On a sunny weekend in Hampshire we foraged for blackberries, rose hips and sloes and sat outside the next day popping the sloes into bottles of gin.
Sloe Gin Recipe
Wash the sloes, throw out any that are bad, and prick each sloe a couple of times with a needle. (That’s why you have to have someone to chat to. Or, cheat, and put the sloes into the freezer as this splits the skin, which is the aim). About half a kilo will do a litre bottle of gin but it’s very approximate. Cheaper kinds of gin eg a supermarket brand seem to work fine, there’s no point in using something fancy. You also need about 200-250g castor sugar.
Sloes. Each one needs to be pricked with a needle. (It’s meant to be 7 times but I think twice will do).
Add the sugar to the gin, give it a shake to dissolve, add the sloes. The sensible way is to use a Kilner jar with a wide neck but we couldn’t resist using these old lemonade bottles – that’s why we were sitting there putting the sloes in one at a time..