It takes time (a year), dedication and determination to make Sloe Gin. We have a special set of Family members ‘across the pond’ who do so and let me tell you, their Sloe Gin is good….really good. Now all of my American readers are saying…’hun?…’sloe what?… In order to explain it better, I went to thekitchn.com/History of Drink to come up with this apt description, (and no, I did not misspell kitchen).
To understand sloe gin, we must first answer the question: “what, exactly, is a sloe”? Sloes are little berries, about the size of a dime, that grow wild in hedgerows all over England. One reason you might never have heard of sloes is that they’re not widely cultivated, because they taste terrible. Ripe sloes may be lovely to look at, but their taste is highly astringent and generally unpleasant.
But our compatriots across the sea are an inventive sort, and they came up with a way to make the sloes useful: soak them in booze. The Brits have been making sloe gin for hundreds of years by infusing the berries in high-proof gin, along with a little bit of sugar. The result is a liqueur that’s tart, but with a delicious richness and depth of flavor.
Sloe gin is especially nice on a cold winter’s night. We drink it in very small amounts. Now this could be because it is a liqueur and that is how one drinks a liqueur, in small amounts, or it could be that procuring our Sloe Gin from The Family across the pond is problematic, so we enjoy it sparingly. Last year The Family sent us a grandson to stay at the farm for 6 weeks, but no Sloe Gin. This year The Family sent a second teen to the farm, but no Sloe Gin. The Sloe Gin situation on our end was becoming dire, so we upped our whining to a new level. Great measures were taken by both The Family and our current British Guests to rectify our supply for which we are extremely grateful.
In Washington growing like weeds along the roads and trails are Choke Cherries. One can imagine how good they taste, just based upon their name. They can however, be made into syrup, jelly or even wine.
So began the great Choke Cherry vodka experiment. We picked plenty of the tart fruit, washed them, stripped them of their leaves and threw out any random bugs we’d collected along the way. My Loving Spouse then added sugar, vodka and who knows what else and set it to ‘brew’… When The Family makes Sloe Gin, the sloe’s which are a bit like plums are pricked, legend has it by a virgin with a silver hat pin, (and no, we’ve no idea what or who is pricking The Family’s sloes) to release the flavor into the gin.
Choke cherries are so small, My Loving Spouse was confident that the flavors would release over time and just shoved them into the jug. It did become fascinating to watch the color in the jug change and the cherries start to move from resting on the bottom to floating on the top. As choke cherries are so abundant here, there was great hope that My Loving Spouse might be ‘on to something’.
Luckily for all of us, there was constant dialog with The Family about the process and the procedure for the making of the Choke Cherry Vodka. More research was uncovered and it was at this point that The Family did a double-check with My Loving Spouse.
“Did you leave the cherry pits in?”
“Yes, they are quite small.”
“Yes, but it says they are poisonous…perhaps you should taste it….”
Cyanide will taste like almond, so My Loving Spouse took a small taste of the brew and said….
“Bad British word”
I know I’m a few years late to this conversation, but I just found this post in my search for an American equivalent to sloe berries.
According to info from the USDA, consumption of a chokeberry liquor is well within the safe levels of hydrogen cyanide. “Lethal doses occur when an animal ingests 0.25% of their body weight in an hour or less.”
Since the pit is the only HDC-producing part of the plant used, that would mean that a 100 pound human could drink an amount up to that which was made with fruits containing 4 ounces of pits every hour. I’m guessing that would equate to far more liqueur than anyone would be able to drink in an hour – let alone want to!
That said, I did have a question for your family across the pond. I’m wondering if they have any experience with dried sloes. It’s doubtful since they are so plentiful, but I’m hoping someone has attempted Sloe Gin with them. I’m wondering if they need to be rehydrated first, and if so – is it best with water or Gin? Thank you!
Jason,Our family across the pond makes the very, very best Sloe Gin ever!!! Our family makes it with fresh, but My Loving Spouse would say to go for it! Do not re-hydrate. Good luck!
