Ingredients:
- 4lb/1.8kg sloes
- 1 ½ gallon/7 litres gin
- ½ oz/14g bitter almonds finely minced (see note)
- ½ lb/225g sugar
Note: Use real almond essence to taste (rather than bitter almonds) as they provide depth of flavour. Also you should be aware about using bitter almonds - do some research about their toxicity.
Method:
Bruise the sloes well, crush the sugar (or use brewing sugar) and put it all together into a small cask, stirring thoroughly. Leave for three months, strain through a fine muslin cloth then bottle and securely cork.
Some Useful Tips!
When are sloes ready to pick - Sloes are usually ripe for picking in October or November, but if there is an excess of rain and low temperatures for the season this can cause the sloes to start fruiting early.
Where do you find them - so all around the UK around this time of year you should be looking for the Wild Blackthorn tree. Hopefully they'll be an abundance of them. As for the quantity, you'll need to half fill each bottle with sloes, so just multiply that by the amount of bottles you need.
Freeze them overnight - This will simulate the first frost and split the skin on your berries, allowing them to release their natural sweetness.
