sloe-vodka-meister’ to get his act together – then maybe I’ll get to sample it in 2008!
wow, that is a lot of sugar!
i have sampled my various concoctions recently and have added more sugar to them – shouldn’t have bought such cheap spirits – but i was not brave enough to add THAT much.
the sampling should have been done on seperate days – i ended up going to bed early feeling just a little squiffy! yum, yum.
Hi Celia,
I love making these fruit liquers. By finding the time is always the problem. The giant vodka bottle was knocking around in the kitchen for about a week before it was used!
Hi Anne,
I don’t like the really sugary thick sloe gin (or Vodka)so this one with a kilo of sugar is just for friends with a really sweet tooth.
It’s potent stuff!
Now you’re tempting me to try my damson vodka I made back in September… It calls to me often, but I’m trying not to taste it until the New Year – maybe I’ll just sneak a little taste tonight…
Hi Richard,
Don’t do this unless you have gallons of the stuff!
After just three weeks the feedback for the sloe vodka was 100%. We do have more. 2 (vintage 5 week old bottles) and a vast swathe of newly made grog. It’s hands off for a while!
How delicious. You’re right about varying the fruit. I’ve only just discovered this by accident. When some people cancelled because they got stuck in the floods, I put the cherries which I had stoned ready for the duck into some vodka because I thought it might preserve them for using them again. I don’t know about preserving, but the vodka’s pretty tasty. Sugar! Now that’s what it’s been missing…..
http://www.thecotswoldfoodyear.com
Hi James,
Cherries! I haven’t though about using them in a vodka liqueur…
Thanks for the tip.
Hi all, trying these ideas out, someone also said to add a tiny bit of almond essence to the sloe vodka!
Just trying blueberry for a giggle, so far so good cant wait….anyway thx for the recipes
happy sipping
)
Hi Rob
I’ve added almond essence to sloe gin and will try it in vodka next year.
Love to hear how the blueberry vodka works out!
were do you get sloes from and when and can you bye them if you cant pick them and were do you bye them thanks
Hi, just reading about your raspberry and sloe vodkas… will try those. Just thought I’d mention that Cranberry Vodka is pretty darn fine too. Same proportions and method as sloe gin, and it’s by far my favourite. Bramble Brandy (Again the same method and proportions) is alos a bit of a favourite. And both are far more forgiving of having too much sugar or too little, than Sloe Gin. Flynn
Hi J Manston
I have never seen them on sale apart from in London – Waitrose, £5.99 a punnet (late September).
Hello Flynn
I’ve heard that cranberry vodka is good and had forgotten about it so thanks for the nudge.
Must try bramble brandy too. Thanks!
My mother passed down her sloe gin recipe to me and we are now in our third year of successful production having found a blackthorn bush lurking at the back of the garden behind the shed! I am very much looking forward to trying the vodka version on this year’s sloes.
For anyone that finds pricking kilos of sloes a time-consuming nightmare like I do, I tried just scoring them with a sharp knife on one side (just through the skin), you can do several at a time and I find it much quicker – and the results are the same.
Hi Liz
Any chance of sharing your mother’s recipe?
Thanks for the pricking tips.
Hi,
Sure. I use kilner type jars. Prick/slit sloes and loosely pack in the jar till about 3/4 full. Add granulated sugar – 4oz to a 1lb jar, 8oz to a 2lb jar. Top up with gin, seal and leave 3-4 months in a cool, dark place. The earliest I decant mine into bottles is usually Christmas, but if I can resist for longer (or I have made loads!) then it gets better!
I have varied this recipe occasionally. It makes a very sweet liquer with a strong flavour which is delicious on its own or makes a very refreshing summer drink when served with tonic.
I tend to reduce the sloes to about 2/3 of the jar (out of laziness mostly!) and reduce the sugar slightly (especially if I have found the sloe sized wild plums which seem to be sweeter) as I like the slightly sharp taste that this produces. If I have enough sloes I make one sweet jar and one sharper, then blend the resulting liquers until it is just right!!
Can I just add that if you freeze the sloes for 24 hours, the skins will split and you don’t have to do any pricking or scoring….
Flynn, bramble brandy sounds good; do you think that works better than blackberry vodka?
Thanks to everyone for all these great ideas and recipes. I’ve made sloe gin and sloe vodka for the first time and, of course, sampled it. It’s brilliant and seems to be getting better by the week (I think that repeated sampling is essential!)
