Hedgerow Gin

Oh, I love the sound of raspberry vodka!

Sloe gin/vodka is wonderfully warming! As is damson gin/vodka ...think I'd prefer my damsons in the spirit not the jam

I like raspberry vodka too ...not that I wish to give the impression that ...mmm Hic!!

Sloe gin a liqueur - spirit, gin, sugar.
I agree - I think distilling own alcohol illegal as it can go wrong and poison people.
Sloe gin requires a LOT of sugar, I guess with damsons they would need much less?
Personally i adore damson jam, so if I get my hands on any it is straight to the jam pan.
The mention of gin reminded my a walk with my GD and GS last month. We caught a bus to a small bay, which turned out to be in the teeth of a gale, coming straight across Sydney harbour. So route marched them both across the headland to a sheltered beach - about 2-3 k.
On the way GD spotted some juniper berries on the ground (tiny bluish/grey)
I stuck my thumb nail in for them to smell (it is a lovely smell - inspired it was, to use them to give gin that herbal flavour)
"Can you eat them" she says, "no, they have been in the dirt!" I respond.
later on she goes and tells her parents that she did taste one. Not entirely sure if she did, or whether she was just winding them up. Cue mega parental lecture about the dangers of nibbling on unauthorised berries

I made my first sloe gin last year, never having had access to a hedgerow full of sloes before we moved here. It was delicious (there's not much left - I only made one bottle!) and I shall certainly be repeating the process on a larger scale this year.

Yes, I think it is, too - although you can brew beer, cider and lager, and make wine - doesn't really make sense. I've always been mystified by sloe gin etc. though, as not liking gin I never bothered to find out how it was made. Thanks for that!

You can do it with vodka too!
I not sure if cryodistillation is illegal or not? Perhaps someone cantell me?

You make it like sloe gin i.e. marinate the washed and pricked fruit in Kilner jars with gin and sugar, turning the jars over every so often, strain the (flavoured) gin off after a few months and use the distinctly boozy leftover fruit with ice cream!
I have yet to learn how to distil alcohol and in any case I think that might be illegal? (But I might be interested in learning!)

I'm a bit puzzled, gracesum. If you made gin from the plums and damsons, why did you need to buy litres of cheap gin as well? Did you end up with more gin? Or does the fruit just flavour it?