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sloe gin

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  • 08-10-2009 11:36am
    #1
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭


    Has anyone ever made sloe gin?
    If so any tips.
    I have sloes and I have gin and I have sugar.

    Would white processed sugar be better than light cane sugar, for example?
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    #2
    Anoeta
    Registered Users Posts: 251 ✭✭Anoeta


    Is there a particular season for sloes? I wouldnt mind having a go at making spanish Patxaran.


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    #3
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Now is the season!
    Still a little unripe, though, so maybe wait a couple of weeks


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    #4
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Anoeta wrote: »
    Is there a particular season for sloes? I wouldnt mind having a go at making spanish Patxaran.

    Just googled that and it does sound very nice.
    Can you buy anisette here?


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    #5
    Adyx
    Registered Users Posts: 2,997 ✭✭✭Adyx


    the beer revolu wrote: »
    Just googled that and it does sound very nice.
    Can you buy anisette here?

    Pernod is an anisette is it not?


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    #6
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Adyx wrote: »
    Pernod is an anisette is it not?

    I believe Pernod is a pastis which is stronger and less sweet than anisette


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    #7
    Anoeta
    Registered Users Posts: 251 ✭✭Anoeta


    the beer revolu wrote: »
    Just googled that and it does sound very nice.
    Can you buy anisette here?

    Not sure actually. It may only be available in Spain/Portugal.


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    #8
    Red Sleeping Beauty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,443 ✭✭✭Red Sleeping Beauty


    There's a bottle of Gordans Sloe Gin here, picked it up in Newry. I know it's not "real" sloe gin but it's pretty nice.

    Might make my own some time maybe. Where do you get sloeberries and how much are they?

    The Gordans sloe gin is great for cocktails. Don't even think you can get it in the 26county- Ireland.


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    #9
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Alan Rouge wrote: »
    Where do you get sloeberries and how much are they?

    You drive around the country side looking for hawthorn trees and pick them (or you ask your dad who seems to know where every hazelnut, walnut, chestnut, sloe, damson, elder, crabapple tree in Cork is!)
    They're free:D


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    #10
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    I'm gonna try the Patxaran with a bottle of Ricard pastis I have.
    It's not the right spirit but it's never gonna be drunk so I may as well have a shot at it.

    IN 3 - 4 months, I'll let you know how my Sloe Gin and Patxaran are!


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    #11
    Anoeta
    Registered Users Posts: 251 ✭✭Anoeta


    Good stuff. Id love to know how the patxaran turns out.


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    #12
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,464 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    the beer revolu wrote: »
    You drive around the country side looking for hawthorn trees ...
    Errm ... you look for blackthorn trees, very different.

    I've just got 2 litres on the go with sloes I picked over in northern England while on holiday recently. They seemed to be already beautifully ripe over there.

    The 'recipe' I use is ...

    500g sloes
    250g white sugar
    1 0.75l bottle gin (anything will do)

    Wash and pick over the sloes to get rid of stalks, leaves and other crud.

    Either prick the sloes (a painstaking job), or bung them in the freezer for a day or two and thaw out. Or even do both if you're feeling in the mood.

    Put everything in a large jar (I use a 2l food preserving jar with the swing top glass lids) and give it a good shake every day for 2 weeks, and thereafter once a week.

    After 2-3 months it's ready. Simply strain through muslin and bottle.


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    #13
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    OH yeah, twas Blackthorn - Hawthorn has the little red berries (which look rather poisonous)!

    What I did was;

    Half filled 70cl bottles with pricked sloes, then put sealed bottles in freezer.
    Bunged in 150gms sugar (I reckon I can always but more sugar in but can't take it out) and filled with gin.
    I put a few cloves, a bit of cinnamon and vanilla in one bottle.
    One bottle I put in 3 coffee beans a vanilla pod and topped up with Ricard (might be horrible but was never gonna drink the pastis anyway).

    So:

    1 straight sloe gin
    1 spiced sloe gin
    1 my version of Patxaran

    Roll on mid January!!


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    #14
    mossy2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 42 ✭mossy2


    Hello There
    I made some the year before last and it was very nice if a bit on the sweet side.

    The recipe is used was 1 litre gin, 500g sloes, 250g sugar. I'll go a bit easier on the sugar this time.

    I had a look during the weekend and there aren't as many sloes about as last time as I recall but still plenty for my purposes.

    Anyone making slow gin this year would want to get the skates on because as far as I know its a mid November job.


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    #15
    interlocked
    Registered Users Posts: 502 ✭✭✭interlocked


    An acquaintance of mine has in the past done sloe poitin, I believe it's so smooth that you could give it neat to your maiden aunt, and she'd look thereafter upon sherry as a devils drink:p Ahem

    Edit: This of course would have been conducted with legal poiton, otherwise it would be very naughty indeed;)


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    #16
    Red Sleeping Beauty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,443 ✭✭✭Red Sleeping Beauty


    If anyone is looking for this over the holidays Molloys have this bottle ...

    img56028896.jpg


    Cork and Gordans Gin is on special in most supermarket type places.


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    #17
    henryporter
    Registered Users Posts: 2,089 ✭✭✭henryporter


    Hawthorn has the little red berries (which look rather poisonous)!
    - actually they're very good for you as well - can be used as herbal remedies:D


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    #18
    buzzybb
    Registered Users Posts: 44 ✭buzzybb


    my parents make the stuff every year and one thing i learnt was make sure u prick the sloes with a fork so the flavour is infused. what they had was bottle of gin half filled with sloes and half gin and about 4 tablespoons of white sugar.they always loved it!i hate the stuff.


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    #19
    the beer revolu
    Registered Users Posts: 16,988 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Well my various sloe gins and pastis have been filtered.

    Verdict?

    I got the sugar quantity right (150gms per 70cl bottle)!:D

    It is a fantastic colour.:D

    But there is a really strong almond essence aroma from it.:confused:

    Flavour is really good and long lasting but the almond smell is a bit strange.
    Maybe it needs to age for a few months (someone told me that they like sloe gin aged for about a year)?

    The Patxaran is pretty good too but the pastis is (obviously) very much the dominant flavour!


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    #20
    gizmo555
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,948 ✭✭✭gizmo555


    the beer revolu wrote: »
    But there is a really strong almond essence aroma from it.:confused:

    Flavour is really good and long lasting but the almond smell is a bit strange.
    Maybe it needs to age for a few months (someone told me that they like sloe gin aged for about a year)?

    The almond flavour/scent is normal - it comes from the sloe stones. This, by the way, is the main reason for the sugar - as well as sweetening it, it helps extract the flavours from the sloes.


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    #21
    superrdave
    Registered Users Posts: 155 ✭✭superrdave


    Red Sleeping Beauty wrote: »
    There's a bottle of Gordans Sloe Gin here, picked it up in Newry. I know it's not "real" sloe gin but it's pretty nice.

    Might make my own some time maybe. Where do you get sloeberries and how much are they?

    The Gordans sloe gin is great for cocktails. Don't even think you can get it in the 26county- Ireland.

    Yes you can. I saw it in Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dawson Street (they have just about everything)

    Alabama Slammer - oh yeah


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    #22
    royan
    Registered Users Posts: 60 ✭✭royan


    the beer revolu wrote: »
    OH yeah, twas Blackthorn - Hawthorn has the little red berries (which look rather poisonous)!
    They do, don't they? Apparently not, though - wine and jelly are a couple of possibilities, I've not tried them but from what I've read the results are just, well, not particularly good. Maybe as one of several ingredients they would do better?


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