I’m sure I saw somewhere on this site that you could also use the sloes again to make a sort of fortified wine. Can anyone tell me whether I need to use white or red wine and if I need to add sugar? On bottle of sloe vodka has already been drained and those sloes are just begging for some wine.
Many thanks.
Glen
Heloo Liz
Thanks for the recipe. Much appreciated!
Hi Jenny
I’d like to have a go at bramble whisky. I reckon that three months infusion is the limit, as with blackberry vodka to avoid the woodiness developing.
Hi Glen
We use sherry rather than wine. Our recipe is here http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=104
[...] was until the reality sunk in about having to stone all the pesky berries! Roll on, the 6 litres of sloe vodka. Yum! [...]
Hi all,
After taking a part time job at tesco’s (i know it’s a sinful place but i needed some money after redundancy) I found 24 boxes(300g each)of blueberrys being thrown into the crusher. I immediatley stopped this stupid waste and now have 3 gallons of wine and 2 litres of vodka on the go. Did anyone else try the blueberry vodka or will i have to wait an see how it turns out?
I am now also awaiting any other “Waste” that can be recycled in this way
Hi Rob
You are lucky to have secured a job at Tesco. Apparently those jobs are like gold dust nowadays. You are also in a great place for recycling food that would otherwise be dumped!
I have made blueberry vodka. It tasted a bit thin. So if they are throwing out a punnet of raspberries I’d recommend adding a handful to pep up the grog.
I’ve never made or tried blueberry wine so can’t advise how it will turn out.
Hi All, best way around the chore of pricking sloes is to lay them out on a cloth on a hard flat surface and with a flat coarse grater (you know the one you use for grating lemon peel) roll them around, dont press too hard so that the fruit squash. This pierces the skins just enough and you can do probably enough for a bottle on one tea towel in a few minutes.
Best wishes on your ‘makings’. Just off for another nip, hic’
Hi, Just stubbled on this website after googling sloes. Had some from asda at xmas and loved it have had a couple of bottles since. I am a childminder and have three children of my own so need a nice relaxing drink at night. Sloe gin and ice it sublime. Reading all your comments and seeing that lots of you mention different fruit, so I would like to know can you use any berried fruit to make these drinks.
Many thanks.
Hi Denise
Yes you can use lots of different fruit : damsons, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, red/white/black currants, blueberries etc.
DONT WASH the sloes!!! The powdery bloom Granny said is the secret to a good sloe gin or vodka.
Hi Clare
Thanks for the tip. I didn’t know that.
i live in bromley kent and have been making sloe gin sloe vodka for years i put the sugar in with vodka / gin disolve then add the sloes works just as well shake every day last year made sloe schnapps excellent also pick sloes from our garden august very good you get a good crop every 2 years very good this year all the best
Have just finished my first bottle of Sloe Vodka bought at a rural Christmas market last year. If I pick some Sloe’s this season will the resulting Sloe Vodka be good to go this Christmas or do I need to resort to ‘shop’ bought for one more year? Also when is the best time to pick in the North?
Hi Edward
Thanks for sharing your method. Sloe schnapps sounds great too.
Hi Claire
Your sloe vodka should be good for Christmas. I’ve discovered that the vodka seems to mature more quickly than the gin.
Hi Sloe Vodka Buddies
Still got a demi-jon left from last year as we made quite a lot (4 LITRES!)! After decanting the sloe vodka from the demi-jon we added a small bottle of cheap whisky to the residue sloes some more sugar, just to try it out – EXCITING! Pour sloe vodka over ice-cream – YUMMY! Try finding those small chocolate shot cups and add sloe vodka – AMAZING! Great tip re pricking sloes, Graeme in January
Oddly, I didn’t know that sloe vodka was named after a fruit. I guess that’s what you get for growing up on the West Coast of the US, where blackthorn/sloe trees are not common (or found at all – I’m on a search now!).
That being said, I have made plenty of infused liquors over the years. My favorites are blackberry or elderberry vodka (you can even pretend the elderberry one is just medicine
and ginger bourbon. Mmm… ginger bourbon! Just throw a couple slices of ginger in a bottle of bourbon and be a happy, happy camper all winter.
This spring/summer I have been branching out. I made a vin de noix with black walnuts and spices infused in white wine and vodka. I also did a peach/blueberry/melissa (lemon balm) wine with lots of sugar, and plums in a mix of white wine and vodka. No sugar in that one, yet, but I need to strain it soon to get the pits out. Oh – and the hot chili pepper/black peppercorn vodka, and the mint vodka!
