Stonham Aspal
Village

Sloe and Damson Gin

Now the hedgerows are full of Sloes and Damsons here are our recipes:

Sloe Gin

For each one Litre Bottle of Gin ....

Add 200 grammes of Sugar,
Fill the bottle one third full with Sloes which have been prepared by washing, cleaning, and pricking a few times with a fork (for some reason I have been told only a silver fork will do!),
Then top up with Gin.

After that turn the bottle weekly, and when it becomes a red colour after about 3 months it is ready for drinking!

Drain through muslin (or an old stocking for flavour!) to remove the sloes, and bottle (the Sloes are too bitter to use for anything else, the left overs of Damsons from Damson Gin makes a good pudding!). At this time you can check if you need to add more sugar.

Showing the Gin, Sugar and Sloes!

Damson Gin

Last year, the best Damson Gin was made with one third of a bottle of Damsons, with one third of Gin and one third of Sherry. Bottle and make as for Sloe Gin above, but you only need a small amount of sugar.

This year we used no sugar....... Remember, you can always add sugar later when you a re-bottling. Only a small amount remains............

2003 Report

This year, due to the lack of rain, the sloes were very small.. but the damsons were much better. The experiment with the Almond essence this year did not look too successful, as it merely floated on top of the Gin and did not appear to mix. We used amaretto for some other bottles........

2005

Sloe and variations (Rasberry Gin was particularly good last year and this year!) have been produced regularly. This year we decided to produce individual bottles from each bush... should encourage more tasting!

Sloe Bush

Charles Brookson.