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How to make Sloe Gin

By Joan Cassie

With the coming of autumn the sloes will once again appear in our countryside. The hedgerows will show a bountiful harvest just waiting to be picked and made into sloe gin ready for the Christmas festivities.

Sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn and are actually a type of wild plum. The flavour of the fruit is bitter, so the small plums are not suitable for eating. However, the bitter flavour is lost when making liqueurs.

Sloe gin is traditionally made in Ireland and Britain and a Sloe liqueur is also made in Scandinavia, Germany, France and Spain. This delicious concoction has a similar flavour to plum liqueur and the colour is a vibrant dark red. It is best served in small amounts as an after dinner drink with or without ice.

My Sloe Gin Recipe

This easy to follow recipe will make a drink that will delight your friends:

500 gr Sloes
1 ltr Gin
4 drops of Vanilla Essence
250 gr Castor Sugar

1. Place washed sloes in freezer and then transfer to wide necked bottle, add sugar, vanilla essence and gin. 
2. Shake well twice a day until sugar is dissolved and put in cool dark place. Shake every other day for one week and then once a week for three months. 
3. Strain through muslin cloth/coffee filter and transfer to bottle. 
4. It should now be plum coloured and ready for consumption. 

If you can manage not to drink it, the longer it is kept the more it improves.

Joan Cassie