I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing quite like a gin and tonic in the Summer; Hendricks is my tipple of choice; the bottles make fabulous flower holders when they’re empty! Often we serve G&Ts at a Summer wedding during a drinks reception, but as Winter approaches the options for different drinks and cocktails are more limited.
Over lunch at the weekend with the lovely Cindy Kirkland, we were talking about Sloe Gin and the folklore surrounding it; the berries should be picked in October and November, and apparently the locations of the best crops are kept as secret as possible! We were delighted then when we found some sloe berries for sale in the farm shop attached to The Parrot where we lunching – if you haven’t been you should definitely check this pub out – seriously amazing food and you could spend a fortune in their fabulous farm shop. I did!
Mr B and I bought a load of berries and a bottle of gin and decided to make our own Sloe Gin in time for Christmas. I won’t lie, the recipe is quite laborious and we got slightly sick of pricking the individual berries, so it wasn’t followed exactly to the letter, but we now have two large bottles of very red gooey gin, that are lovingly turned each day and hopefully will be yummy come Christmas Day!
RECIPE (taken from BBC Food)
METHOD
- Prick the tough skin of the sloes all over with a clean needle and put in a large sterilised jar.
- Pour in the sugar and the gin, seal tightly and shake well.
- Store in a cool, dark cupboard and shake every other day for a week. Then shake once a week for at least two months.
- Strain the sloe gin through muslin into a sterilised bottle.
Voila! Our finished bottles; looks quite horrible doesn’t it! Hopefully it will taste much nicer than it looks.
It struck me that tiny bottles of Sloe Gin would make a lovely wedding favour; tie a little tag to each bottle thanking guests for their attendance, or even a name tag and use them as escort cards or place names too.
images from Style Me Pretty (here & here)
Alternatively you could use the Sloe Gin in a signature cocktail; mixed with elderflower cordial and lemonade it would make a refreshing summer drink, or just with lemonade and berries for a winter warmer.
image from Brides Magazine
If you can find some berries have a go making it (or let me know where you found them!)
K x
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