I think the sky is the limit with infused liquors. What do you have avaliable? Throw it in some liquor and see how it turns out
Now I have to find me a blackthorn tree….
hi Alyss
What a wonderful suggestion re the Ginger Bourbon – I’ll be trying that! To find a blackthorn initially you look for the copious white blossom in early spring, notably in hedgerows, and mind-mark it for later. Finding the blackthorn shrub with fruit you’ll have to wait until September at the earliest – small leaves and, as the name suggests,very long, sharp, hard black thorns – be prepared to suffer for your picking efforts! Just bottled some wild plum jam – great recipe from this site and delicious! Elderberries/blackberries next for the bottle/jar!
hi all!! i have just moved to a new area outof london… we have wonderful place’s to visit where i have moved to – one being walking distance
i noticed someone picking blackberries the other day. and had to investigate! i haven’t done this since i was a child. i found damsons!! had to look them up as i had never seen them, and what looks like a sloe berry, although i didnt notice any thorns!! i will look again. i did cut it open and it looks like a tiny plum, with a tiny stone inside?
any way they seem to be ready now, coming away nice and easy slightly soft to, but i have been reading on here that you should wait until after the first frost’s – i am new to all this and need some pointers…..
so any help and advise would be great.
xx
Am about to make sloe vodka also have grown a vast amouts of chillies so am going to wack them in both gin and vodka ha ha lets see what happens.
I have picked loads of sloes, its a real bumper crop this year and they are really large. I know there has been the tip to freeze them to create the frost but can you leave them frozen so that I can create batches up to and after the festive season as I seem to give a lot away at Christmas. Oh and by the way the family think I am mad as I spend my evenings looking for another recipe to create. I wish I had found your site earlier in the year – the raspberry liqueurs look great but there is always next season.
Hi Alyss
Thanks so much for all your ideas. Can’t wait to try them out.
Hi Jan
Great information on identifying sloes. Thank you.
Glad that you liked the plum jam.
Hi Sara
You don’t have to wait until the first frosts, just whack them un the freezer.
Re sloe identification etc I recommend Richard Maybes Food for Free. The pocket edition is on offer on Amazon and just under £3.00 – a real bargain.
Hello Tim
Great idea. Have you tried chilli sherry – http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=98
Hi Quackerz
Yes you can freeze sloe for later use but I wouldn’t leave them in the freezer for more than three months as their flavour will diminish.
My family used to be like that until they tasted the produce
This year has been a bumper year for both Sloes and blackberries.
I normally make jam or puddings with the blackberries so I’m keen to try to try the Vodka and Brandy with them. Can anyone tell me what quantity of sugar is required for them.
Hello Mary Jo
The raspberry gin recipe here
http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=53
gives the amount of sugar for blackberry gin/vodka.
I’ve not made blackberry brandy so can’t help with that.
hello to you all,this year will be my first sloe gin,vodka bonanza and i cant wait.We moved into a place in the country nearly 3 years ago and i am lucky to have 200ft of sloe bush going along one side of my property,thanks for all the ideas i will definatley be putting one away for next year a real vintage.thanks again all the best bernie
Hi Bernie
Wow you are lucky to have sloes in your garden!
Thanks for dropping by.
I have just got in from collecting 11 lb of big juicy sloes from just two bushes!!! what a bumper crop. Last year was terrible down my way – I’m so excited!! I intend to make 1/2 gin 1/2 vodka and decant into gift bottles for friends and family at christmas. I have read somewhere about dipping left over sloes in luxury dark choc – could be scrummy and also a nice gift maybe – off to the cash and carry now for the plonk!
Hi Natalie
Lucky you, 11 lbs is a great haul.
Last year was terrible around here too.
sorry mate but chilli sherry sounds sooo wrong, how ever in last years sloe gin i added some stuff called glog from Denmark a herb and spice liquid they add to wine and serve warm and if i say so my self its very very nice just adds that little winter feeling to the gin.
I made damson brandy and used the left over damsons to make chocolate sweets to go with the tipple of damson brandy. oooo it was heaven…. Not quite the same with sloes…
Maggie
Hi Tim
I must try and get hold of glog. Sounds good.
Chilli sherry is great, it can lift a soup or a sauce in seconds. Also bracing head clearing stuff if you have a cold
Hi Maggie
I’m going to make sweets this year too.