I have just finished a batch of “sloe” chokecherry gin. Yes it has the delicious bitter almond taste that may be attributed to cyanide. Howevet I have found many recipes for chokecherry gin that use the whole fruit pits and all. In fact real sloe gin recipes using English sloes also use the whole fruit. The fact of the matter is all stone fruits have trace amounts of cyanide in the pits. I know of many people that eat 10-15 apricot pits every day as a natural cancer preventative. Drink with care and enjoy your wonderful homemade chokecherry “sloe” gin. I make no claims as to the safety of the statements I have made but I will continue to sip my delicious elixir.
Enjoy!!
I read your method on how to but i had already put all my ingrediants toghether all at once, 2 of my jars have the berries at the bottom but the last one most of the berries are floating, I’m thinking maybe too much sugar (1lb for 1lb & 1 ltr) didn’t prick or squeeze them either just washed and froze them, maybe should have defrosted them before I bottled them?
All the ‘secret’ recipes I’ve seen, prick the fruit first, but I’d say…let’s just taste it!
Hi y’all ! (That is the correct address no?)
This is the PERFECT recipe for sloe gin which turns out like a liquer. Pick about 2 lbs of sloes, wash and de-stalk them. Discard any which float on the water (they should all sink) and place in the freezer overnight. When ready to make, remove from freezer, allow to thaw and pat dry on kitchen towel. Squeeze/pop them individually between thumb and forefinger into a gallon demi-john or suitable container. This has a dual purpose. 1. It makes it very easy to break the skin which negates having to prick them and 2. You can recheck each one for ‘bad’ content/left on stalks. Then when they are all in the container (skins too!) you put in a couple of lbs of sugar (a 1 kg bag is OK) and shake the sloes about in it. Continue to do this for about 10 days or so about 3 x per day until the sloes start to ferment and go into a ‘slurry’ with little of the sugar evident. Now fill the demi-john with cheap gin and shake daily for a week, then less frequently, about weekly is fine. The container should be kept in a dark cupboard. After one year (best) syphon off the gin with a thin plastic tube into clean bottles. You can use the gin soaked sloes for lots of other alcoholic purposes. This method also works very well with damsons and blackberries….enjoy! Cheers!! PS – sloe gin and bitter lemon is a delightful long drink…Hic!!
Dick,
We think this sounds lovely, feel free to send the real thing our way, just for a ‘trial’…haha.
We used to pick choke cherries and make the BEST jam in the world–but lethal liqueur? Never thought of it. This posting made me laugh out loud! Thanks.
Oh, dear Pat…always love our connection!
Glad the supplies of Sloe Gin arrived safely from across the pond! I made the mistake of using an old Pimms bottle for the last batch I prepared. Very good it was too until the summer arrived and Jane made what she thought was proper Pimms for a hot sunny day (yes we do get them). Problem with Sloe Gin is that it looks the same colour as Pimms, especially as some idiot had made it in an empty Pimms bottle – you can guess the rest. From now on I let Adrian do the business!
Ut oh, I imagine that drink packed a punch!!
Sorry about the Choke Cherry Vodka.
Colie & I made a delicious Pumpkin Vodka last year using the little pumpkins, Cinnamon Sticks, whole nutmeg, cloves, etc, and it also had some whipped cream vodka in it! Truly yummy!
Yummmmm!
I should have said old sweet jar with a screw on lid!
Hi Ellen,
I have made sloe gin and damson gin for years, and if anything think the damson gin is even better. 3 lbs of damsons 1 (ltr) bottle of gin and 2 lbs sugar.
I put the berries (once washed) in an old glass sweet jar, tip on the sugar, and then poor over the gin, it is kept in a dark place and given a stir each day until all the sugar has dissolved. leave until Christmas, and then it is ready to serve. It must be kept in the dark or it will lose its rich red colour and turn brown.
I make the sloe gin in just the same way.
Have fun, and enjoy the gin!
Sx
Thanks Sheena,
We’ve a plum tree, so perhaps we’ll start over with a non-poisonous fruit!