Spring is in the air and the blackthorn bushes are in bloom (the hawthorn bushes, also known as “may” are not yet out, so keep your coat on). Nevertheless, and entirely naturally, at this time of year one’s thoughts turn to the formation of sloes and the annual creation of that most cyanidic of seasonal winter beverages…sloe gin.
Actually, pictured is my decanting of last year’s crop of sloe vodka. Here’s a hint, don’t use a coffee filter paper, use a sheet of muslin instead, the filter papers get clogged up very quickly and you will have become very thirsty before enough of the stuff has dribbled through to make a stiff drink. Here’s another tip, the stones (that harbour the seed) of sloes as with all other prunus fruit, including plums, apricots, peaches, damsons etc contain compounds that naturally generate cyano compounds. It’s best not to eat the stones nor to leave them soaking in a bottle of alcohol for more than a year or so…just in case. EtOH in your drink is fairly fine, HCN is most certainly not.
Incidentally, you don’t have to be an alcoholic, have raised liver enzymes or even have a serious drinking problem to check out the alcohol advice on the Drinkaware site.