The trick that I find works best (and I can’t remember where I got it from) is to add the sloes to the sugar in a suitable container – but don’t add anything else at this stage. Turn the sugar + sloe mixture (or shake it about a bit) every day for a couple of weeks and then (and only then) add the alcohol and any other ingredients.
The rationale is that the sugar extracts all the juice that it can by osmosis and when that is finished, the alcohol gets the rest.
Hi Dirk
This sounds an intersting alternative method. Can’t wait to give it a go. Thank you.
Hi Dirk
That sounds a novel way of doing it. How long would you start to drink it after adding the alcohol? Do you need to leave it couple of months?
I wouldn’t mind trying to flavour the drink with raspberries or blackberries one year. My crop of raspberries has just been a handful. very disappointing.
Maggie
There isn’t any difference in the length of time before drinking. All one is doing is using the osmotic pressure available within the sugar to extract more of the juice from the sloes.
The important thing is to make sure that the sloes are well pricked (or frozen) so that the sugar can get in to do its work. Another thing that happens is that one gets a more intense colour as the sugar also extracts the anthocyanins in the skin better than just the alcohol (greater osmotic pressure again).
If one likes one’s sloe gin/vodka sharp then once all the sugar has dissolved in the juice it has extracted, then one can add the alcohol straight away. I like it a touch sweeter, so there is usually sugar left still undissolved after a fortnight.
Don’t forget the almond essence (and use the real stuff). A few drops makes all the difference.
[...] sloe vodka [...]
Hi just love this site so many people with so much info! Since escaping to the country 6 yrs ago I have successfully made sloe gin and vodka. We tried blackberry vodka but it ended up looking brown and didn’t taste good either – where did I go wrong?
Recently found wild plum and yellow bullace trees all just ripe – 12 lbs of fruit were picked in no time.
Tasted Sloe Whisky with honey at a show recently promised my mum I’d make some anyone seen such a recipe?
Hi I’m new to usig sloes but decided to try some sloe vodka this year, but I only have orange vodka in the cupboard do you think it work?
Hello extownie
Blackberry vodka – only leave the blackberries in the vod for 3 months max of it will taste woody and vile.
Perhaps you could use Dirks method (above).
Don’t know of a recipe for sloe whisky, sorry.
Hi Lynda
I’d start of using plain vodka if I was you
I have just been up my lane to pick the sloes. Only one bush this year with the sloes so meager helpings at New Year, i know we are meant to leave for three months, but no chance in this household. Just popping them in the freezer!!! as at moment sitting in the gardens in the sunshine and temperatures of 19c
When I moved house this summer after getting married I found the punnet of half-price cranberries I had bought, intending to try some cranberry and raspberry jam. Needless to say that never happened, but there are several bottles of cranberry gin “resting in the cellar”.
I’m tee-total but a chemistry graduate, so it’s all about the experimentation! The wife will make short work of the grog, I’m sure. Along with the sloe gin and sloe vodka I’ve made this week…
I freeze the sloes, then make the rocket fuel. After a couple of days I drain and then prick them, returning everything to the bottle. Seems to speed the process up – but that’s not proven yet. Good year for sloes. Remember to leave some for the birds, though!
Hi Sarah Louise
We often drink ours way to early too
Sunshine at this time of year is such a joy.
Hello Rob
Cranberry gin sounds excellent. Your wife is very lucky indeed.
Hi just to update, fn, decided to try the orange vodka wuth the sloes and it’s works very well have now got a small amount waiting to be opened at xmas if it lasts that long!!
Liking the idea of cranberry gin Sarah Louise might give that a try!
Hello Lynda
Brilliant news – thanks for the update!
Hi
I am nearly ready to bottle my liquers. Sloe bacardi and vodka is tasting lovely. But i am not sure on the gin. It is not sweet but still abit bitter. I am not quite sure how its supposed to be when bought from the shops. Whats peoples preference on this?
Also, looking at some older blogs, a recipe for slider seems good way to recycle the sloes. Add the sloes from whatever, I will use the gin, vodka and bacardi and add it to farmhouse cider. Not sure if that is sparkly strongbow or a still cider. I do prefer strongbow or stowford press. Has anyone recently tried this ?
Maggie x
Hi Maggie
The gin needs about 6 months to mature ideally. I don’t know why but gin seems to take longer than other spirits.
I haven’t tried slider yet but everyone says it’s great. Personally I would use sparkly.
