Ingredients
- 500g ripe sloes
- 700ml quality gin
- 200-500g caster sugar
- 500g ripe sloes
- 700ml quality gin
- 200-500g caster sugar
This is a recipe to make now for next Christmas. Yes, next Christmas! As your gin will mature and improve over time.
You can find sloes online if you haven’t picked any. They’re likely to be frozen which is GREAT as this will simulate the first frost and split the skin on your berries, allowing them to release their natural sweetness. If you’ve picked them yourself, rinse and pat dry and freeze them for 24 hours to achieve the same natural, even splitting.
Off the advice of Sipsmith, I have stopped adding my sugar at the beginning and instead just combine 500g frozen sloes with 700ml of high-quality gin. Seal the jar and turn it over to marry the ingredients. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for 3 months and turn regularly.
After 3 months, remove the sloes by lining a sieve with a square of muslin set over a large bowl and strain the sloe gin through it.
Mix up a batch of sugar syrup by melting equal parts water and sugar in a pan on low heat. Allow to cool and then mix it into your sloe gin a little by little until it reaches your perfect sweetness – yes, taste tests all the way! Decant into sterilised bottles, then seal.
The sloe gin is now ready to drink but the longer you leave it, the better it’s going to taste, so hold onto it for next year!