Sloe Gin

Back in the Autumn we picked a few bags of sloes. Most of these were gathered on walks with T&M but one batch was raided from C&M's Orchard. These bitter fruits were first frozen and then pricked and added to preserving jars with plenty of sugar and gin. After daily shaking for a week or so they have sat undisturbed in a cupboard for the past 4 months.

Today I finally got my act together and strained the liqueur off the fruits and bottled it.

Sloe Gin

I have read that a coffee filter paper is ideal for filtering off the dregs before bottling but have found that the Sloe Gin is generally too viscous for the filter to be effective and seems to cause the filter seams to separate. I tend to use a square of absorbent kitchen paper towel. These are 2-ply and can easily be split in to two thin sheets. I then place one of the thin sheets in a funnel and use that to filter out the crud. It is still a slow process - no pun intended - but it does work.

The gin is drinkable straight away but those in the know advise on letting it mature in the bottle for a further 9-12 months before drinking.