Sloe Sloe Quick Quick Sloe

At the rear end of summer I had noted the sloes were plentiful and fat, if not still firm and in their early green stage.  Patience was needed but a hopeful year of picking was anticipated.  Then something went wrong.  Not only did I forget every location where those promising sloes had previously surrounded me, but then subsequent foraging trips to possible locations were quite frankly fruitless.  A lunchtime recce with a colleague created a noticeable frisson of panic that our yearly sloe gin supply line was currently (g)in jeopardy.

Had the current gin fad created a panic pick in the Cornish countryside, had Brexit created a rush to create a hedgerow alcoholic stock pile, or had the weather somehow thwarted blackthorn and picker combined? Whilst the salty rain lashes against our windows and the south westerly gales play with our roof tiles, in the Cornish winter a glass of sloe gin in front of the fire is the Cornish pixie way of seeing you through to Ostara.  So this was serious.

Determined to avert disaster, Phil and I set off on the hunt this past weekend and ironically, not far from home and in a coastal river valley, we hit gold.  At first we weren't sure whether it was a single bush that gave us hope; even picking some haw berries as a back up for an alternative (and new to us) wild gin.  However as we progressed down the valley seawards we found more and more bushes loaded with grape like bunches of big fat sloes and soon gave up on collecting more of the harder to pick haws.  We were relieved; we were still in the sloe gin game, and even managed to pick extra for my previously crestfallen colleague.  With enough sloes bagged, we headed off to go foraging for gin using saved up supermarket points to acquire three bottles (always better when you haven't actually paid for the ingredients!).

The recipes for sloe gin are as many and varied as the Cornish weather on a summer's day.  Last year I went a bit wrong on this front (although the result was still very drinkable - just not the best I'd made).  I had not only busked it and failed to follow any of the plentiful recipes, with the result that I hadn't put in enough sugar, but I had also mixed up some previously frozen sloes with some of my homegrown blackcurrants!  This year I was playing it safe not only with avoiding the freezer for supplies but also by following a recipe my colleague had given me.  By the way, there is a theory that sloes should only be picked after the first frost.  Given that we would wait a fair while in Cornwall for that to happen, previously I had frozen sloes to simulate this.  It turns out that it is a bit of a myth anyway, as well as an opportunity to mix up sloes with blackcurrants!

Here is the recipe I followed this year - 
280g ripe sloes (washed), 140g sugar and about 600ml gin (okay, as there was 700ml in a bottle I did add more than 600ml in!).  Add it all into a jar or bottle and give it a good old shake.  Do this everyday until the sugar is completely dissolved.  After three months you can strain out the sloes and it can be drinkable.  However, you could leave the sloes in longer and you could also leave it longer after bottling too.  The longer the better but that requires perseverance!

As for the haw, well I had picked them so I wasn't going to waste them.  I had a recipe for haw gin from my aforementioned hedgeholic colleague so I thought why not?  I had to busk it a little as I didn't have as many haws as I somehow imagined in my head so in fact the sugar amount I put in mine went a little on the generous side but hey, it is meant to be quite 'sherry' like so I guess mine will be a sweet sherry.  The recipe however was to fill a 500ml jar with haws, add 2 tsp sugar and about 250ml gin.  Shake as per the sloe gin, strain and bottle after 3 months and leave a year or so before drinking (bit more patience required here!).  

The good news is that the daily shaking is adding a complimentary arm muscle toning session, the sloe gin is already turning pink and the haws are draining their red colour as they should.  

Now it is all just a waiting and resistance game!