sloe gin

Food & Drink, Events and Entertainment
1
Now a question the opposite way round from a swiss to you expats.

Can I get Sloe Gin in Switzerland?

I know about the homemade one, but read that Gordon's make one as well and I would like to lay my hands on a bottle of that.

So far no luck in Biel and Berne and the 4 well stocked 'Getränkehändler' hereabouts never heard of it either.....

Thanks in advance

EE

2
another question? can you get hold of sloe's in Switzerland, we've nearly run out of our home made supply and would like to make some more.

In answer to the question though, I have only heard of Gordons sloe gin which is no where near as nice as the home made stuff

Mmmmm

3
Yep you can get them in Switzerland,though you have to hunt them yourself,even our 2 super eco-green-etc fruit and veg shops in town haven't got them and one hasn't even heard of it..........

Sloe is called 'Schlehe' in German and is the berry of the blackthorn bush,called SCHWARZDORN in German, unfortunately we haven't got any of them bushes in the forest i live close to and so far i didn't have time to go further away on search for them berries....

4
I have been known to rummage in hedge backs on many occasions for Sloes, luckily for me they grow in the hedges on our family farm

5
I'm looking for sloes, anyone have any idea where I can go foraging for them? Thanks.

6
Sadly this is not the right place for Sloe, but you could try http://www.markgraefler-kraeuterhof.com/

this is where I get my herbal hooch from, like dandelion and burdock and sasparella, hint, hint.

7
Plenty of sloes in the Jura in the hedgerows - and now they've had a good frost on them, they will be perfect. Thanks for the reminder - will go a-picking tomorrow. They are called 'bellosses' in French.

Bellosse, béllosse, belosse, bélosse, blosse [n. f.]Prunelle, fruit du bellossier, patois bélossa, bolossa , du vieux français belloche, beloche , ancien français beloce , celtique *bulluca , « petite prune ».

Ses fruits violets, âpre, que l ́on nomme prunelles ou belosses, ne sont pas comestibles. On en confectionne néanmoins une liqueur

Edit: sorry Sbrinz- I do not want my sloes full of fuel pollution, etc. Our local hedgerows are pure and clean- and that's where I'll go and pick mine

1 volume of sloes

1 volume of gin

1 volume of sugar (I use about 1/5 less)

mix in bottles (I keep and buy pretty bottles and give as presents)

and leave, shaking from time to time, from now till Chrismas or longer (if you can wait- it gets even better with time).

8
Look in areas where there is no farming nor cultivation, near autobahn bridges etc. The bushes can be about 2 meters high after 5 years growth.

9
No, but you can make it. (but it's been a while)

Sloeberries are a type of plum, "prunelle" in Frog.

Mix "prunelle de Bourgogne" with gin, you get close.

Tom

10
Gordon's Sloe Gin is very sweet. Too sweet for me.

11
Odile - did you find any sloes?

I only moved here last week, so I'm not familiar with the Jura region or any other region in Switzerland or autobahns with undergrowth, but I have wheels and I'll drive anywhere for my sloes! A more specific location would be helpful. Thanks!

12
There's plenty in the hedgerows in the basel countryside - just go for a nice walk and keep your eyes open

13
I have a very old sloe tree in my garden, one of the few trees they didn't chop down when the house was built. Always a fight to get to the fruit before the birds, but I won this year! Stunningly pretty tree in Spring (especially by moonlight when the blossom almost glows in the dark), and the flavoured gin is well worth the wait.

Thank heavens for Duty-Free!

14
Was going to go today, but pouring with rain- apparently same tomorrow. Will go next week. But its just too far from Zurich.

15
It's about 2 hours from Zurich, right? I intend to be out exploring on weekends, so any location that I can plug into my SatNav would work. It would be an adventure.

16
Lovely cold but brilliantly sunny afternoon. Just got back and found plenty galore. And plenty more there... So East Enders, we are only an hour from Bienne. And of course about 2 from Zurich - seems like a long way to come to me, but if you want to come next Sunday, I'll take you there. If you come by public transport, no problem - and then I'll take you to the sloes and return Oh and not a Motorway within about 50kms, and the purest non-polluted air you can ever breathe up here

Our little hotel in the village has nice rooms for 85CH double with breakfast, if you want to make a week-end of it. Otherwise there is a nice B&B down in Fleurier, called Pain et Confiture, or 2 hotels up in the hills, Les Cernets on the Swiss side (65CHF per person per night with breakfast) or Le Tillau, on the French side, cheaper still, but can't remember the exact price. If you come on the Saturday, we could join you for a fondue in the evening.

17
Summit is up there, happily picking a stash of sloes. Our sloe gin has been 'brewing' for a week and is beginning to colour. Plenty more EastEnders if you want some.

18
I was lucky, in our town we had an Autumn fair and school children were selling sloes with a recipe sheet. I haven't had time to make the sloe gin yet, but the sloes are in the freezer, so that when I defrost them the skins will split and release their juice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloe_gin

19
I'm American, and my only experience with sloe gin is in an $8 bottle mixed into a Sloe Gin Fizz. I didn't even know there WAS a sloe berry--just thought it was a term like Grenadine or Bitters. Can someone post a picture of a sloe berry? And how do you make your own sloe gin? And what else can you do with them? This has opened up whole new world for me!

20
Thanks Odile for showing me the location, very kind of you. I've never seen so many sloe bushes in one location! I'll drop by with a bottle of sloe sherry in around 6 months time.