Sloe Gin

Recipes, Cooking tips and maybe some 'Home Made' secrets !
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Mad Chick
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Sloe Gin

Post by Mad Chick »

I spotted a very large patch of sloes while walking the dog and have been checking them regularly and today decided they were just ripe enough so picked them quick before someone else nabbed them.

Can't wait until Christmas )hic( )hic( )hic(
Lucy x


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p.penn
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by p.penn »

Mmm! Love sloe gin! )hic(
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by fabindia »

Sloes are such a strange fruit. They taste awful and have an almost dry taste.

Sloe is great though. When we have made it, we've always used cheap gin. Do you think it matters given the sloes and the sugar in it???
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p.penn
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by p.penn »

Not after the first bottle {rofwl}
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by Mad Chick »

{rofwl} {rofwl} {rofwl}

We've made it with three different gins - Gordon's, Bombay Sapphire and a cheap unbranded one. Looking forward to taste testing them all >dum<
Lucy x


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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by albertajune »

Should be good Lucy. We picked a couple of lbs yesterday and they are at the moment in the freezer. I heard that sloes are best after a frost and freezing is the next best thing. Also supposed to save pricking them.
It will be interesting to hear if the quality of the gin makes any difference. A lovely treat for Christmas )t'
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by fabindia »

p.penn wrote:Not after the first bottle {rofwl}


I think that answers it best :-D
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KarenE
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by KarenE »

I must admit I only have used cheap gin and it's tasted lovely so I'm not sure it matters. Hopefully Mad Chick's taste test will prove conclusive!
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by fabindia »

fabindia wrote: 20 Sep 2015, 19:51 Sloes are such a strange fruit. They taste awful and have an almost dry taste.
Time to resurrect this post from 5 years ago now! I was cutting the hedge at our old house last week and noticed the sloe berries are just perfect for picking. At the weekend we bought a cheap bottle of gin from Lidl and will bottle our sloe gin in the next day or two.

Incidentally, it was me that planted a few blackthorn on untended land land at the back of our land over thirty years ago and now they are all over the place.
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Mo
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by Mo »

Years ago I noticed some 'damsons' in the hedge and tried to make a pie of them.
Took the skin off your teeth!


Then someone said they were sloes
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by Meanqueen »

I wouldn't mind trying that, if you could make sloe vodka. I hate the smell of gin.

Someone left me a jar of home made damson jam on the doorstep, a friend possibly, I don't know. However, I gave it away. I don't eat jam because of the high sugar content. If someone asks me if I liked the jam, I will have to lie. :-D

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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by fabindia »

Mo wrote: 13 Oct 2020, 08:48 Took the skin off your teeth!
Ha ha - very true. Sloes belong to the same genus as plums, damsons and greengages. They are what is termed astringent, a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues - in your mouth if you eat them :-)
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by lancashire lass »

Meanqueen wrote: 13 Oct 2020, 09:56 I wouldn't mind trying that, if you could make sloe vodka. I hate the smell of gin.

ilona
I don't like the smell of gin either - smells like perfume - but a mature sloe gin seems to have a fruitier aroma. I see no reason why you can't substitute with vodka instead because a lot of different fruits go well in vodka.
Meanqueen wrote: 13 Oct 2020, 09:56 I don't eat jam because of the high sugar content.
a sloe gin / vodka is more like a syrup / liqueur than just fruit + spirit (sloe in particular is low in sugar so would taste very dry without the sugar to sweeten it)
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by kitla »

DH was given a kit last christmas to make our own gin from vodka & flavour it with various botanicals. Every few months we make some from the cheapest vodka we can find, its been very good so far. I also recommend Raspberry vodka, and blackberry whisky.
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Re: Sloe Gin

Post by fabindia »

kitla wrote: 19 Oct 2020, 08:18 DH was given a kit last christmas to make our own gin from vodka & flavour it with various botanicals. Every few months we make some from the cheapest vodka we can find, its been very good so far. I also recommend Raspberry vodka, and blackberry whisky.
Interesting never heard of a gin making kit before. Does make sense though, vodka is simply alcohol distilled from almost anything and as such doesn't taste of anything but alcohol. Gin on the other hand is traditionally flavoured with Juniper berries but the trend nowadays is to add other 'botanicals'.
Michael
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