Sloes have shorter stems and hug the branches more. Sloe bushes have sharp thorns and wild damson trees do not. We took the kids for a walk in the woods in what is likely to be one of the last days of the year recognisable as a summer’s day. Beauty, Family, Food & Drink, Garden, Home, Lifestyle, Reviews, Style, Travel, Wellbeing, Work, 19th September 2017      Lisa      6 Comments, Are you a gin lover? The leaves were the same as Damsons but the fruit was smaller. Thank you for subscribing! We headed out into the field where we have an entire hedgerow heavy with sloes and I held the … Do you even like fruit spirits? Prick the damsons/sloes with a large needle or toothpick. Despite his festive red berry wreath decor, I have, Happy Saturday, the last one before Christmas, eee, AD “Did you know that across the UK six times as, There's nothing like a lovely splash of Christmas, Loved our annual visit to @longleatofficial after, Happy Humpday - and just look at this beauty I spo, Obligatory Christmas tree photo incoming... , Happy Saturday everyone, and here's something brig, OK, I have to be honest, I'm not a fan of slugs an, This website uses Google cookies to ensure you have the best visitor experience and to analyse traffic. Use more or less sugar, depending on how sweet you like your final drink. 6. *  Tip: expect to go through a LOT of coffee filter papers! The good news is that these are just as suitable for flavouring Gin as both Damson and Sloes so, after a little bit of child labour employed to collect the berries we can let infusion fun commence. The vines are similar, but damson plums lack any of those large thorns and the wood isn’t anywhere as dark as a Blackthorn. Don’t beyond the neck if you have a stoppered bottle, the pressure may keep pushing the stopper out. *. Please check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. September 7, 2015 September 7, 2015 ~ sultanabun ~ 9 Comments I’ve been reading some of those ‘150 ways to grow your blog without working hard or spending money’ articles. This might be slightly premature as I’ve not actually tasted my gin yet (Update – I have now! How to tell the difference. Honestly, fruit spirits are really easy to make and blackberry brandy is really yummy. Damson and bullace are more or less the same, the picture there seems to look like a wild Victoria plum which is exactly the same that is growing in the field behind my house. If using a bottle a piece of folded card can be used to get the sugar through the neck of the bottle. In my case however I wanted to avoid using the extra vessel was hoping to use a handful of attractive bottles that had once contained arty gins. Whilst the weather was sunny and warm, the woods were definitely turning Autumnal and the gentle breeze, birdsong and ambience all but drowned out the regular bickering of the children. Enjoy! A berry like Bullace is so tart and sour that it is inedible in all but the rarest circumstances. Side by side the sloe berry is round like a blueberry and the damson is slightly oval like a dark grape. 8. At least 3 months is required for your infused spirit to be ready this give the time for the flavours of the spirit, sugar and fruit to combing. Like . Awarded 3 Gold stars in The Great Taste Awards 2014 the Judges comments were … Your email address will not be published. I have always loved foraging and whilst today would hardly tax Bear Grylls in its originality or obscurity (I related the process of making acorns edible to my 8 year old to a frankly limited response) there was undeniably a reaction to the idea of food being freely available in the woods. The top is a 20cl Damson Port with a 20cl Sloe Port beneath! How To Make Damson & Sloe Gin. Amazon Associates Disclosure Even the hawthorn berries had the smallest amount of sweetness that justified eating them. These fruit gins are soooooo easy to make, taste utterly delicious, and, if you can bear to give any away, make lovely gifts. Idyllic! It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand, Tasmania and eastern North America. Prunus spinosa, called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. We had found a cluster of Bullace trees; a wild plum and relative of both Sloe and Damson. Put the pricked or defrosted berries into a large sterilised jar, eg, a Kilner jar.*. I opted to create a Bullace Vodka and a Bullace Gin using equivalent quantities of both sugar and fruit to test my beliefs on the purity of Vodka vs Gin. Sep 26, 2017 - Damson or Sloe Gin Recipe from The Modern Preserver and other Christmas Cocktail recipes from Red Online Here’s my recipe for easy damson or sloe gin. Copyright © 2020 The Rumblings Of A Madman on the Foodie Pro Theme. Oneside swipe of a branch and it can cut you quite badly. Required fields are marked *. Eat one. Share it with your friends! 3. Put the damsons/sloes in a cooled, dry, sterilised large, wide-rimmed 1.5–2 litre jar and stir in the sugar. I am hoping that this combined with the additional sugar content will be enough to keep the Sake fresh whilst being infused. It's not a sloe, more likely a damson or bullace. Volume: 20cl. For the full recipe, click the picture or see www.redonline.co.uk The good news is that these are just as suitable for flavouring Gin as both Damson and Sloes so, after a little bit of child labour employed to collect the berries we can let infusion fun commence. Needless to say that was a food adventure that wasn’t going to happen. Haferpflaume feminine. A good few years ago now my father showed me how to make sloe gin. Oh fruit spirits really are lovely and so easy to make, as well as being much cheaper than you can buy in the shops. Wash your fruit and discard any bruised or mouldy ones. Blackthorn, Aug 14, 2009 #6 Quote in Conversation. What I call 'damsons' are those fruits which nearer to sloes in size, shape and flavour; 'bullaces' the type which are rounder, with a higher ratio of flesh to stone, and less tannic astringency. Sloes, bullaces or damsons - either way, prick the fruit before immersing in said gin. I’m off to check out the apple cake recipe right away! Dec 15, 2018 - Damson or sloe gin, perfect to drink at Christmas or pour into a Champagne cocktail. And with that timeline in mind, you should definitely give it a go, haha! Thanks! Blackberry brandy also sounds intensely good, I’ll have to suggest that to my Mum as well! How to tell the difference between sloe, bullace and damson. Aug 23, 2017 - Damson or Sloe Gin Recipe from The Modern Preserver and other Christmas Cocktail recipes from Red Online Damson Port. Die Hauszwetschge ist eine sehr alte, mittelspäte Sorte der Zwetschge (lat. Hedgerows offer a wealth of foraging opportunities. My recipe therefore scales to around 75cl proportions. Pick them when they're at their best (usually in September), and experiment with other additions to the gin such as orange peel, cinnamon, star anise or cloves. The sloes are slightly harder, smaller and definitely more bitter/tart than damsons, which have a glorious, deep, rich flavour. Thanks for looking and enjoy! Also blackberry brandy would go really well with your apple crumble, I think x, Your email address will not be published. 