Home made fllavourings ie sloes, blackberries or other things?

[Whiskers]

Hello-Im new to this and have just got a Stillspirits turbo air still. I will \"find my feet\" with the flavorings that have been supplied with it, but I was wondering if anyone had used the spirit distilled from the wash to make fruit flavoured spirit (rather than using the commercial flavourings). Im thinking of steeping the fruit in the spirit for a couple of months-like when I make sloe gin or rhubarb vodka. Or does anyone have any ideas about alternative and unusual ways in which I can flavour the spirit?

Many thanks.

[Andy]

Hi and welcome Whiskers.

My advice would be, \"play\" with the flavours available before the experiments start.

Also, have fun and move at your pace (I tend to move slow) you will soon know what and where YOU want to be

Having said that, I have got to the stage of wanting to play a little:

I have been wondering about the same thing myself, we have strawberries aplenty around here at the moment.

Not sure about the process and I would like to hear what others have to say.

Things are a little slow here at the moment.

Cheers

Andy

PS, what section of the globe are you from??

[Whiskers]

Wet and windy West Wales!!-Thanks Andy

[MrCat]

I wish there were plenty of strawberries here
They are ace for steeping - there is a thread herehttp://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=341
I\'ve done strawberries, cranberries and blueberries and the strawberry was the best of the three.

[MrCat]

oh - one quick point.
Freeze your fruit before you use it as the fruit seems to break down and release it\'s flavour much better / quickly when you do.

[lyonacre]

As it is the sloe season we decided to make some sloe gin.

Following a trip to the Plymouth gin factory we have modified our approach. In the past we have put sloes (studiously pricked) and sugar in bought gin. Left till Christmas and then drank it as a thick sweet, fairly alcoholic \"liqueur\".

At Plymouth they don\'t add sugar BUT they do use 60% gin!

So, no sugar, loads of sloes, 70% spirit with prestige dry gin essence.

The Plymouth mob water it down when its ready to about 30% but I think the plan is to start at 70% and see what tastes best.

Oh and the price of the home made stuff? £1.23 per litre

[alan]

Hi whiskers, welcome from up here in sunny lancashire,Iv got a few gallons down now ready for christmas,

1,gal absinthe

2,gal sarsaparilla vodka

2,gal whisky

3,gal damson vodka(should have been more but one of my demijohns broke,gutted)
black currants and morello cherries mixed and soaked for a couple of months make a nice change from sloe or damson vodka

alan

[Whiskers]

Thanks to you all for your replies-I\'m learning so much from this forum.

Alan-with the Morello cherries do you use the ones that come in jars?

Also I have heard whisperings that you can use jams to flavour spirit-has anyone tried it?

[phlogiston]

Last year I made some crab apple gin that was very good. You need to choose the crab apple variety so that it has a fair amount of sugar but is also a bit tart. Made a reddish-orange liqueur that because of the acid was more refreshing than sloe gin. Recommended.

[alan]

Hi whiskers yes i use the jars of morello cheeries i get them from lidl about a £1 a jar, i use 2 jars and 1lb bag of frozen black currants

alan

[Jimmy]

I can\'t remember if I mentioned this before, but a company called Sloe Motion was doing a promotion in our local farm shop a few months ago and I tried a few of theirs - the best was surprisingly not the Sloe Gin but the Sloe Brandy so if I can ever manage to locate some sloes I intend to have a crack at that!

[phlogiston]

It\'s a very good year for sloes this year (at least in my neck of the woods). Over the last 10 days I\'ve collected about 16kg for an attempt at \"Sloevovitz\".

[phlogiston]

BTW Jimmy -- the sloe brandy -- is it like sloe gin, a sweet liqueur type drink, or more of an unsweetened spirit? I\'ve got a bottle of something vaguely resembling brandy that I could use.

[Jimmy]

http://www.sloemotion.com/sloe-brandy/s ... -70cl.html

[phlogiston]

Thanks.
Sounds like sloe gin but made with brandy. 17% ABV isn\'t very much -- my usual sloe gin must be double that. It\'s not as though it costs a lot more to make it stronger :-)
Time for an experiment, I think.