Bullace Gin

[SloeGinTimeAgain]

Just tried the bullace gin I've had on the go for four months.
Turned out very nice. Red in colour, a bit like cranberry juice.
Slight almondy smell but didn't taste almondy. Lovely. Perhaps
next time I'll use a bit less sugar.
Decanting was pretty easy. Just left it to stand overnight after the
bullaces were removed. Poured off about 50% before the sediment
started to move. Left the bottle at an angle so the sediment collected
in the bottom corner. After an hour poured off about 50% of the remainder.
The last 25% went through coffee filters, about four! This was
the slow bit but better than filtering the whole lot.

Just waiting to do the sloe and sloe\bullace next.

[frosty]

how do you make it and should the bullaces be ripe or green

[SloeGinTimeAgain]

Same as the main sloe recipe on this site.
And they should be fully ripe.

[frosty]

thanks for your speedy reply, I have recently found a bullace bush that I had been monitoring, thinging it wa a sloe bush

[SloeGinTimeAgain]

I don't think there's much difference between the two. You'll realy need to wait till around
October or later to pick as you get more taste from them when they're fully ripe.
Good luck.

[JD1970]

Made my first ever bullace gin last night. Looks good so far. Can't wait to try it.

[simonx]

I'm confused - just found and picked what believe to be bullaces but they are much bigger than sloes - damson sized.
Yellow-green in colour (some on the floor are purple) - they look like the ones here:
http://www.brickfieldspark.org/data/bullace.htm

And there are definitely thorns on the trees! Boy was it hard work getting these buggers.

But on this forum people seem to be suggesting that bullaces are very similar to sloes - do I have something else?

[simonx]

any thoughts?

[blueangel]

I'd dearly love to be able to find some Bullaces, but I've looked in vain in my part of the world. Anyone know where there is a supply of them in Gloucestershire or thereabouts?

[PamL]

Hmm, just decided our sloes are, in fact, bullaces. Have followed traditional sloe recipes in the past with great results. This year we have harvested slightly later (we are in SW France, in the Pyrenees), and the fruit is quite a bit sweeter & juicier (one clue to our mistaken ID). Will have to play with sugar. Unripe bullaces are very tart, like sloes, but wait too long and they lose that edge.

[frosty]

I used the normal sloe recipe in the end but added sugar (experimentaly) about a fortnight before decanting them if that is any help

[ChrisR]

I have tried white bullaces - some picked yellow at the end of September and others collected pinky-yellow, as they fall off the tree in October. They work really well in both gin and vodka - with a recipe very similar to sloe gin but with 50g less sugar in a 70cl bottle (=1-litre jar). The liqueur is very clear, pure yellow in colour and very smooth

[dave]

I have found a few bullace bushes around by me, I am finding sloes difficult to find. Is there much of a difference in taste as i am tempted to do a load of bullace Gin

[Phil]

As a gin it'll taste exactly the same.

[dave]

thats great if it does, less picking time!

I was just going to mix the fruit and gin then add a sugar syrup when its complete around Christmas, that way i can get it to the exact sweetness i want, i would imagine that the bullace is sweeter than the sloe so would be less sugar if i was mixing at at the start