Think he's talking about sowing barley rather than ritual rich bodied wine tasting, is that right Mark?
;)
No wild oats mentioned...........
Sloe Gin
Yesterday I went out to find some more sloes and I managed to find 300g I think that everyone else has been out picking too, these are certainly ripe and should make about 1 litre. I was given a small bottle of damson gin by my boss at work and it was delicious. He makes it so that when he goes fishing he can keep having a wee nip to keep the cold out.
The first batch of sloe gin is doing ok, going a lovely red colour. Roll on Christmas. I was reading that you can make many liqueurs this way, the blackcurrent rum looks very tempting. mmmmmmmm
That's looking good southmede
Mine's away in the dark now, waiting for christmas (or any other excuse i can think of) LOL
As i'm not too keen on sweet drinks i'm going to wait and see how this batch turns out before sacrificing more vodka, but those other fruit ideas sound tempting
Southmede one litre wont be enough. once you taste it you'll regret not making more.
Mark
I feel bad southmede - i've just had to throw some sloes on the compost heap as i ran out of alcoholic things to put them in. And you're having trouble finding enough. Life's so unfair, lol.
;-
Well I 've tried mine and it's YUM! Expected it to be too sweet but it's not.
Yes, OK Mark, I'm saving the rest.
I've also tried the fruit coated in chocolate and that is truly scrumptious!! Planning to coat some crystallized ginger (and orange peel as on recipe forum) and mix them. That should make a treat and a half.......
I tried some damson and sloe gin whilst at the good food show recently. You are right it is very good. Cant wait to make my own :)
Have to wait til next year now :(
mine from last year is still unopened.
but like the Borg say 'resistance is futile'
Wouldn't be good to risk letting it get past it's best ;-D
still waiting to see sloe seeds...
who was it that volunteered to send me some ??
Dimitri
I did but there were none this year to feed to one of my birds so it's gut could remove all the flesh.
FYI the bird is a White-cheeked Touraco from Africa.
Ooops - Mark was going to send you some when they'd passed through his birds, but I don't think the crop was very good this year round him, so perhaps he couldn't
I've only got ones that have been sitting in vodka now. I don't know if they'll have survived that.
Mark, did you get any stones for Dimitri??
Just had a thought - I may be able to rescue some from the compost heap if you haven't got any Mark
That should be fun ;-)
thank you, philomel.
I can't see how it would be fun, but I would be very grateful.
Dimitri
OK Dimitri, I'll see if I can find some
The 'fun' was tongue in cheek LOL
Hello, I'm glad to be back and would like to wish you all a very merry christmas and a Happy New Year. CHEERS
PS the sloe gin is fantastic
next year you will have to make as much as possible. The longer it sits the better. my last bottle from September 2001 is still not opened.
Well that is what I call willpower, but I supose that gardeners are really very patient people. A couple of people at work have made me promise to go out sloe collecting next year together as they were so impressed with the taste. I have also planted five plants but they will be ages before they mature. I have also noticed that the leaves stay on blackthorn much later than hawthorn and turn a nice yellow colour in the autumn.
ps I put some dried sloe stones in the E.R.R. as an extra but I have no idea if they will germinate.
they will be pickled by now
Only if they were in the gin :-)
Trying my sloe vodka out on the family today
Should have enough to keep some maturing for next year. And I have some in brandy too. It'll be interesting to see how that has turned out
No they weren't in the gin, ha ha. I have some blackcurrent rum fermenting now. It had more appeal than making Blackcurent Tart.
Should I leave the sloes in the vodka while it's maturing?
I have the horrible feeling you're going to say yes and I've just found a fruit stoner half price in Sains sale (£2.49 lol) and am itching to try it out.........
I just did on a couple and it works very well, if leaving them slightly mushy. Anyway, can't wait to cover the little blighters in chocolate, along with the crystallized ginger, nuts and orange peel ;)
PS I'll have a hunt for your stones in the compost heap soon Dimitri - they've been stratifying nicely. Do let me know if you'd like any of the other seeds from the little list I emailed
Philomel, if you would like to email again, please do. No need to elaborate on my long-winded stories of burned hard disks etc... and DO remind me what I can send you from here...
Dimitri
That is really getting stuck into nature when you go rumaging through the compost heap. Have lots of fun.