Mr. E. and I went blackberry picking yesterday and while there we saw what we think is a blackthorn bush with sloes on. I understand that you have to let the first frost get to them before picking.
My question is: has anyone on the board made sloe gin and are there any other bushes that yield fruits similar to sloes but that are deadly poisonous? I really don't want to make something like deadly nightshade gin by mistake.
No danger in confusing sloes with deadly nightshade. DN is a thornless plant while the Blackthorn has bloody sharp thorns!!!! DN berries are black and glossy. BT are deep purple and have a bloom like a grape.
I've made sloe gin several times......bare with me while I find the recipe.
No danger in confusing sloes with deadly nightshade. DN is a thornless plant while the Blackthorn has bloody sharp thorns!!!! DN berries are black and glossy. BT are deep purple and have a bloom like a grape.
I've made sloe gin several times......bare with me while I find the recipe.
Thanks Sin. I'm pretty sure they are sloes. I picked one and split it in half. The flesh was very very sticky and yellow-ish with a tiny plum-like stone in the middle.
Sounds like a sloe.Try tasting....it will feel like all the enamel has come off your teeth. ;D
This it the recipe I use....
1lb of sloes 1 pint of gin 8oz of sugar (white or brown)
Put the prepared fruit,either pierced with a needle or frozen to split the skins,into sterilised bottles,until about a third to a half full.I use spirit or wine bottles with screw caps. Then mix the gin and sugar in a large jug until the sugar dissolves and fill up the bottles with it. If making large quantities,using demijohns would be easier. Stand in a cool place,away from bright light,and shake the bottles daily for a month. Then shake them once a week for a further two months. Strain the liquid through double muslin and return to clean bottles.
It can be drunk now but is better left(if you can bear to)until it is a year old.
The usual thing is to stick a pin in each sloe.....which takes a long,long time. Put them in the freezer overnight.....they split when they thaw.
No danger in confusing sloes with deadly nightshade. DN is a thornless plant while the Blackthorn has bloody sharp thorns!!!! DN berries are black and glossy. BT are deep purple and have a bloom like a grape.
I've made sloe gin several times......bare with me while I find the recipe.
No danger in confusing sloes with deadly nightshade. DN is a thornless plant while the Blackthorn has bloody sharp thorns!!!! DN berries are black and glossy. BT are deep purple and have a bloom like a grape.
I've made sloe gin several times......bare with me while I find the recipe.
Is that part of the recipe ?
Of course. This is Sin's recipe. It's called Nude Sloe Gin
I used to pick sloes with my Dad for our Gin. Can I remember what they look like!? Can I hell! I thought I'd make up for it one Autumn by going back to where we used to pick them to see if there were any around - there wasn't - the hedge had been turned into a housing estate!
Hmm, something not right there then! Sloe Gin should taste, like subtley fruity gin. So you can do it with a bit of tonic as usual but it's full of fruity flavours, certainly not like cough mixture!
My Dad used to make sloe gin. Can't remember what it tasted like though.
I do remember the taste of his home-made cherry brandy. Heaven! We had lots of morello cherry trees along one border of a field, along with come crab apples (Ma's crab apple jelly was delishios!) and sloes.
As he was an apiarist, he'd make wonderful mead. Not the horrid sticky stuff they serve in some pubs, but lovely pale dry mead.
I've just been given some sloe gin that was made in 1987. I've just had a sip, and felt it go down my chest 2 minutes later.
I'm going to roll up and take a glass out into the garden. It is a lovely late afternoon and the sun has gone behind the houses at the back. This is going to be good.
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