flavoured vodka

[Aragorn]

i've just( yesterday) had a go at strawberry and blackberry vodka, the jar i am using is supposed to be air tight, just give it a bit of a shake to help the sugar dissolve and realised the jar isn't air tight as its leaking a bit, will this matter i will only be leaving it a couple of weeks before drinking but will the fruit go "off" if the jar isn't airtight

 

[John Fenna]

Run insulating tape around the stopper/jar join - result - airtight!
It is how I always do my sloe gin bottles that sit for months....

 

[addo]

Ive always used demi johns with an air lock for 3 months then into screw top bottles.
Guess the air prob you have might be a prob but then the vodka might preserve. It would certainly be a problem if the alcohol wasn't already there.

 

[Aragorn]

THIS is the jar i am using, 2ltr size, i have wrapped the top with cling film, good tip about the tape Johm will have a look if i can do that, may be awkward though with the clamp arrangement, if i was to get a better jar tommorow and transfer the contents would that be a better bet, the fruit been in there for two day's now (would be 3 tommorow), if it was going to go mouldy do you think i would have caught it in time, as addo say's hope fully the vodka will help to preserve it ?

 

[Toddy]

I must admit I've never bothered taping bottles or jars. The only problem I could see you might have is with the alcohol evaporating. I think I'd just screw it as tight as possible. A bottle of ordinary booze will sterilise a water butt of water if that's any guide to it's potential for not going off.

I've got rosehips in vodka just now and I got some brambles into another bottle last week.........but has anyone got any new ideas what to do with sloes ?
I'm fed up making sloe gin and the sloe whisky wasn't wonderful to quote Son2 "Why ? " but I've got a bowlful of sloes and it seems a shame not to use them.

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. Just followed the link........the seals aren't thick enough on those jars. I bought some for dyestuffs and they leaked
I fixed it by cutting out additional ones from a silicon baking sheet.

atb,
M

 

[addo]

I make sloe vodka now instead of gin. think you can taste the sloes better. I follow huge furrys Whittling tools recipie.

 

[spamel]

Oooh, I should taste test the Sloe Vodka, just to make sure it is OK!

<nips off to get a glass and some cling film to re-seal the demijohn later>

 

[stevesteve]

Are the sloes ready yet? I thought I was supposed to wait for the first frost. I don't want to miss this lot:

Cheers,
Steve

 

[spamel]

Mine were from last year, I just never got round to doing them and they sat in the freezer!

 

[bikething]

Are the sloes ready yet? I thought I was supposed to wait for the first frost. I don't want to miss this lot:

In this country they'll be long gone before the first frost..

You could bag them loosely and sling them in the freezer like I did last year - hey-presto ... instant frost !!!

overnight should do it, and bursts the skins so you don't need to bother with all that pricking malarky

top-tip - If you handle them while they're still frozen they're a lot easier to get into the bottles - I use a cone of paper to funnel them in

 

[Mesquite]

THIS is the jar i am using, 2ltr size.......

Ahhhh good old Ikea. Sadly I've not heard good reports about the sealing properties of those jars. Lot of chili folks don't use them for that very reason and only go for the Kilner ones which have excellent seals on them.

 

[Aragorn]

thanks for that Mary will have a look for a sheet tomorrow, thinking about it now the seal is pretty thin, no offence but trust a woman to find the solution straight away, and the blokes just reach for another roll of tape

 

[spamel]

Just tried my sloe vodka, it is like nectar! I may have to add a bit more vodka as it is quite sweet but it goes down nice and leaves a warmth in your stomach! Very nice.

 

[sam_acw]

Easy to get lazy here as you can just buy all sorts off the shelf - I even saw birch sap flavoured vodka the other day

 

[inthewids]

I tried a few different things in vodka before, skittles and jelly babies, the skittles were better as they dissolved well and made it sweet, fruity and yummers!! Jelly babies didnt dissolve so well but still pretty good.

 

[spamel]

My cherry vodka is vile!

 

[addo]

Cool! ive just found a bottle of sloe vodka from last year along with 2 bottles of elder/black berry wine from the year before that when tidying the garage out from moving house. forgot all about them. I'll bring some down to coventry.

 

[spamel]

Scrap my last post, the cherry vodka has improved massively since last week! The Ratbag gave it his seal of approval anyway!

 

[SOAR]

Sounds like there is going to be a great tasting session had at Coventry, never tried sloe vodka before.

 

[spamel]

Then I shall bring some along! Got to get a decent bottle to stick it in, I've got a few empty Stags' Breath bottles that'll do, Hic!