Sloe Gin recipe

It's that time of year. Here's my brother's patented sloe gin recipe.

Gather the berries before the first frost from lovely English hedgerows - ideally before everyone else gets there.

Wash them and put them in the freezer for one night. This simulates the first frost of the year and makes them juicier and makes them more permeable to the gin (you can tell he's a scientist...).

Take one empty gin bottle. Fill two thirds with berries, add a generous handful of sugar (getting less scientific now) and same again of sliced almonds.

Top up with gin. Shake daily over the course of one week. Leave for three months. Sieve out all solids and filter into another bottle.

Store until the next Christmas at which point you can delight your friends with this delicious beverage. (If you've not had had this before, it's best drunk as a digestif or liqueur.) Slainte!