Sloe Gin recipes

[Robson Valley]

Sound like about as dry as a bad persimmon. Thanks but no thanks.
I see the BC liquor stores carry Hayman's Slow Gin from the UK. 700ml for approx $35.00
162 reviews scored 2.8/5. You can keep it.

Neighbor on one side has 2 kinds of pears. I have 2 apples, grapes, berries and cherries.
Next neighbor has 2 apples, different again. Good enough, we trade.

 

[Toddy]

Sloes are to plums what crabs are to apples.

Some bushes are more like the bullaces and damsons though.

I don't bother freezing the fruit first, and I don't use 'good' vodka or gin anymore. I buy bog standard plain stuff and it works fine.

If you ***** them all over (don't stress it, just roll over them with a sharp grater or use a fork) then pop them into a bottle and just and no more cover them with alcohol, they'll leach out the colour and flavour pretty quickly. I admit I usually half fill the bottle with sloes, pour in enough sugar to just sift in among them, and then cover with alcohol. I set the bottle beside the kitchen sink, that way I mind to give it a good shake every time I see it.

If you add extra juniper berries, and a good handful of rasps or brambles, a length of liquorice root and some sweet gale, it makes an interesting infusion

It's never a quick drinking liquor, it's a slow sipping liqueur.

M

 

[Janne]

Remember, the result is as good as the ingredients!


Sloan liqueur, I have made that too. Used to give it away as x-mas presents.
But then I did not use vodka, I used diluted 95% Ethanol. Medical grade. I could write that to my clinic on prescription.

Ever dried sloans? If you infuse dried sloans it gives you a different flavour.

 

[Stew]

I picked 1.5kilo of sloes the other day!

I like the sound of Blackberry vodka!

Thanks for all the input as usual, guys.

Blackberry vodka is a favourite here and with our friends! Flavour is great. The fruit is so squishy that it infuses well - no faff of thinking that you might have to ***** it or not!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJkBLbvjlSK/?taken-by=stewartjlightknives
(Note, it's not actually Smirnoff in there!)

The sloe stuff we've got doesn't get snapped up anywhere near as fast, whereas the blackberry vodka seems like it has to be constantly replaced.

 

[Toddy]

Remember, the result is as good as the ingredients!


Sloan liqueur, I have made that too. Used to give it away as x-mas presents.
But then I did not use vodka, I used diluted 95% Ethanol. Medical grade. I could write that to my clinic on prescription.

Ever dried sloans? If you infuse dried sloans it gives you a different flavour.

Apparently not with gin and vodka soaked in rich fruit and sugar. I tried expensive stuff and at the same time I bought a bottle of castelgrey (sp? Lidl's stuff, comparatively low priced) for the gin, and later did the same for the vodka (for whisky the grain works fine, don't waste malt) and the concensus of opinion was the cheaper stuff was actually better since it wasn't already 'flavoured' to match the company's brand.

Haven't tried dried sloes, I don't think I could be bothered drying them, drying elderberries and not having them go mouldy was patience enough.

Stew ? I agree about the blackberries/brambles So much less bother and the results are very good indeed. I have Autumn fruiting raspberries, those are very good too.

M

 

[Stew]

If by some miracle I had a glut of left over raspberries, I would give it a go!

 

[Toddy]

You want a rooted bit of the Autumn fruiters ? They're still putting out flowers even up here. I have about a dozen fruiting stems just now, and I'm getting a good handful of ripe fruit every day.
That'll continue right to the first frosts.
You cut them hard back and they fruit on the new stems that will grow through Spring and Summer. Mine usually start fruiting in early August and I'll have fruit from them from then usually until late November. That said, they're relatively frost hardy too, so it's not unknown for them to still be fruiting at Christmas

M

 

[Janne]

I think the difference between our ’flavouring’ is that we in Sweden only use a small amount of fruit, we want the vodka to have just a hint of flavour.

If you try the commercial swedish flavoured vodkas, the traditional home flavoured ones are much fainter in flavour.

Åhus Absolut Black Pepper is virtually undrinkable if you take it the traditional way.


My favourite herbs were Wormwood and Hypericum.
Separate, not mixed.
Wormwood vodka goes well with fish and crayfish. Called Bäsk ( bitter).

Drink enough and you get visions. Absinth is made with wormwood.

