Sloe Spirits

[Man of Tanith]

Well in the last couple of days i have sampled the sloe spirits i knocked up with help form lady of tanith last year
they were Sloe Vodka, Sloe Brandy (both cheap bottles from tesco) Sloe Jamesons Whiskey(i had a glut of 3 bottles of it and whilst it is a favourite tipple they were accumulating dust) Sloe Morgans Spiced Rum.
All of them have been a stonking success.
i was a little concerned that the roughness of the cheap brandy and vodka might still be noticable as they had a bit of a paint stripper feel to them when sampled prior to adding the sloes fortunately this is not at all apparent now.
Sloe Jamesons whiskey needs to be tasted to really know how nice it is, as i said its a favourite tipple and now i have a different twist to it.
Sloe Spiced Rum was phenomonal! I'm not that fond of spiced rum and the original bottle was a gift that had sat looking at me for a good year and only used as an afterthought as i had so many sloes. talk about a lucky result there.
So now i am planning what t experiment with this year as i am not a fan of the standard Sloe Gin and they grew very heavily up on the permission.
hope i've inspired some of you to try something a bit different
Sam

 

[telwebb]

I'm in the middle of trying to mellow some nasty Spanish brandy (presents!) with apple and - after phase one - elderberry...fingers crossed!

 

[wattsy]

i always use cheap spirits for mine there's no sense using a nice bottle of brandy when in the end it'll taste the same as a cheap nasty one. tesco value stuff for me if i'm making fruit spirits

 

[Everything Mac]

Wouldn't have thought about Sloe morgans rum! - sounds good.

I made some apple and blackberry brandy last year - and cherry brandy this year. - as you said the cheap edge is taken off completely!

I fancy having a go at blueberry whisky - had some at a show a few years back and it was amazing!

Andy

 

[Whittler Kev]

Do you have to part cook the apples first or just slice and ***** them like sloes?

 

[bushcraftbob]

didnt think of sloe whisky! i will give this a go as nade some sloe gin and vodka last yr and was very pleased with both.

 

[salad]

Sounds like you need some help drinking your brews

 

[British Red]

Aaaah but you have only varied one ingredient

Try blackberry brandy

Or Damson Vodka

Then try molasses or honey instead of sugar........

Endless possibilities...especially when you start on spices!

 

[bonsai]

After the stonking success of the plum raki we found (which had aged for at least 3 years at the back of a cupboard!.) this years concoctions include rasberry vodka and cherry vodka (both chepo supermarket bottles), plus a large vase of plum vodka/raki/ouzo mix (all been sat in the cupoard for years).. all fruit was collected from our garden, and maybe, just maybe, i'm enjoyin the results right now.....

first post btw - yay!

 

[Man of Tanith]

Red
i have assorted idea of things to experiment with but one thing at a time

 

[Elines]

What sort of quantities of berries etc do you find works best and how do you prepare them eg reference above to pricking sloes and part cooking apples

For example, this was the first recipe I found on the internet at http://www.sloe.biz/

Would you suggest any major changes or is this about right?


Sloe Gin Recipe

Pick your sloes from blackthorn hedges in October or November when they are most ripe - probably after the first frosts.
Take a litre bottle of gin, and drink half a litre

Cut or ***** the sloes and drop into the half-empty bottle so that they displace the remaining gin to near the top.
Add one wine goblet of sugar (approx 150g).
All you have to do now is turn or agitate the bottle daily for a week, then weekly for a month or two ... by which time it will be ready to drink (but it is really best kept until the next winter).

 

[Man of Tanith]

All i did was freeze the sloes until i had gathered sufficiant this avoids need to ***** holes in each and every single sloe as they burst when frozen. bung them in the bottle to about a third of the bottle. cover with sugar to about a third shake bottle to let the sugar to fill gaps. pour the booze in to fill. shake daily for a week weekly for a month and once a month until you feel the urge to drink it.
As for drinking half a bottle of Gin never gonna happen for me i think its nasty almost as bad as tequila (bad experiences with both when i was too young to know any better )

 

[wattsy]

nah chuck it in a glass with some tonic water loads of ice and a slice of lemon and its the dogs danglies. i agree with the tequila verdict though never got on with it

 

[Elines]

Thanks MoT - freezing them is a good idea - pricking them all did sound really tedious - also helps when you can't get enough sloes in one go

 

[khimbar]

Spent yesterday decanting and fllitering two year old sloe gin and blackberry vodka.

Worked out very, very well! Got a few kgs in the freezer for this years experiments too. Have a bottle of vanilla vodka that I'm going to sacrifice.

Spoke to a very nice man from a liquer brewery who told me not to put sugar in at the start...but to wait and add it later to taste?

 

[beamdune]

What sort of quantities of berries etc do you find works best and how do you prepare them eg reference above to pricking sloes and part cooking apples

For example, this was the first recipe I found on the internet at http://www.sloe.biz/

Would you suggest any major changes or is this about right?

Pick your sloes from blackthorn hedges in October or November when they are most ripe - probably after the first frosts.
Take a litre bottle of gin, and drink half a litre

You might find they've all gone if you wait until November. Saw loads down by the Mersey in Manchester a couple of weeks ago and they were pretty ripe.