Sloe, sloe, quick, quick, sloe

"Bite the bullace" was the alternative title for this post as Willow insists on calling bullace 'bullets'.

Adam and I sat down and made sloe gin last night, though I actually think it's bullace gin. This is largely because when Adam picked them he said there weren't any thorns on the tree, plus they're ripe rather early in the season (they were falling off the tree and some were beginning to shrivel) and they show signs of being eaten by insects. I've updated this earlier post with slightly more detail on distinguishing bullace and sloes (if it matters!).

I'm sure that any fule no how to make sloe gin, especially a fule who has encountered the sloe.biz site so I won't try and add to that particular pool of expertise except to offer a tip for pricking sloes. Take 3 or 4 at a time in the palm of your hand and roll and pointy side of a box cheese grater over them, much quicker than doing them individually with a pin (or thorn from a blackthorn tree as is traditional).

I've also slightly re-calculated the original sloe.biz gin recipe as I find it easier to think in terms of multiples of 70cl bottles of gin rather than the half litres given in the original. So per bottle of gin add 600g sloes and 210g sugar. Same proportion of ingredients, just expressed slightly differently.

Have fun!