Edit Hypericum is called St Johns Wort in english.

 

[Toddy]

Ours are definitely liqueurs. What's the blackcurrant liqueur that comes in the pretty bottle with the pink 'jewelled' cap? the stuff that's lovely drizzled over cream with pudding ? Our sloe gin ends up like that.

M

 

[Janne]

Chambord use fancy bottles and corks. Maybe that one?. Creme de Cassis is made in many countries, all very tasty!

Vodka (flavoured or plain) is a cold country thing. Countries around the Baltic.
To keep you warm in winter.

Blackcurrants are grown in Northern Sweden, the only domestic fruit that grows there.
Does not mind cold weather, but loves plenty of light, which is perfect as summertime there are not many hours ( or minutes) of darkness.

Hugely flavorsome. Leaves make excelkent tisane.

I have a bush in my ‘garden’ in the Lofotens, but the fruit is small. I have been told the bush was planted in the early 1930’s
My 90 year old friend told me he used to sneak in and ‘liberate’ some berries when he was young. Exotic luxury, only a few bushes in whole village.

 

[Toddy]

Chambord, that's the stuff.

I'm not much of a drinker anyway, but the little amount of Swedish flavoured vodka that I tried tasted more like cough linctus to me

M

 

[Janne]

The commercial one are not to my liking either.
Åhus Absolut is one manufacturer, Svedka Vodka another. To me, artificial, chemical flavours.


You can but at IKEA food market a 6 pack ( i think) of small bottles of traditionally flavoured vodkas.
Proper taste.
You should try. But you will not like them. Acquired taste.

 

[Stew]

You want a rooted bit of the Autumn fruiters ? They're still putting out flowers even up here. I have about a dozen fruiting stems just now, and I'm getting a good handful of ripe fruit every day.
That'll continue right to the first frosts.
You cut them hard back and they fruit on the new stems that will grow through Spring and Summer. Mine usually start fruiting in early August and I'll have fruit from them from then usually until late November. That said, they're relatively frost hardy too, so it's not unknown for them to still be fruiting at Christmas

M

That's impressive! I thought they would be long done - a piece to plant would be brilliant, thanks! I'll drop you a pm later if that's ok.

 

[humdrum_hostage]

We gone a bit off subject here guys and gals.

I'm not a huge drinker, if any at all but I was making the sloe gin for my mother and a few of my cudtomers for christmas and wanted to try a different recipe as I already have the sloes and the gin. Could I do anything like add a vanilla pod or cinnamon?

I also have some blackberries in the freezer so going to give the vodka a try too. Has anyone any recipes for this?

 

[Stew]

I also have some blackberries in the freezer so going to give the vodka a try too. Has anyone any recipes for this?

Just pop them in the vodka.

Add a bit of sugar if you want but I prefer not to. I tend to have it in lemonade which sweetens it anyway.

 

[Stew]

I have a bottle of blackcurrant vodka that my Dad dropped off on his last visit - it'll be an interesting one to try! Vodka ribena!

 

[Janne]

We gone a bit off subject here guys and gals.

I'm not a huge drinker, if any at all but I was making the sloe gin for my mother and a few of my cudtomers for christmas and wanted to try a different recipe as I already have the sloes and the gin. Could I do anything like add a vanilla pod or cinnamon?

I also have some blackberries in the freezer so going to give the vodka a try too. Has anyone any recipes for this?

Vanilla. A tiny piece.

Fruit and vanilla go together.

Strawberries and black pepper.

Experiment using small bottles so you do not waste any Nectar of the Gods.

I do not think Sloe Gin is a good combination.
Fruit and Juniper. No. Fruit or Juniper.

I guess the combination came about because Gin was the cheapest intoxication you could get and they just added something that grew in the hedge.

 

[Stew]

This is nice!

 

[Toddy]

I do not think Sloe Gin is a good combination.
Fruit and Juniper. No. Fruit or Juniper.

I guess the combination came about because Gin was the cheapest intoxication you could get and they just added something that grew in the hedge.

If you've only ever tried the commercial stuff then that's understandable, but the 'real' stuff is very tasty

M

 

[Janne]

Yes, only tried the commercial stuff.

I guess it is just as far away from ‘the real stuff’ as commercial flavoured vodkas are?