Have been making sloe gin for a few years now and my 2004 batch ( not much left now !! ) is like a liqueur, similar consistency of Drambuie!! And for the first time this year i tried vodka so really looking forward to trying this, For a laugh why not try Skittles vodka, all you need is a small packet of said sweet and add to the bottle of vodka ( after drinking a little so it does not overflow, then as with before, just agitate over a few days and the skittles will dissolve.
Hi
Bottling time is here. Just done my sloe bacardi. Previously when I have served my sloe bacard/gin/vodka I have served it neat. My guests always said…”wow, thats nice”. I think tho that maybe I should be adding some tonic/soda/lemonade.
How do other people prefer their drinks?
Happy drinking.
Maggie
Am I the only person making sloe gin and vodka in February?
I have finally defrosted the sloes and am going for the kilner jar and the dry sugar osmotic method above. I don’t think all the sloes have split but I reckon they will over the next few days as I shake them up with the sugar!
I find sloe gin a bit sweet usually so have reduced (halved?) the sugar to 4 oz per 2lb jar 3/4 full of sloes. Will that be too dry?
And – I have never added vanilla to sloe gin before so would like to experiment. My vanilla essence bottle looks as though it dates back to the late 60s so I guess that might be “inadequate”. I do have a real vanilla pod. Any ideas how much I should use? I would like a hint of vanilla rather than a vanilla flavour!
Well thanks to you at this site ive done my sloe vodka end of Sept. Mid Oct. Well iv had a few diggs at it and its very-very good. I look forward to doing lots more this next season as iv found an old estate that has hedge fulls of them so i will be trying lots more mixes including bacardi sloe. Tell you how it works out . Thanks again.
Further to my note on Cranberry gin (Nov 4th), add more sugar! Normal quantities turns it into something fit only for the lawnmower.
Re Simons Skittles vodka….take out the purple and green ones for a better looking drink (it can look a bit brown and uninviting otherwise) you end up with a reddy orange colour drink…….very nice it is too
After seeing sloes in abundance yesterday and seeing your recipes am looking forward to making both sloe vodka and gin,just ashame that have to wait for sloes to rippen….but should be excellent and well worth waiting for!!
Hello FN and all your correspondents. I happened upon your website when ‘googling’ sloes from my house in North Cyprus. What a lovely cheerful and merry! bunch of people. Thank you so much for the chuckles and the ideas. I have discovered a tree in my new garden which I rather think is a type of damson/plum with fruit very similar to sloes. I am going to give making a liquer a shot. Best regards, Anne.
Hi,
I am new to this foraging thing and was hoping someone might be able to help me. I have picked what I think are sloes, they certainly look the same as all the pictures I have looked up and so do the leaves. The only thing that is bothering me is that the blackthorn tree, is described as having thorns and the trees I picked my “sloes” from didnt. Well not that I could see anyway. So have I picked sloes or something else entirely? Can anyone advise?
You should be able to see the thorns. They are about an inch long, so be very careful with whatever you have picked. Advise you ask around and find a blackthorn bush.
Hi Fiona, Danny & everyone,
I have been reading your blogs with interest for a year now (when I decided to start preserving as a way of making Christmas gifts). I find it all very informative & at times it raises a smile & a chuckle or two.
I have decided to try the bramble brandy so fingers crossed it works. I’m eager to make good use too of the bullaces, haws, sloes & rosehips that seem to be plentiful this year (unless I just never noticed them before.)
Keep up the good work.
Hazel xx
After 3 months, when you strain the gin from the sloes, keep some of the sloes and take out the stones. Make sure that you sqeeze as much liquid from the sloes as is humanly possible. Melt a big block of plain chocolate and add the sloe fruit. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into those little paper cake cases and put into the fridge to set. YUM!
Jan! I was wondering when I should strain the sloes out of the vodka and gin. Now I know the answer is “Soon” so I get to make sloe chocolate – or maybe that should be “slow chocolate”
In reply to doing chocolate with the sloes after, I made some lovely damson chocolate. I used the damsons from damson brandy and instead of chucking them away melted some good chocolate with them, put them into tiny petti four cases and served them with the damson brandy to visitors . It went down a dream. I’ve got some plum brandy on the go at the moment.
I’ve seen plenty of red coloured berries out but Im not sure what they are. There are so many varieties. I will have to find out what they are and if I can make anything with them. Has anyone done anything with them??
