Sloes are native to Europe and have long been used by the British to create ‘shooting Gins’ (as they used to be known). For a long time, though, Sloe Gin didn’t have the best reputation. At the height of the 18th century was the ‘Gin Craze’; a time where consumption of Gin grew rapidly in Britain, and particularly in London, when it’s said that the average Brit was drinking 14 gallons of the stuff each year.

Sloe Gin - DrinkSupermarket Sloe Gin - DrinkSupermarket

Colder weather and dark evenings call for a warming drink, and while Gin is traditionally thought of as a refreshing summer drink on hot days, there’s no need to step away from the Gin bottle entirely. The quality of the Gin was poor - made with turpentine and all sorts - so adding sloes to it masked the flavour, but was dubbed ‘the poor man’s Port’. Add the Gin, the sugar, seal the jar, and shake well. Once a day for the next seven days, give the jar a good shake. Leave it in a cool dark place for two months. You’d be forgiven for thinking that ‘shooting Gins’ are for doing shots in bars, but actually, they were favoured by the British aristocracy for sipping from a hip flask in the countryside when shooting birds and game.The good thing about making your own Sloe Gin at home, is that the hard part is done for you. There’s no distillation involved. As this is a Gin-based Liqueur, start with the base.

Gordon’s London Dry Gin

Fast forward to today, and Sloe Gin is having a revival. No longer considered only something your granny liked, the big Gin producers have put lots of care and attention into creating Sloe Gins that are deliciously sweet, tart and balanced. When it’s time to decant, use a very fine sieve over a bowl (or line a normal sieve with a muslin cloth) and pour the mixture out. Then divide it into clean, dry bottles and label. Although it’s ready to drink now, it’ll still change over time, so try not to drink it all at once! If that all seems like too much hassle, or you can’t find any sloes where you are, we recommend you cheat and buy it!Take your pre-frozen sloes, or fresh ones that you’ve poked a bunch of holes in, and tip them into a 2 litre Kilner jar (or divide between two smaller ones). Sloes grow in hedgerows - historically used to divide land in England - and are abundant in the British countryside, making Sloe Gin production easy. Consider how nuts about Gin the English are… it was an obvious pairing and a match made in heaven. Technically, it’s not really a Gin, it’s a Liqueur. That’s because there are stringent rules about what can and can’t be classified as Gin (if you wanna geek-out about different types of Gin, have a read of this).