Two recipes: Wild Damson Gin and Sloe Gin recipes
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Liqueurs | 711 comments
Wild damsons are a beautiful rich dark colour
Unlike sloes, wild damsons are hard to find. For every thirty wild plum trees there may be just one wild damson tree. When I spot wild damsons in the hedgerows, they are harvested into a special bag.
These, and the diminutive bullace, are the kings of hedgerow fruit. These tiny fruit make such an irresistible liqueur that overnight guests have actually turned down Danny’s famous cooked breakfast, and gone back to bed to sleep off the excesses of the night before.
Our damson and sloe gin is not the thick ultra sweet variety. We prefer the sugar to enhance rather than shield the flavour. Every three months or so it’s sampled and, if necessary, topped up with sugar. Usually no extra sugar is needed.
We try to keep our damson and sloe gin well away from the drinks tray! Each year we make a lot of fruit gin and vodka (more recipes to follow, in time). Sloe gin is the big craze at the moment around here, as sloes are more plentiful.
Here are our recipes for both. We are also starting experimenting with sloe gin see this post for details
Tips and tricks:
- Make more than you need the first year, so you can compare different vintages. This liqueur does improve over time.
- Some people drain the grog through muslin after a couple of months, to clarify the liqueur and bottle. We don’t bother as one old soak tipped that, once the gin is drunk, you can pour medium sherry on the fruit and start all over again! The latter is devilish and drinkable within three months. We have a recipe for this in our wine and gin section.
- Keep your fruit gin away from the light as this will maintain the colour. Unless it is in a dark green or brown bottle. Wrapping it in brown parcel paper will keep out the light.
- Make notes on a label of your fruit gin/vodka /sugar ratio and stick it onto the bottle(s) so that you have a record, if you make a particularly good batch. We note our responses as the grog matures. Yucky after sixth months can be to die for in a year (you will probably not remember without notes). Notes seem boring when you are making the grog but they are so worthwhile when you start again the next year. It won’t be long before you will get a feel of what works well for your taste (and the notes will come into their own).
- Adding almond essence to sloe gin lifts it from good to great. I haven’t tried this with the damson gin but return in a years’ time for our review.
- Don’t kill the liqueur with too much sugar at the start. Use the amount above to start your sloe or damson gin and then every couple of months take a tiny sip. At this time add more sugar if it is too sharp for your taste.
- Gin v Vodka? Vodka can be used as the spirit for these recipes. Although I’m a vodka drinker, we tend to stick to a gin base for our fruit liqueurs.
- A good damson gin can be made from ordinary damsons available in the shops. As they are bigger you would need to put them into a larger Le Parfait jar (I’d use a 2 litre size).
- People have been picking sloes from September 1st around here. Some people say that you shouldn’t pick sloes until after the first frost. This can be circumvented by putting your sloes in the freezer overnight. We don’t bother with either method and always have great results.
- This year we have made up a number of small (1lb honey jars) of sloe gin to give as Christmas presents.
| Wild Damson Gin and sloe gin Recipes |
Recipe Type: Liqueurs
Prep time: 15 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Ingredients
- Wild damson gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed wild damsons
- 6 ozs/168gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle with stopper/cork
- Sloe Gin:
- 1lb/454gm of washed sloes
- 4 ozs/112gm of white granulated sugar
- 75cl bottle of medium quality gin
- Sterilised 1 litre (at least) Le Parfait jar or wide necked bottle
- 1-2 drops of almond essence
Instructions
- Wild damson gin:
- Wash damsons well and discard any bad or bruised fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place damsons in either a large
- Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre bottle.
- Using a funnel, add the sugar and top up with gin to the rim.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year). If you are planning to drink this after 3 months, have a nip afetr a month, and top up with sugar to taste.
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year. Don’t leave the straining process any longer than a year; leaving the fruit in too long can spoil the liqueur, as we found to our cost one year.
- Sloe gin:
- Wash sloes well and discard any bruised or rotten fruit. Prick fruit several times with a fork and place sloes in either a large Kilner/Le Parfait jar or a wide necked 1 litre 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.
