Where can I find Sloes?

[garlicpickle]

I've just made some jam with 2lbs of the sloes and 4lb of Bramley apples, sweetened with half sugar and half honey.
It's still warm but tastes promising, there's still a slight tannic kick from the sloes and I think it would go well with meat as well as on toast.

 

[psafloyd]

. So many berries, looks like we will have a hard winter.

This is an old wives tale. What it actually means is that there was a good period of weather for the blossom to get pollinated.

I know, RAB, but it CAN be true. So, if it happens I WILL BE RIGHT. And if not, I can always say it must be global warming.

Still, 'old wives tales' were, in many cases, orthodoxy. Just look at medicine. My mum started her nursing training just as they phased out the use of honey for treating skin conditions, burns, etc.

Now, like blowflies (and probably leeches somewhere), they're coming back, because, well, they work.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Now, like blowflies

Well modern nursing doesn't believe in cleaning the sh!t up so what do you expect!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

All this jabbering of sloes set something ringing in my mind - just checked the reserve wine cellar (AKA the cupboard under the stairs) and realised there's a gallon of sloes steeping in gin from about three years ago . Now filtered and decanted and will sit in the bottle for a couple of years before drinking. (just finishing off the last ofthe 2002 vintage now - superb!

 

[Swarm]

I got the chance to grab a pound and a half of damsens, anyone recommend which alchohol?
I was going to try sloe vodka but didn't get around to picking sloes. Should I treat the same or what?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Damson's make sublime damson gin much better taste and colour than sloe.Use less sugar......you can always add later

 

[BeeJayBee]

I was going to try sloe vodka but didn't get around to picking sloes. Should I treat the same or what?

I've made both damson gin and damson vodka. Gin is better. Honey instead of sugar makes a more interesting drink.

 

[Swarm]

Thank you both, is a pound and a half enough to make a bottle of each? And if using honey, what quantity?

JBM,
A snifter of your vintage would have gone down a storm at the spring convention in Vladivost .... I mean, Llanelwydd.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

JBM,
A snifter of your vintage would have gone down a storm at the spring convention in Vladivost .... I mean, Llanelwydd.

Believe it or not there was an 8 oz hip flask of it in the glove compartment, I'd forgotten about it.
Well they do advise you to take a flask full of hot drink with you if you're driving in the snow!

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thank you both, is a pound and a half enough to make a bottle of each? And if using honey, what quantity?

Oh! I've never weighed them. About 1/3 gin bottle of fruit, shake some sugar in to the same level and add a small dollop of honey. Top up the bottle with gin and put it in a cupboard for a month or two, shaking the bottle every now and then to make sure the sugar dissolves. Just before Christmas it should be ready to strain. You can then adjust sweetness to suit personal taste.

If you freeze the fruit overnight and then put it straight into the bottle the skins will (should) split when the alcohol hits them.

 

[Swarm]

Thanks.
Last time I made sloe gin I put the mixture in a pop bottle, these damsens are quite fat so I'm hoping they are going to fit.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Careful,Swarm. They will fit in but you won't be able to shake them out. You'll have to destroy the bottle.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Last time I made sloe gin I put the mixture in a pop bottle, these damsens are quite fat so I'm hoping they are going to fit.

Might be better to use a very clean milk container (wash bottle and lid in bicarb solution). The neck is wider.

You can use the steeped damsons with ice cream or, at a pinch, in a trifle, but we find sloes are too tart to eat so they get thrown away.

 

[Erichalfbee]

but we find sloes are too tart to eat so they get thrown away.

Au contraire........They can be successfully added to good quality melted dark chocolate and turned into a lovely sweet.....hic! (squeeze the stones out first)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks.
Last time I made sloe gin I put the mixture in a pop bottle, these damsens are quite fat so I'm hoping they are going to fit.

get a glass pickle jar from your local chippie - ideal for your sloe soaking.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Au contraire........They can be successfully added to good quality melted dark chocolate and turned into a lovely sweet.....hic! (squeeze the stones out first)

Huh! I bet you like beetroot!

 

[Oscarmonster]

Huh! I bet you like beetroot!

No, we do that with our sloes, makes yummy chocs.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Huh! I bet you like beetroot!

Strangely enough.....

 

[BeeJayBee]

No, we do that with our sloes, makes yummy chocs.

Huh! I bet you like beetroot!

Strangely enough.....

There's no accounting for taste!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Huh! I bet you like beetroot!

and.......?