"If you were to find a juniper plant, a dark purple berry is ready to pick. If you crush one of those up in your hands and put it in front of your nose, it's [the essence of] gin," says Christiansen.

Born a regular gin, the booze used to make sloe gin is steeped with sugar and sloe (a rouge berry from the Blackthorn plant) to sweeten the spirit and lower the proof to as low as 15%.

Sloe gin is often sipped straight, similar to limoncello, but it can also be used in a variety of cocktails. Its tart berry ...

If you make this recipe during the sloe berry season (September to the first frost), by Christmas it should be ready to decant and drink. Once decanted, if the sloe gin is stored in a cool, dark ...