mwnch

I’ll start with some honesty - some of the things that I make seasonally from our own produce are not things that I especially relish … jars of chutney that remain gathering dust or that blackberry jelly that is just a bit too ‘thick’. This is definitely not one of those. I prefer using vodka to gin, but the recipe will work equally well with either.

• 300g of sloes.
• 150g to 300g of sugar.
• 750ml of gin or vodka.
• A demijohn with an effective cork or other sealable glass container.

These weights and measures can be adjusted in proportion.

Clean the sloes removing stalks and any remnants of leafs.

Prick each one with a needle 3 or 4 times.

Decide how sweet your tooth is - I prefer a less sweet, less syrupy drink so only use 150g of sugar per bottle of spirit, but you may like more.

Place all ingredients in your chosen glass vessel give it a good shake.

Leave alone for at least six months in a cool and dark place before drinking. You may want to strain the liquid before drinking, but personally I don’t.

I like to evolve my sloe vodka – rather than starting form scratch each time, I add sugar and sloes in quantities proportionate to those given below to existing demijohns of sloe vodka and then allow them to develop.