On a cold, dark winters night, I head towards the forest, the moon illuminating the ghostly trees and pot holes. Past Ashridge House glowing in the woods and avoiding the deer, I’m joining Becky and David at their annual Sloe Gin competition at The Alford Arms deep in the Chiltern Hills.
An international competition
This isn’t just any competition, it has drawn contestants from just down the road and from far away in the Netherlands. They travelled by donkey, ferry and bicycle to reach The Alford Arms, so determind where they, they just had to win that year.
Friends and colleges Ben and Kate were there to help with the difficult task of judging who had made the finest Sloe Gin. Ben recalls that when he first had to judge, there were over 25 bottles to sample! There weren’t quite as many last night, thank goodness, but still a good selection to work our way through. The vintage category had some interesting labelling, the contemporary category chose Seville oranges, but the overall winner was a very tasty little pick-me-up full of winter warmth and flavour.
What is sloe gin?
Making your own is easy, even I have made sloe gin! You need some containers or bags and someone who knows were the local blackthorn bushes are, because they are the key ingredient.
Ignore the advice to wait for the first frost. They’ll all be gone by then as savvy locals know where to go. Once collected, each berry has to be pricked, then frozen. Or is that the other way around? Leave the stones in and sling into a large glass gar, add sugar gradually over a few weeks, with a no-name supermarket gin. Seal the jar and leave for three months for the berries to work their magic in a cool dark cupboard. Under the stairs will do. It needs a slow agitation every few weeks before it is opened on a cold winters night. Adjust the sweetness at the end of the process, or add some fizz when you drink it. Sloe gin also tends to have a lower alcohol content than traditional gin of 15 and 30 percent by volume. Which is a good thing!
You probably have your own recipe and method which adds to the myriad of textures and tastes that this sweet gin liquor offers. Please share your sloe tipples here.
Serves one
We all need a little pick-me-up in the depths of winter, and this will pick you up.
15ml gin
15ml sloe gin
15ml lemon
5ml sugar
Champagne, prosecco or cava, to top up (anything will do, so long as it's not too sweet)
Put all the ingredients except the fizz in a cocktail shaker, shake over cubed ice for a good 10 seconds, then strain into a champagne flute. Delicious!
Links you will need
Where the heck is Frithsden? Find Frithsden and you’ll find the award-winning Alford Arms where the judging was held. A pubby gem nestling in a secluded wooded valley, Ashridge Forest wraps its great wooden arms around this hamlet within a sweep of the Chiltern Hills.
Frithsden is on the lovely circular walk that takes you past the Buddhists in the Beechwoods that I wrote about in December.
The nearby Ashridge gardens are a magical place of growing stones, 18th century landscape designers and an acorn from a princes.
Pitching camp on the boundary between classic and contemporary artisan gins, multi-award winning Campfire Gin is distilled by founders Ben and Kate at the Puddingstone Distillery.
Find out how Mary Tebje can help your business communicate a sense of place.