Sloe schnapps

Sloe schnapps - based on fresh and fully ripe sloes from the blackthorn plant - has a beautiful deep red colour.

It's a very rich schnapps - fruity and sweet with taste of cherry, vanilla and almond.

It's an excellent after-dinner drink, and goes very well with all types of cheese and cheese cakes.

Blends very well with elderberry schnapps · almond schnapps.

Also, see how you can easily...
turn your sloe schnapps into a liqueur.

Blackthorn

Sloes are the small, blue-black fruits from the blackthorn plant, which belongs to the same genus (Prunus) as peach, apricot, plum, cherry and almond.

The blackthorn plant is a dense thorny bush or small tree.

It's one of the first trees to bloom in springtime - with thousands of small, white flowers that only last for few days.

The fruits resemble tiny plums and they are extremely bitter to taste.

But after the first frost - AND a couple of days in the freezer - they develop a much milder and sweeter taste.

And by then they are just perfect for making a superb sloe schnapps.

Among other uses, sloes are used to flavour Gin and other spirits.

Here in Denmark, blackthorn is common throughout the country, except in north and west Jutland (Jylland), where it's rarely found.

It grows on moraine clay and chalky clay along the coasts, in wood edges, shrubs, windbreaks and on cliffs and beach banks.

More information about the blackthorn plant

Recipe

Use fresh and fully ripe sloes.

It's very important that they are fully ripe, because even one or two unripe sloes will ruin the taste.

Pick them right after the first frost. But before the birds eat them. Put them in the freezer for a couple of days.

Or do as I do - pick them when they are fully ripe but BEFORE the frost and freeze them for a week or more.

Frost makes sloes sweeter and milder.

Direction:

• Rinse the sloes carefully and remove all stems.
• Leave them to dry in the shadow - on paper towel.
• Freeze them for a week or more.
• Use a clean glass jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Fill the jar with frozen sloes.
• Fill up with clear, unflavoured vodka - 40% (80 proof).
• Steep for 3-8 weeks in a dark place at room temperature,
  18-20°C (64-68°F).
• Shake lightly and taste it from time to time.
• Strain and filter your infusion into a clean glass bottle or jar with tight-fitting lid.
• Store (age) for 2 -3 weeks in a dark place at room temperature before serving.
• You may need to filter once more.

Note: If for some reason you are not satisfied with your infusion, there are ways to adjust both taste and flavours - click here to see how.

Serve your sloe schnapps at room temperature in suitable glasses. And remember to keep your schnapps bottle tightly closed and in a dark place before and between servings.