Home made sloe gin

Ingredients:

• A good few bags of freshly picked sloes, (think of it this way- every bottle will be filled half way up with sloes, you can do the maths from there) you can buy sloes but it is all the more special if they are hand picked in your local area. Note!: Sloes are ready to pick after the first frost (usually late September/ early October).
• 150g of granulated sugar per bottle
• Gin to make up the rest of the bottle

The recipe is as simple as this:

1. De-stalk all of your sloe berries then prick each with a needle just slightly. (this will help them flavour the gin)
2. Pour in the granulated sugar.
3. Pour in the gin to the top of the bottle.
4. Secure the top of the bottle and turn it.
5. For the first week, turn the bottle over (so the sloes go down to the top) and then back up again everyday.
6. After this, rotate the bottle once every week until serving. The gin will be ready to drink after approximately 4 weeks.