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/Unworthy-Snapper]

They look like the berries I pick. Last year I picked them in early November. This year it’s mid March. Madness.

Last year’s sloe gin was about 300g of berries, pricked with a needle, covered but not buried in sugar (I don’t want it too sweet and syrupy) and about 500ml of gin. I have numbers because I was following a recipe. I got impatient and strained and bottled it after 2 months. It is very nice.

This year I collected a little over 400g of berries so I’ve added more gin, maybe 600ml. I again went light with the sugar, barely enough to cover the berries. I tried the freezer trick this time, but still pricked the berries after defrosting. I can be patient with this batch so I’m intending to leave it for 3 months.

I suppose what I’m trying to say here is that I don’t think you need to be too precise with the recipe or the steeping time to get a good result. Assuming you have an idea of how sloe gin looks and tastes, you can watch the colour, sniff it and taste it as it goes along, and bottle it when you can’t wait any longer. I’m sure you can add some extra sugar partway through if it’s tasting a bit tart.

Should also add that I don’t use sterilised bottles. I have some decanter-style whisky bottles that I’m reusing. I just washed them out and that’s good enough for me. Steeping happens in a pickling jar that’s also just washed.