Sloe Gin World Championships Deadline Extended
Sloe Gin World Championships deadline extended
The deadline for entries to this year's Sloe Gin World
Championships has been extended until 10:00am on Wednesday 14th December – the
day of the event – for postal entries which have preregistered. Online registration closes at 6:00om on 13th
December.
Artisan and commercial sloe gin makers from across the world
will gather at the village pub on the Kent/Sussex border near Tunbridge Wells
each year, to vie for the coveted 'Sloe Ginster World Champion' title for 2016
on Wednesday 14th December.
This year there are new competition categories to include
entries for other liqueurs such as damson gin and sloe vodka.
Postal entries have already arrived at the pub from as far
afield as Scotland, Devon and Germany.
This Christmas marks the 8th year of the annual event that
began when pub locals began arguing over the perfect sloe gin recipe. Dating
back to around 1750, The George Inn, a traditional country pub with cosy log
fires, is said to make an ideal setting to judge the most traditional of
Christmas liqueurs.
Sloes, a smaller relative of the plum, are used to make the
red liqueur normally with an alcohol content between 15 and 30% abv.
Traditionally it is made by infusing gin with the bitter-tasting drupes, using
sugar to extract the sloe juices.
“Hand crafted sloe gins had traditionally been superior to
commercially produced sloe gins which were often made by flavouring cheaper
neutral grain spirits, producing an inferior flavour akin to a fruit cordial
taste,” said pub landlord Greg Elliott, who added., “But the upsurge in gin
consumption among younger drinkers has led to a great number of larger
distillers launching their own brand sloe gins this year.”
Sloe gin is made from ripe sloes that, by tradition, are
picked after the first frost of winter. Each drupe should be hand-picked with a
thorn taken from the blackthorn bush on which it grew. Some sloe gin
connoisseurs say that the drupes may only be pricked silver pin or fork.
Modern protagonists pick the sloes earlier and freeze them,
avoiding the pricking stage, claiming that this not only splits the drupes, but
by analogy to ice wine, the freezing changes the flavour of the drupes.
Last year's entrants travelled far and wide to contest the
competition. The Sloe Ginster World
Champion title 2015 was awarded to Edinburgh-based Demijohn. Last year's entrants travelled far and wide
to contest the competition. Nearer to
home, Kevin Ladley of Dartford was named the Homemade Sloe World Ginster
Champion.
All proceeds of the event are donated to the MS which
supports people with Multiple Sclerosis - www.mssociety.org.uk.
Homemade entries, accompanied by a completed entry form, may
be submitted on the day by 1:00pm.
Judging begins at 2:00pm.
Further information on entering the Sloe Gin World
Championships via www.moondown.co.uk/bookingforms/MoonDown_SGBF_2015.p
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