Lost potion found...

The sloe gin I made back in 2002 or 3 or 4 is now a beautiful dark red and has been ready to drink for – well, who knows how long? How could I have forgotten it? Hidden in an old Johnny Walker tin at the back of a shelf for all this time deepening, darkening, becoming richer, more viscous, waiting for its rediscovery, then found last weekend and tasted.

A potion of nectarine delight.

My first and only bottle of sloe gin, made way back from sloes I gathered on a shrill October morning from a single blackthorn hedge at the entrance to the steep-down track to whistling sands. Tasted once and much too early (groagh!), then back-stored and laid forgotten until now.

Time to drink, time to make some more…

Firstly, gather sloes. Best done after first frost (by full moon), but I didn’t bother. The thorns of the blackthorn bush are long and sharp, you’ll prick your hands, bleed, but hopefully not too badly, be careful – you don’t want to taint your sloes. Gather enough to third-fill as many bottles of gin as you would afford to make.

Obtain cheap gin, any old gin will do – strength not quality for this, the sloe ferment will add both depth and flavour. Empty out a third of the bottle into some other bottle to leave room for the fruit. Two bottles of gin will make three bottles of sloe – me, the mathematical genius!

Wash and prick your sloes. Forgetting to prick mine I had afterwards to go in with a long wooden skewer, down inside the bottle, not easy - nor did I wash them, even letting some bits of leaf fall! What matter? What of harm will thrive in gin save misery?

Drop a quantity of washed, pricked, sloes into you gin bottles singly, each by each, until full.

Now pour in sugar. How much is up to you. The more sugar, the sweeter still the gin - I use only a little, three tablespoons, less, and none at all.

Shake well – but first screw tight the top!

Store in some cool, dark cupboard - or put at the back of a shelf and forget - shake every other day for a week. Then shake once a week for two months or until you forget about shaking.

When the sloe gin is beautiful and dark red, it’s ready to drink. The longer you keep the better it will become – months, years, a lifetime - sloe gin, magic done.

I wonder if I’ll ever even remember this batch… what batch?