1. The leaves were the same as Damsons but the fruit was smaller. We found enough for a decent snack for all of us and, whilst rebuilding a shelter of sticks and ferns that had unbelievable survived for a year since we had last been there, we snacked to our hearts content. Sloe is actually Prunus spinosa, or Blackthorn, and edible Plum (including Damsons) is Prunus domestica varieties. Bullaces have a fairly bitter skin, but slightly sweeter, less acidic flesh but not to the degree that you'd actually ever prefer them to a desert plum. Tip: discarded sloes can be covered in melted chocolate for unusual sweet treats (but watch your teeth on the stones). Share . We had found a cluster of Bullace trees; a wild plum and relative of both Sloe and Damson. Whilst exploring the vicinity of our new base camp we hit upon some heavily fruited trees, the fruit looked like sloes but this was a tree rather than the spiky Blackthorne bush where we would expect to find them. I guess you could google the names and see what pics you can find to try to identify your tree. How to tell the difference between sloe, bullace and damson. While wild-growing sloes are known as a hedgerow plant, “damsons were popularly cultivated, and grown in orchards,” says Bevan. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. The fruits are smaller than both the Damson and Bullace but usually more spread out. This site is chock full of videos to do just that. The Sloe is basically a Blackthorn Bush. Rinse the Bullace berries and remove any residual stalks, leaves and any foreign bodies. My Mum has actually been looking for a good sloe gin recipe so I am going to bookmark this post to send to her! 5. Top up the bottle with the Gin or Vodka. Three members of the prunus genus. The name damson comes from Middle English damascene, damesene, damasin, damsin, and ultimately from the Latin (prunum) damascenum, "plum of Damascus". The timeline for making this sounds like it would work — in two months I definitely won’t be pregnant anymore! xx corinne, I hope you enjoy it, it’s a lovely one! Bursting with damson flavour and a wonderful aroma. While popular demand for damsons eventually dropped, the trees are still plentiful. For this reason I prefer to use Vodka to create these liqueurs rather than Gin with the intention of bringing out the flavour of the Bullace (or Damsons, Sloes, Jelly Babies, Mars bars whatever). 500g of damsons or sloes; 200 – 250g of sugar (according to taste) 1 litre of gin (or vodka if you prefer) How to make your gin. Sake is closer to wine than spirits in strength (typically around 15%) but unlike wine will keep once opened for a few weeks. Damsons are like small plums, sloes are more like blueberries and tend to grow in hedgerows. To create the the flavour of a spirit that would otherwise be not dissimilar to Vodka. What the hell, why not leave Juniper and any of the spices mentioned above in Vodka for a while and make your own Gin. In other words if you want to age it, make it in large enough quantities so that you can enjoy some earlier and some later. We are here to help you learn to garden. All I can suggest is … Our Winter Damson Gin is made with the freshest, juiciest damson plums from Styam Farm which are sweet enough, so no sugar or sweeteners in this … The waiting is the hardest part of this process…. I’ve wanted to make fruit-infused liquor for agessss but always seem to forget and just drink what I buy ;). A step by step tutorial to make either Damson or Sloe Gin. This combo is any port lovers must! The easiest way to tell the difference is in the branches and twigs, these have very sharp quite long prickles. Given the Japanese love of Umeboshi, and a number of plum infused Sake’s available I also thought a version using Sake might be interesting. The UK’s First Damson liqueur made with port, handcrafted at Raisthorpe using the finest port and locally grown damsons and sugar. Sloe, Bullace or Damson? Today was a good day. Sloe Rum Pick sloes, wash and dry them (so as not to dilute the alcohol)- 445g Use a cocktail stick to prick each fruit so juice can exit into the alcohol Add sugar in the fruit- 112g Add alcohol in my case rum! We do the same thing with Coffee, Tea, Hops, Cocoa all of which are pretty darn awful in their natural state and whilst in all of these are also embellished with other flavours there is a sense in which we want the process we apply to them to result in presenting them at their best, processed but untainted. Thanks for laying out all of the steps so clearly, I’m sure that your gin turns out fantastically every time! The damson is a sort of domesticated sloe – and your brother-in-law is lucky to live in Guernsey – the sloes there are bigger and juicier than in the rest of the UK.” They are better not blended he advises, and even batches of the same drink – sloe or damson are best kept small. The process of infusing it with sugar and spirit allows its flavour to be introduced into something that can be consumed and enjoyed. The difference between women's and men’s skincare *, Top tips for supporting anxious pets through change *, PMD Clean PRO Smart Facial Cleansing Device – review *, What does the perfect family holiday look like to you? Despite being ravaged by squirrels there were still plenty of hazelnuts to be had and brambles were too numerous to count. Tip: Don’t buy expensive alcohol, budget own brands are fine! Damson Cheese And Sloe and Damson Gin. I love gin so this is a great recipe for me. Damson or Sloe Gin Recipe A recipe for September/October. 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