Our Sloe Gin really is the best!

Since its launch in spring 2009 Bramley and Gage's Organic Sloe Gin has won a huge array of industry leading awards. Top awards in local, national and interanational competitions prove the quality and provenance of the liqueur.

Awards recognise excellence and innovation in the alcoholic drinks industry with the entries judged by a panel of independent industry experts. Each product is judged equally, allowing small producers to be compared alongside established brands. Among other things judges are looking for excellence in taste, aroma, appearance, packaging, value for money and innovation.

Great Taste Awards - Three Star Gold 2009
International Wine and Spirit Competition- Silver & Best in class '09
Taste of the West Awards - Gold 2009
Quality Drink Awards - WINNER 2009
International Spirits Challenge - Bronze Medal 2009

Bramley and Gage's Sloe Gin is regarded by many as the best, with Nigel Slater (The Observer) a big fan and Gordon Ramsay restaurants customers. Customers often ask if we are organic, so we decided to pursue certification with the Soil Association. Our customers care about the green credentials of products and SA organic approval is widely regarded as the toughest.

Most sloe gin is drunk 'straight', as an original British aperitif, or warming after dinner drink in front of the fire. It is also an essential ingredient in many cocktails, due to its rich and intense flavour.

To make sloe gin, the wild fruit is soaked and macerated with organic gin and a moderate amount of organic sugar.

What makes Organic Sloe Gin so special?

Whole fruit, not dried sloes or concentrated juice. This means that all the flavours of the fruit are extracted including those from the stone; which gives nuttiness. Dried sloes produce an earthy dusty flavour and using concentrate results in a thinness that might be familiar to drinkers of a leading brand.

Plenty of fruit: Sloes are hard to find and difficult to pick, with finger cuts a likely consequence, so it would be easy to cut down on the amount of sloes and up the cheaper ingredients. Cutting costs results in a light colour and bland taste.

Moderate sugar: Sloes, even when ripe, are extremely bitter, so the addition of some sugar is needed. The sugar can help 'fill out' the fruit flavours, however too much becomes sickly and over powering and masks some of the more subtle flavours.

Patience and time: It takes time to make sloe gin. We often hear of home made recipes that have been left for 5 years in the airing cupboard. Traditionally sloes are picked at the first frost of autumn, around the end of September, with the resultant gin opened on Christmas Eve.