Olivia guides you through the enjoyable yet patience testing art of making your own Sloe Gin.


At the close of summer you probably notice (you country folk) some purplish blue berries in the hedgerows, if you've ever given these a munch to see what they taste like then you will have quickly discovered that they are incredibly sour and leave a furry feeling across your teeth. This is less than ideal, to fully exploit this free nature’s bounty you can create a fruity tipple by collecting a tub full of sloes and following this recipe to create Sloe Gin which tastes delicious with tonic water or lemonade for a sweet summer treat drink. This is my recipe to make Sloe Gin, bon chance!

 

Sloe gin is fairly simple to make but does require some patience.

You will need to prick all of your sloes with a knife to make sure they release their full flavour, once this has been done you will need:

An empty glass bottle which you can seal (ideally a screw tap wine or spirits bottle)

 

1) Fill the bottle with 1/3 Gin

2) 1/3 Sloe Berries

3) 1/3 Caster Sugar

4) Give the bottle a good old shake up, you should have a syrupy mixture remaining.

 

Leave the bottle in a cool, dark place. Shaking occasionally but leave to brew for at least three months until you enjoy the fruits of your labour. 

When you get confident with your own Sloe Gin making you can play about with the ratio of fruit to alcohol to sugar but a third each is a good basic principle. This recipe also works with Damsons and with Vodka - enjoy and have fun!

 

 

Enjoy Sloe Gin with tonic water, lemonade, over crushed ice or make my favourite summer cocktail which I had for the first time in a cocktail bar in Sydney, Australia called the Argyle and which I'm going to give full credit to the Argyle for.

 

Argyle Cocktail:

50ml Sloe Gin

25ml Gin (Hendricks preferably)

25ml Lemoncello

Crushed mint

Sugar syrup

 

Shake together and serve over crushed ice in a tall glass for the most glorious summer cocktail.