Sloe gin

For the album by Joe Bonamassa, see Sloe Gin (album).

Homemade sloe gin in preparation

Sloe berry

Sloe gin is a red liqueur flavoured with sloe (blackthorn) drupes, which are a small fruit relative of the plum. Sloe gin has an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by volume. The traditional way of making sloe gin is to infuse gin with the berries. Sugar is required to ensure the sloe juices are extracted from the fruit.

Many commercial sloe gins today are made by flavouring less expensive neutral grain spirits, producing a fruit cordial effect, although some manufacturers still use the traditional method.

Manufacture

Sloe gin is made from ripe sloes, which are traditionally picked after the first frost of winter (late October to early November in the northern hemisphere). Each berry is pricked, traditionally with a thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which they grow. An alternative folktale says that one should not prick the berries with a metal fork unless it is made of silver. A modern variation is to pick the sloes earlier and freeze them, although there is much confusion as to whether this is intended to split the berries and replace the pricking stage, or if, by analogy to ice wine, freezing changes the flavour of the berries.

A wide-necked jar is filled half way with pricked berries and 4 ounces (110 g) of sugar is added for each 1 imperial pint (570 ml) of sloes. The jar is then filled with gin, sealed, turned several times to mix and stored in a cool, dark place. It is turned every day for the first two weeks, then each week, until at least three months have passed.

The gin will now have a deep ruby red colour. The liqueur is poured off and the berries discarded. Alternatively, the leftover berries can be infused in white wine or cider, made into jam, used as a basis for a chutney, or a filling for liqueur chocolates. The liqueur can be filtered, but it is best decanted back into clean containers and left to stand for another week. Careful decanting can then ensure that almost all sediment is eliminated, leaving a clear liqueur.

Recipes for sloe gin vary depending on the maker's taste. The sweetness can be adjusted to taste at the end of the process, although sufficient sugar is required while the berries steep to ensure full extraction of flavour. When made sufficiently slowly, the alcohol extracts an almond-like essence from the sloes stones, giving sloe gin a particular aromatic flavour. However, some recipes use a shorter steeping time and include a small amount of almond essence. Another common variation is the addition of a few cloves and a small stick of cinnamon.

Competitions

A sloe gin competition is held each January in Dorstone, Herefordshire, with the winner crowned the "Grand Master of the Sloes".

There are also the Sloe Gin Awards in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, which are held annually and include gold, silver and bronze awards.

There is also an annual competition for locally produced sloe gins in Knighton, Powys.

Related liqueurs

In Germany and other German-speaking countries, a very similar liqueur, Schlehenfeuer (literally, "sloe fire"), is made, but in the English speaking world, Schlehenfeuer is generally considered any German version of sloe gin, not the specific product. Schlehenfeuer has an alcohol content of about 38% by volume, and this higher alcohol content is also the most important difference between it and other sloe gins. However, Schlehenfeuer and other types of Schlehenlikör (the generic German term for any kind of sloe liqueur) are sometimes made with vodka or rum. The most popular commercial brand, based on white rum, is made by Mast-Jägermeister SE, better known for its product Jägermeister.

In Spain, pacharán is made by soaking sloe berries in an anise-flavoured spirit, resulting in a light reddish-brown, sweet liquid, around 25-30% alcohol by volume. In Italy, bargnolino is made by soaking sloe berries with sugar and spices in spirit alcohol (recipe varies locally), resulting a reddish, sweet liquor, around 40-45% alcohol by volume; it is often chilled before serving.

Sloe gin is also known as sloe or Schlehen wine.^{[citation needed]}

Slider, a Devonshire tradition, uses the used sloe berries from the sloe gin to steep in still cider, making sloe-flavoured cider. Sloe whisky and sloe brandy are variants on the tradition, and are often mixed with ginger beer or ginger ale.

In Japan, a similar liqueur called umeshu is made by steeping whole Japanese apricots (ume) and sugar in shōchū, a spirit made from distilled rice wine.

See also

• Damson gin
• Prunus spinosa
• Patxaran
• Vodka infusion

References

Two recipes: Wild Damson Gin and Sloe Gin