Ta
Mags
You need to be *really* careful, there is a lot of bryony about this year and yes, they are appealing little bunches of red berries.
Off hand I can’t think of any round red wild berry that isn’t something obvious like a wild cherry (and you won’t see many of those once they ripen) that isn’t inedible -> poisonous.
Hi Maggie
Great idea putting the chocolates in little cases
It’s well worth investing in a good book for identifying fruit. I recommend Hedgerow by John Wright – http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/hedgerow-by-john-wright-%e2%80%93-river-cottage-handbook-no-7-review-6914 as it has photos. Somethings growing in the hedgerows can poison you!
Just thought I’d share my find with you all…
Damson Jack.
Damsons and Jack Daniels is to die for. Make like Damsons gin or vodka, not too much sugar to start with about 100-120g in a 75cl bottle. Half full bottle of Jack, add sugar and fill to brim with Damsons.
Can be drunk from a week onwards… I kid you not.(although I’ve found 1 month to be the ideal if you slit the Damsons to get them in the neck of the bottle)
I tried this as a dare when making Damsons vodka… on my third years production now!!!
I am still making my drink by putting drink and sloes or other fruits into a container and then straining it through muslin and re bottling it. I haven’t tried to make it into a bottle yet. Im ready to make some more sloe vodka so may try this method.
My query is that when you pour out the vodka to drink will it be all murky? Thats why i strain mine first.
The Jack Daniels all ready in a week sounds devine! so quick!
And thanks . I think its time I bought a decent book to identify all the berries. Im sure Im missing out on some good finds. Many thanks to all x
Hi Maggie
Our sloe vodka, made in vodka bottles is not all murky. There is a small amount of residue at the bottom of the bottle but nothing to worry about.
A decent foraging book is a great investment!
Just a quick note on the Damson Jack (see above)
The reason this is ready to bottle/drink that much quicker is because you don’t want to lose the distinctive flavour of the jd.
My advice is to try at week 1,2,3 and 4 to see which you prefer. You can also add sugar to your taste in these tasting sessions.
I find end of week two my personal favourite.
Would love to know if everyone likes this as much as I do??
What a great website. Just made my first every blackberry brandy and was looking for some more ideas. Roll on tomorrow – I can see this weeks shopping consisting of vodka and gin.
I made some more sloe vodka this year as lasts years was divine!! However, I would like to make some liqueur chocolates with the strained and stoned sloes but cannot find a recipe how to do this. Also I was informed by a chocolate mould seller that the alcohol stopped the chocolate from setting! can anyone out there give me some advice? or a recipe! I want to make them with plain choc.
Hi Leone.
If you look at my previous message, not too far back, I made some chocs and they were delicious. I didn’t follow a recipe. Just added chocolate to the fruit as required. I didn’t put mine in a mould but in small cases.
I am also going to do SLIDER again this year. Mixing the sloes from whatever liquer with a good cider. I gave this as a present to my connoiseur cider drinking friend and she loved it.
Hi – I have made my sloe gin and am happily turning that every other day. I am also making LIMONCELLO this year as well and thought I’d share the recipe. Pour 750 ml of grain alcohol or vodka into a sterile bottle. Peel the rind off 10 small lemons & add to alcohol. Put in a cool dark place for 2 weeks, shaking regularly so that the lemony oils come out from the strips of peel. After 2 weeks, bring 600ml of water to a boil. Add 2 large mugs of sugar & boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Strain rinds from alcohol. Pour sugar mixture into alcohol. Bottle and freeze. Serve over ice.
Hello SuzieP
Wow your limoncello recipe sounds amazing. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe
Hi SuzieP
Re – Limoncello
I love the lemony idea, but am trying to reduce sugar – unless already converted into alcohol!! I might try it with less sugar – have you ever tried that?
Do you really freeze the bottles? does the drink not freeze as well?
In August 2009 i made some damson vodka which i forgot until last month. I filtered and bottled it and it is not very nice. It smells and tastes musty.Does anyone know a recovery process eg add more sugar or more fruit or what?
Well iv had to bye a freezer just for me sloes, this year has been the best yet. Left work at 4pm to go pick a few blbs of sloes at 6pm im still picking and iv got 20lbs yes 20lbs off the row, more to come this week , i now have 40 bottles set out. YUM
can anyone advise me on how to make slider from the sloe berry left overs after decanting ??
