Any sloe gin aficionados?

[Lolliesareonme]

DH has picked over 1 kilo of sloes, and has 2 litres of gin (which I might have taken a few measures out of).

He made some last year - it was ridiculously sweet, and I want a less sickly recipe.

We have x3 damson trees in our garden - we pick approximately 10kg a year and leave loads for the birds. I've tried lots of recipes over the years, and like you don't like it too sweet.

This is how I do it- take a large 2 or 3l Kilner jar (freshly sterilised) and fill it about a third full of damsons (or sloes). I prick each fruit several times with a fork before putting it in the jar. I then pour in granulated sugar in till the fruit is just peeping out at the top. Top up with gin and shake, shake, shake. I store the jars in a dark place for at least 3 months and bottle / enjoy for Christmas.

Happy gin making - it's so much fun!

Just use less sugar. Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall's recipe uses 500g sugar, 500g sloes and 600ml gin. I only use about 300g sugar.

Halve the sugar OP. You can always add more sugar to taste later down the line. I used to faff about pricking the sloes and now I don't bother; doesn't make a bit of difference.

Did he use too much sugar? Which gin did he use?

We don't use much sugar, and we use Opihr gin which is quite spicy. It turned out lovely.

Freeze the damsons or sloes overnight to save pricking. That will burst the skins. I use half the sugar to the weight of the fruit then double the gin to the weight of the fruit.

eg 250g sugar, 500g fruit, 1L gin.

you can drink after three months but a year better and two even better than that.

We also don't prick the sloes, we freeze them for 2 days before adding to the gin and it comes out great.

I found this on Good Food

Taken on board what you have all said - thank you 🙂.

I read the comments on GF, I am lazy and can’t be bothered to prick them all (just some). Going to try freezing the rest. Also might go down the add a split vanilla pod route - spice it up a bit.

He can’t remember where he got the recipe from, but I think all of you are right about amount of sugar!

Just use much less sugar. I also put the sugar in first so I can see how much I'm using.

I fill less than a 1/5th of the bottle with sugar, then slows to the 3/4 mark and top up with gin. I also keep it for at least 5 years before drinking ( make 2 bottles a year to start with then in year 5 just as much as you drink a year). It's even better after 10!

I used to make it before I stopped drinking. Recipe I followed was 1 part sugar, two parts sloes and 4 parts gin. That always came out nicely. Freeze first to avoid needing to pierce them