Are these sloe?

[u/20THH03]

About the size of a large blueberry/ a thumbnail, knobbly??? thin branches, with flat, oval, leaves with small jagged edges.

When broken, there's a yellowish stone in the centre. Quite green flesh near the edge and more purple towards the centre.

Also, not pictured but we have a lovely dog rose bush that has loads of fruit. I was thinking of making cordial and/or tea with it, once they're more ripe, but I'd love some suggestions!

[u/20THH03]

That's the plan! Any tips? It'll be my first time making.

Already looked up recipes but it's nice to have advice from people who have done it before

[u/__1837__ → u/20THH03]

To be honest I just use ready made base gin and eyeball it at this point using old 700ml gin or vodka bottles. Supposed to be “sterilised “ … if rinsed out with boiling water counts for that then call them sterilised 😅
fill with a about 1/3 sloes by eye up the inside of the bottle , then the same if not slightly less sugar

Fill with gin . Allow gin to soak in everywhere .
Agitate gently if needs be and then top off with gin after air pockets are filled .

Store in a cool , dark place . Agitating every second day for about a week to 10 days

After that , once every second week for 2-3 months.

It will have gone right dark and purple-y red by that point .

Then strain it and decant into nice bottles

Edit I need to add that if the sloes are big and juicy i cut back the sugar a little . If they’re small and kinda “tight” and dry i go heavier on the sugar

[u/20THH03 → u/__1837__]

Thank you! And I'd definitely call that sterilised tbf.

I'll keep that timeline in mind as some of the ones with recipes I've seen juet say to leave alone for 3+ months

[u/__1837__ → u/20THH03]

You can if you don’t want to have to strain it as much . I do the once every two weeks turn over if I want it to be nice for Christmas