Sloe Gin World Championships
Frant Pub to
Host Sloe Gin World Championships
Where to pick
the best sloes, wild mushroom foraging and Christmas wreath making with
Moondown
The George
pub in Frant, East Sussex near Tunbridge Wells is to again host the Sloe Gin
World Championships on Wednesday 10th December from 1.00pm.
Artisan sloe
gin makers from across the world will gather at the popular village pub on the
Kent/Sussex border, to vie for the coveted Sloe Ginster World Champion title
for 2014. This Christmas will mark the
6th year of the popular annual event which began when pub locals began arguing
over the perfect sloe gin recipe.
Dating back
to around 1750, the traditional country pub, with two bars and restaurant,
traditional English food with continental influences, hand drawn beers, oak
beams, a large enclosed garden and dogs
lying by log fires in winter – The George Inn makes an ideal setting to judge
the most traditional of Christmas liqueurs.
Sloe gin is a
red liqueur flavoured with sloe (blackthorn) drupes, a smaller relative of the
plum, normally made with an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by
volume.
It is
traditionally made by infusing gin with the bitter-tasting drupes using sugar
is to extract the sloe juices are extracted from the fruit.
“Hand crafted
sloe gins are generally superior to commercially produced branded sloe gin
liqueurs are made by flavouring cheaper neutral grain spirits, producing an
inferior flavour akin to a fruit cordial taste,” said pub landlord Greg Elliot.
Sloe gin is
made from ripe sloes, which by tradition are picked after the first frost of
winter. Each drupe should be hand pricked with a thorn taken from the
blackthorn bush on which it grew.
Connoisseurs says that the drupes may only be pricked with a metal fork
or pin if is made of silver.
Some modern
protagonists pick the sloes earlier and freeze them, claiming that this not
only splits the drupes and replace the pricking stage, but by analogy to ice
wine, the freezing changes the flavour of the drupes.
All proceeds
of the event are donated to the MS Society which supports people with Multiple
Sclerosis www.mssociety.org.uk.
Moondown
mushrooming and Christmas wreaths
Locals
looking for advice as to where they can forage wild sloes can visit Moondown
website www.moondown.co.uk. Based at
Bells Yew Green, near Tunbridge Wells, the company teaches county crafts,
making Christmas wreaths and hosts wild mushroom foraging courses.
Sloe Gin
Recipe:
Fill a
wide-necked jar half way with pricked drupes and add 4 ounces (110 g) of sugar
for each 1 imperial pint (570 ml) of sloes. Fill the jar with gin, seal and
turn several times to mix, then stored in a cool, dark place. Turn every day for the first two weeks, then
weekly, for at least three months. The gin develops a deep ruby colour. The
liqueur is poured off and the drupes removed. Some sloe ginsters reuse the
berries infused in white wine or cider, made into jam, as a basis for a
chutney, or a filling for liqueur pudding or chocolates. The liqueur is then
filtered into clean bottle or and left to stand for another week. The sweetness
can be adjusted to taste at the end of the process by addition of more sugar.
Allowing the drupes sufficient time to ensure full extraction, the gin develops
an almond-like essence and aromatic flavour from the sloes' stones. In some recipes,
the process is accelerated with the inclusion a few drops of almond essence,
cloves and a cinnamon stick of cinnamon.
The George Inn
36 High
Street, Frant, Tunbridge Wells TN3 9DU
T: 01892
730350
For recipes follow this link
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