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Sloe Gin

Pick your sloes when ripe, after the first frosts in October or November, from blackthorn hedges

225g/1/2lb sloes
110g/4oz caster sugar
1/2 litre gin

Use a sterlilised bottle, or just a half bottle of gin.

Cut or prick the sloes, or alternatively, freeze the sloes in a plastic bag then bash them hard with a hammer or rolling pin. Some people say that if you leave the sloes in the freezer for several days, they will burst, and this gives the desired effect, with much less effort. Ensure they are not stuck together when mixing with the gin.

Drop the sloes into the gin, add sugar. Tighly seal the bottle and place somewhere cool and dark.

Turn or agitate the mix daily for a week, then weekly for a month or two.

The sloe gin will now be dark red and ready to drink, but it's best kept until the next winter.

Variations: Make blackberry brandy in the same way, substituting blackberries for the sloes and brandy for the gin. Blackberries do not need pricking. Also try this with plums or blackberry and apple. Vodka can also be used instead of gin/brandy.

Summer Babe

The bartenders at Reynard, in Brooklyn, use Greenhook Ginsmiths’s botanical American dry gin in this citrusy cocktail, but feel free to make it with your favorite. From bonappetit.com

2 ounces gin
¾ ounces Génépy des Alpes
¾ ounces fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist (for serving)

Combine gin, Génépy des Alpes, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with lemon twist.

Zarif Zehir

Roughly translates as "red poison", a sloe gin fizz from he London restaurant Arabica.
The use of sumac gves it a citrus edge. From Waitrose magazine, April 2015. Serves 1

25ml vodka
25ml sloe gin
15ml sugar syrup
good pinch sumac
1 egg white
ice to serve

Add the main ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake for 15 seconds, add ice and shake again.

Strain into a chlled glass and add a dash of soda water to finish.
Top with another pinch of sumac.