How To Make Sloe Gin | Foraging for sloes & a delicious recipe

Sloe down… and make some gin!
Autumn is that wonderful time of the year where nature produces its very best bounty - nuts, berries and mushrooms are everywhere you look! In this post we take a look at how to make sloe gin.
I make it a ritual every year to make a few bottles of sloe gin. You can keep this for yourself, or (as I like to do) give them away as gifts to friends and family at Christmas. It makes a great gift idea for those ‘difficult-to-buy-for’ types.
Sloe gin has a lovely sweetness which comes from the berry. Getting the balance of sweetness is a real art and I find the best way of achieving this is to follow a recipe to the exact gram.
People have been making sloe gin since the 17th century and luckily, taken care of all the hard work for us in finding the perfect balance of gin, sloes and sugar - the 3 ingredients needed, so there is no need to ‘freestyle’ and make it up as you go along.
The sloe berries are the fruit of the trusty Blackthorn (Prunus Spinosa), which is a small deciduous tree native to the UK and most of Europe. You can find the Blackthorn tree in most hedgerows and the tree will typically grow to a height of around 6-7 metres.
The sloes themselves are blue-black colour and very distinctive. The tree looks like a small plum tree when fruiting and a good way of confirming the tree ID is to look for thorns which can sometimes be up to an inch long.
Sloes are usually ready for picking in October/November. I typically start looking around mid-October.
If you have any helpful hints and tips, please feel welcome to leave a comment below!
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