Hi Steve
Last year i just put sloes with my favourite cider – Stowford Press – in the bottle. About quarter bottle of sloes, and left it for a couple of weeks. It tasted really nice.
Mags
Hi All, Well the year has gone fine,made lots and lots of sloe vodka and got a freezer full of sloes to work on. The new brew i have on the go is Sloe Run, only 3 weeks to go and ill have my first glass.
Had a try of my first sloe rum, mmmmmm its as good if not just a bit better than the vodka. also while i was making a brew of sloe vodka i found that i had run ot of white sugar, not up to running to Tesco i found that i had a box of brown sugar cubes so not to bo put off i mad 2 bottles with the brown sugar, ( You have to try this) it has lots more punch than with white and looks better in the glass,,,Not that you will have time to view the product for drinkig it..
Hi all, to go alongside my collection of raspberry gin, sloe gin, bullace vodka and blackberry gin, I thought I’d experiment with some gooseberry vodka and gin this year. Does anyone have a receipe?? Thanks
Hi Andy
Gooseberry gin/vodka is basically the same recipe as raspberry gin. I will be posting the recipe up over the weekend. Gooseberry gin/vodka is to die for.
hi, does anyone have a recipe for raspberry bacardi? I have a bottle of bacardi and wondered what to do with it as no one drinks it here. thanks
Brilliant ideas!
sloes are early this year
They are! Picked 11lbs at the weekend, now the fun begins!
I have a quick question: Just gone out and picked my first ever batch of Sloes! Really looking forward to trying this but looking at the recipe above I can’t work out if it’s 1lb sloes per 75cl bottle or between the two? (I’m probably just being a dunce!) Please help! Made my first plum vodka earlier this year too so can’t wait to get tasting!!! Thanks in advance for your help x
Hi Danielle,
It’s 1 litre of vodka for every 1 lb of sloes, you just split them between the two empty 75cl bottles – alternately just find yourself a large 1.5 litre kilner jar to put it all in.
Andy
there’s lots of notes circulating on sloe gin and vodka and i shall certainly be making both this year. I’ve just , successfully, made blackberry vinegar. Has anybody ever made sloe vinegar?
Good evening Danny and Fiona, I’ve been enjoying your site for well over a year but this is my first post. I love reading about your fruit spirits recipes, and your dogs and your recipes. I make fruit spirits from sloes, bullaces, and wild plums. Here in rural, coastal, Lancashire there are loads of opportunities for foraging.
This evening I called on a friend to ask if she would like to come foraging with me, the plan was to harvest some enormous sloes, the size of bullaces, but definitely sloes. They grow beside local commercial greenhouses, that might be why they are so big. But they’re not always so enormous, just a brilliant year for these old trees. Yes, small trees, and I was so happy to have Jane with me because her reach is at least 9 inches longer than mine!
Well, I’ve cleaned ‘em and destalked where necessary and tomorrow they will go into three empty 3litre water containers (large neck type) with the ratio 1lb sloes, 4 oz sugar and one 75cl bottle of gin.
I know they would be better if bletted by the first frost but we are expecting very, very high winds tomorrow and we often get the first frost after the new year here on the Lancashire coast.
I give away or donate most of my fruit gins, and am also planning a Chrimbo treat for my dog walking friends – a slug of sloe gin, a mince pie and a Bonio down where the river meets the canal on Boxing Day morning!
Best regards,
Lisa
Forgive my ignorance this is the first year I have ventured into ‘ foraging’ and have found a number of bushes i beleive to be blackthorn with lots of sloe berries. My question is : Is the inside of the berry green ? I know the shiny ones are not yet ripe and to look for berries with a bloom but I expected the inside to be red – giving the final colour to the sloe gin, I was also surprised to find a stone in the middle, any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Janet
Janet, yes thats right the inside of the fruit is green. The red colour comes from the skins. Which are blue-black! Clear?
And yes they do have stones. Enjoy. Good crop this year.
Went out walking today and the sloes are still beautiful! I plan to go and pick a load tomorrow…they are so big and soft now.Problem is affording the spirits.I think sloe rum might be my next project.
hi all i made sloe vodka last year but with a twist i put a pricked chilly in with the sloes it gives a wonderful drink a interesting edge great over ice or if you want to be really decadent mix with champers .
