tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Just making some damson gin. How long should the damsons be left to steep? Mine have been in two weeks, but the fruit was well squashed before adding the gin, and it's been well agited three or four times daily

I usually filter through a muslin bag, but does anyone know how to get rid of the really fine debris that gets through the muslin, preferably WITHOUT wasting the gin

Oh, and I always squeeze the fruit to remove the most part of the alcohol.

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

I believe through your wife's silk knickers is the best way


Apart from that I remember when I convinced my other half that sloe gin was made from slow worms and they squashed them down and then added alcohol and a load of sugar to get rid of the taste ..she believed me

Coffin Dodger

Think it depends on the fruit. With sloes generally leave them in the liquor for a year before filtering and decanting into a bottle to drink. Made some blackberry vodka last year and read somewhere to not leave the fruit in for more than about three months as it can start to taste woody, might be the same for damsons? The leave for the rest of the year to mature. Had a bit a few weekends ago and it was lush. Made some up into blackberry and raspberry daquaris (sp?) using fresh fruit, white rum, and blackberry vodka. Very tasty.

Usually filter using a coffee filter and funnel though probably need to think of a better method as it's quite slow and fiddly. No bits though

CharlesW

With sloe gin I leave the sloes in the gin for 3 months, turning the bottle end over end once a day. Then I pour the gin off into another bottle and leave for a further 9 months before drinking it. By then any sediment will have dropped to the bottom of the bottle. The longer you leave it, the better it tastes.

I would do the same for damson gin.

One further point - sloe gin requires quite a lot of sugar, since sloes are VERY bitter. How bitter or sweet were the damsons. It may rquire some sugar to be drinkable.

Leslie

I make both sloe and damson gin, or even a mixture of the two which works well. About three months steeping is usually ok, as long as you have had enough fruit there in the first place. You can go by the colour which should be a deepish red. I use those old glass sweet jars and use about 1/3 the volume of fruit. I slash the fruit with a scalpel blade rather than pierce it with a pin.

I filter the drink twice over with several layers of those short nylon stockings. You do need a lot of sugar and I usually put in as much as I can dissolve. Caster sugar is the easiest to dissolve. It makes the gin a full consistency like a liqueur. You still need a lot of sugar with damsons. I chuck a couple of cloves and a teaspoon of almond essence to ginger up the flavour. I never use cheap gin, it spoils it completely. Plymouth Gin is tops!

If you can-let it age for at least 3 years after filtering

Its great stuff to take fishing. If you can't catch anything it does not seem to matter much after a while!

Les

lovinmescoob

Its great stuff to take fishing. If you can't catch anything it does not seem to matter much after a while!

Les[/QUOTE]

Dead right, long night's in the bivvy