Plum vodka

[palborn]

Has anyone got a foolproof method for making this? We've just been given about a kg of plums and I'd like to make some for xmas/new year.

Are there any specific rules about making fruit alcohols I should know, specific equipment etc?

Cheers

[janeyo]

Found this for you...

Making plum vodka is very simple, and easy to adapt to your own taste. You’ll need a large pan, sterilised bottles and muslin. Depending how sweet your plums are, combine them in a pan with up to half their weight in caster sugar. Now add vodka – 75cl per 500g – and bring very, very slowly to a gentle simmering point, just to dissolve the sugar. Stir well, then pour the whole lot into sterilised bottles, seal, and move to a cool, dark place.

Give the bottles a gentle shake whenever you remember. After three months, strain the vodka through muslin and pour into a fresh bottle. You could add your own twists to this recipe, by including a few pieces of orange zest, a pinch of cinnamon or some fresh ginger (add before heating).

[sarraceniac]

Mine doesn't require heating. It is just the same as sloe gin. Large glass jar. One third full of plums (about 500gm, 1 lb) opened up but including pits. Pour in sugar so that it is about 5 cm (2 inches) above the plum level. Add 70 cl of spirit (vodka, gin, or cheap brandy) depending on what you want. Leave it for about 3 months shaking occasionaly in a cool dark place. Strain and serve.

[Alison]

I'd do it like sarraceniac, not used plums but have had good results with damsons and it's a doddle.

No risk of boiling off the alcohol that way either!

[palborn]

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up stuffing a 2l jar with the fruit, adding some sugar then topping up with voddie. I've probably got too many plums in the jar but hey, what the hell!

[Hilary B]

I do sloe gin by filling the jar with sloes, adding as much sugar as will go in easily, lid on.
2 days somewhere warm (airing cupboard or sunny windowsill) fill with gin, shake daily unilt sugar is all dissolved. Leave 3 months (if you can). Strain, bottle, ready to drink.
The method should work for any fruit/spirit combo that isn't oversweet. Using harsher spirits with sweeter fruit seems to work (judging by the things I have seen on sale).

[Alison]

Damson gin is nice also.

[james747]

hiya im a bit of a newbie to all this, just wondering what are sloes?!?

cheers

james

[BFG]

Blackthorn fruit. Quite common in hedgerows.

[Hilary B]

hiya im a bit of a newbie to all this, just wondering what are sloes?!?

cheers

james

They are a tiny wild damson, also known as 'blackthorn' (as BFG says). DO NOT attempt to eat fresh!
Best to spot the bushes in spring, when the white flowers appear before the leaves (not much else in the hedgerows like this), or take someone with you who knows them well. The Wayfaring tree has similar shaped leaves, and similar sized black fruit, but once you have seen the difference confusion is unlikely (sloes tend to have a bluish 'bloom' on while Wayfarer berries are shiny black, and the leaves are glossier too). I believe the berries of the Wayfaring tree are poisonous.