I do hope I havn’t messed up. I was under the impression it was 1lb sloes 1lb sugar and a 70cl bottle of gin. My ‘ brew’ has been on the go for 3 weeks and I couldn’t resist a sneaky taste…….I have to admit it’s a bit on the sweet side, and reading a few of the more recent posts 1lb of berries and sugar should go with a 1 litre bottle of gin…Is this just personal preference ? or should I just add more gin to make it less sweet or will the sweetness lessen if I leave it longer ?
Hello Janet…don’t worry,you can’t mess up! I’d personally add more gin,it will dilute the sweetness.I think my recipe call for 1lb sloes 8oz sugar and 1 ltr spirit of your choice.So a bit of trial and error…think I’d add the gin,taste it in a few days and see then.If you can get more sloes to add to the mix,don’t be afraid to add some.Keep tasting and adjusting…but keep writing down what you do,then next year you’ll have some idea of what to do and what to avoid.Hope I haven’t waffled on too much for you!
Thanks Lesley, I could try both options I have more Sloes frozen But think I’l add more gin !! lol….It will be an enjoyable experiment …!
That’s the best option…keep tasting!Enjoy…
Hiya I’m new to this site. I’ve really enjoyed reading all your comments and am going to be trying out some new recipes. If I have a few of the last blackberries what would people recommend I do with them – Vodka or Gin or Brandy Also recipe please? Thanks
hiya,some cracking idea,s on here,have me 3 bottles on the go at the mo,1 with normal demerea sugar.1 with dark demerea sugar(look,s very dark in the bottle)and 1 with castor,still got 3lb of sloes left,so any rum recipes,and a recipe for cider,(slider),as the youngest loves his cider,and allso,any idea,s for bacardi,the wife likes that,cant wait to get some more cooking,enjoy your tipple,,ian
Hi Ian,I use asda white rum (as opposed to more expensive Baccardi)and it works well.1 Ltr rum,1 lb sloes,washed and pricked and 8oz soft dark brown sugar.try a taste after a few weeks and add more sugar if it’s not sweet enough.Enjoy,Mrs Ian!
AAlso,I’d write down what’s in each jar,because of the length of time all your lovely liquids are standing.I have a tendancy to forget…nowt to do with all tha sampling!
hiya lesley,does the white rum taste the same as bacardi,i like a drop of the lamb,s navy,,just been upstairs and had a sneak taste,it,s comeing on great,daughter loves it,so does the wife,a bit sweet for her,found some small sloes near me,so will have to pick a few in the morn when i walk the pup,as only got 3lb left to play with,found a new recipe on a hunting forum,sound,s good so going to try that in the morn,bakeing the sloes with the sugar,into a syrup,then adding the vodka,which i am useing,have a 1lb in the fridge now,took em out the freezer today,ready,good fun this,still need a recipe for slider,will keep looking,well of for some more reading,,ian
Hi
This link contains a couple of “recipes” i.e. suggested quantities for Slider (or Slyder)
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20021
and here is a shop that sells it @17.5% alcohol
http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=4333
I have never made this as I love the crispness of cyder and find fruit cyders too sweet. However…
My thoughts would be to experiment. For example, when making Sloe gin and vodka, I do one lot with 4 oz sugar, one with 6 oz etc. I like it pretty dry – others like it sweeter. The thing is you can add sugar to taste at the end (but you can’t remove it so easily). You could of course “dilute it” with more alcohol or water or tonic water).
So, if it were me, I would try quarter filling a jar with the sloe sludge, and top up with cyder. and then maybe another with an eighth, and then a half. It depends what you are trying to achieve in terms of strength and intensity of flavour. Don’t forget to label which is which so you can make it to your taste next time.
When it is ready – you can see which you prefer! – and of course you could either mix in more cyder or add a slug of sloe gin/vodka.
That should be an interesting and enjoyable evening!
And you have inspired me – I now need to go and pick some sloes which have now been frosted. I know where they are!
Here we go again!!
Hi all.I’ve won a bottle of Grouse and a bottle of ruby port…any ideas that connect either with sloes?
Hi Lesley
Lucky you. Those are too good for sloes although, thinking about it – sloes and port could be a wow combination. No need to add sugar. You could try a small bottle. If you are brave and try this I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi fn,
The idea of a small bottle is appealing,might try that.I did think of using a freshly sliced orange and a handful of cranberries.Think I’ll try small amounts of both and see how it turns out…either way,it won’t be wasted!So that’s the port sorted.I might try the Grouse on a Christmas cake,just puncture the cake with a fine skewer,then let the spirit soak through…
Ah. The spirit of Christmas!