- Add the almond essence.
- Shake every day until the sugar is dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place until you can resist it no longer (leave for at least three months, we usually let it mature for a year).
- Some people strain the grog (through muslin/jelly bag) after 3 months and bottle it, leaving it mature for six months. We strain and bottle after a year.
Leave a reply
HI i only had a 1 litre jar and followed the recipe with the weight of fruit and sugar but i couldnt fit all the gin into the bottle there is probably around 20 – 30 cl left will this affect the taste, i was thinking that it would be more fuirty and sweeter ?? im am going to todo another bottle with less fruit and suger and but all the gin and compare the two
over xmas.
It won’t affect the taste, other than to make it a bit sweeter than you might have planned. But you are presumably only doing what everyone else(including myself) does, which is use a 1 ltr. jar, 1 lb fruit and 6 oz. sugar. There wwill be gin left over from a 750 cl bottle.
Actually, this year I’ve used only 5 oz sugar. and I’ll taste it soon to see if it needs a bit more. It probably will.
Best.
Max.
Hi, I’m looking for advice. I started a sloe gin batch off with just the sugar and sloes. Never got round to adding the gin though. It’s still in the jar, sealed and in the dark. There’s no mould or any thing. It’s a lovely colour liquid and want to know if it’s safe to add gin to it or throw away?
Sugar is a natural preservative and the gin will act as a steriliser when you add it. This is all about flavour though. Try a little of the existing liquor and if it tastes good (Sloes are naturally very tart) then chuck in the gin. The gin pulls the colour from the skins (like red wine) so it is important to soak them for 3 months at least.
Do you keep it airtight? I,m using raspberries. Had raspberry gin over Xmas, lovely.
Having made my first ever batch of damson gin I am now at the stage to decant and bottle it. I intend to use suitable bottles which are very clean indeed but I wonder if some form of sterilisation is necessary. Can you advise please?
Hi Stan.
You don’t need to sterilize anything when decanting unless you want to – but you absolutely should remember to filter it – I use a folded muslin cloth and an ordinary kitchen strainer.
Good luck.
Max.
Hello Max
Thank you for this useful information, I will now go and find a muslin shop!
Christmas dinner etc. first though.
Stan Parker
Coffee filters work well if the Muslin is in short supply!
I would If you have a dishwasher and the bottles are dishwasher proof use it if not wash in hot sopy water and rinse well then use a kettle full of boiling water fill up to rim leave for an hour, empty the water. Then gas mark 1 for 30 min perfectly sterilised
Careful with boiling water I’ve smashed a bottle due to the thermal shock.
Can you use the damson for anything after you have strained the gin off and bottled it please?
Many thanks
Yes, you can. Take the stones out and you can bake with the boozy damsons, or you can mix them them with other fruits.
Personally, I don’t think they’re ever quite as punch as you’re expecting. I intend to try adding a little sugar and soaking them in rum for a while before using them, but your experience may vary of course.
If you enjoy cooking try looking up Nigel Slater’s duck recipe in which he uses damson gin in the cooking. It’s really good!
Max.
* punchy…
take the stone out , put in a ice cube make , pour melted chocolate over and let set , nice chocolate liqures
fiest year for making sloe gin,brandy and vodka. 8 bottles fermenting. best way please for sterilising. best wishes.
What a lovely site. I have been making all sorts of his and vodka for years but still lots of good ideas on here. Someone wrote about quince vodka saying it was terrible. Well it is. Leave it on the fruit for year, then strain and bottle and it is as rough as anything. However, leave it in that very same bottle (off the fruit) and give it another year. You will be checking your notes and labels, as the drink bears no resemblance. It’s magic.
Yes of course your friend can freeze them. In fact they are often better after having been frozen, which helps soften the skins.
I am getting some damsons from a friend to make the gin but wont see the friend for a while. Can she freeze them for a month or so until she is able to give them to me?
I have just sampled my sloe and rose hip gin which I made last year, I only added the rosehips as the sloes’ were few and far between, but it does have a lovely flavour also added grated ginger for an added warmth to the flavour, all fruit was frozen prior to making .