Save or source 2 litre plastic bottles (coke, water, lemonade). Don't pick sloes too early, leave them as long as you can. Wash and dry and weigh into 1&3/4 pound portions. Put into bags and freeze. (this splits the skins a bit and saves pricking each one). Put one bag into a clean 2 litre bottle, add 3/4 pound of sugar and 1 litre of gin. Put somewhere dark and cool. Agitate daily untill sugar has all gone then once a week. After 3 months put a couple of layers of muslin into a seive and strain gin through. Bottle it or drink it!!!

Tony says he likes it sweet and the amount of sugar can be altered to taste. Start off with less, taste a teaspoon every couple of weeks and add more if needed, small quantities at a time!

I can say from personal experience this method is perfect, the sloe gin stays a lovely purple colour and the frozen sloe method means you don't have to prick each sloe individually, a labour of love!

Happy ginning thank you Tony!