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When to pick sloes and how to make sloe gin

Charlotte Varela

Digital Content Manager

Sloe gin is a traditional tipple at Christmas and throughout winter. If you've been wondering how to make sloe gin, we have just the recipe to help you whip up a batch of this sweet and warming liqueur.

Sloe berries grow on blackthorn, a common (and very thorny!) hedgerow shrub.

Credit: Ben Lee / WTML

Where to find sloe berries 

Sloe berries grow on blackthorn, a thorny shrub that's common in hedgerows. The number of sloes can vary each year according to the weather during the previous spring and summer. Too dry and the sloes will be small and shrivelled. Too wet and cold and they won't develop at all. A good crop of plump, well-ripened sloe berries needs the perfect balance of warmth and water.

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When to pick sloe berris 

It's traditional to pick sloe berries for gin after the first frost, but there's no reason why you can't pick them earlier, bag them up and pop them in your freezer. The theory is that the frost splits the skins so the juices can flow into your gin without you having to go to the effort of pricking all the berries.

Recipe: how to make sloe gin

Ingredients

  • 1 litre bottle of gin
  • 450g sloes
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 1 large sterilised jar or 2 empty gin bottles

Method

  1. Wash the sloes and seal them in an airtight bag. Freeze them overnight or until you’re ready to make the gin.
  2. Put the frozen sloes into a sterilised jar or empty gin bottles.
  3. Add gin, then the sugar directly onto the frozen sloes.
  4. Once the sloes have thawed, seal the jar tightly and shake well.
  5. Store the jar in a cool, dark place and shake every other day for a week. After the first week, you only need to shake it once a week for two months.
  6. The liquid should now be dark red and ready for drinking, although you'll find it improves over time.

What else can you do with sloes?

Attempting to eat raw sloe berries will dry your mouth out in a matter of seconds, so they're best used as a rich, plummy flavouring in things like vodka, whisky, jelly and syrup.

Sloe gin can be served neat, over ice or drizzled onto ice cream. You could even use it to make mulled sloe gin for a real winter warmer.

For a sweet sloe gin cocktail, add a drop to sparkling wine or champagne to make a sloe royale.

Explore more autumn foraging