This wonderful drink is made in two stages. First soaking the berries in gin for as long as possible, then secondly adding sugar. You'll need approximately half the weight of sloes in gin (eg 800 gr of sloes, 400 ml gin). Do use some decent gin. The better the gin, the better the sloe gin. You can make whatever quantity you like.
Step 1 Rinse the sloes and put them in the freezer overnight to break the skins down.
Just before you are ready to bottle, sterilise your jars. Wash and rinse your jars and put the wet jars in the oven at 140ÂșC, Gas Mark 1 for 15 minutes.
The next day, fill the jars with sloes and top up with gin. You can add a sliver of orange peel for extra flavour
Store for 6-8 weeks. I am using the method used in Croatia to make fruit liqueurs and storing mine in the sun rather in a dark cupboard.
Step 2 For this stage you need to make some sugar syrup so you can blend the mixture easily and more precisely than simply adding sugar and mixing. Get a large bowl and sieve ready and a saucepan for the syrup.
Mix 100 gr sugar (granulated or caster) and 50 ml water in a saucepan and heat slowly until the sugar is dissolved. Let this cool. This is sufficient for 800 ml gin but you may want to add more to your taste.
Carefully strain the fruit from the jars. You can use a jelly bag if you have one.
Now it is a matter of adding the sugar syrup to the strained gin little by little, tasting with each addition, until it reaches a flavour you enjoy.
Pour the gin back into the gin bottle or another clean bottle. You can drink straight away, but it will keep very well for years!
Notes
Source some glass jars (such as a Kilner jar) that you can seal. You can use the gin bottle but it is rather fiddly. Do keep the gin bottle for the finished sloe gin.