SLOE GIN WINS GOLD AWARD | SLOE Motion DOES IT!
While the sloe berry may be too bitter for the taste buds of British birds, that’s good news for us humans. A small North Yorkshire based business has been busily harvesting sloes from the local hedgerows to create a range of mouth-watering sloe based products, among them an award-winning sloe gin.

A slurp of sloe gin has long been known to lift the spirits and warm the heart, and this latest offering from SLOE Motion has just been awarded Gold in the “Taste of Britain Awards” Best Drink category.
Having swept aside strong competition from all over the country, SLOE Motion’s glorious ruby-rich coloured SLOE gin could make an almost-forgotten British drinking tradition popular once again.
Like many a burgeoning business these days, it is a truly home-grown enterprise. The sloe berries come from blackthorn bushes in the hedgerows around Malton, North Yorkshire, from other farms in the area and from other counties. The gin comes from a small traditional distillery in London, where it is made to recipes that have come down through generations.
The SLOE gin is made in the traditional way, with the fruit steeped in gin and sugar and left to mature. “I make it the same way as my father has done for years, just produced on a bigger scale,” says Jonathan Curtoys, owner of SLOE Motion. Like good home-made SLOE gin SLOE Motion’s is a pale, almost rosé colour because nothing else is added.
The high concentration of fruit to gin results in a sweet and fruity liqueur, with a dry finish from the gin, but its unique flavour is quite unlike the gin that is used to make it. “Drunk neat it certainly warms you on a winter’s day; you can feel it going down like liquid central heating,” says Curtoys. “But we also have a whole range of fantastic cocktail ideas for all weathers.”
This quintessential English countryman’s tipple is now bang up-to-date as one of the most popular cocktail mixers. Here’s a few ideas to try:
The Charlie Chaplin – one measure each of Apricot Brandy, SLOE Gin and lemon juice, over ice in a brandy glass.
The Futurity – one measure each of sweet Vermouth and SLOE Gin, shaken in a cocktail mixer half filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve, adding two dashes of Angostura bitters.
The Pink Ginger – the perfect summer refresher – in a chilled hi-ball glass add one third SLOE gin to two thirds traditional ginger beer and crushed ice. Add a generous squeeze of lime around the rim and place the spent lime in the glass.
The SLOE Royale – pour half a measure of SLOE gin into a champagne flute and top up with champagne or sparkling wine. Perfect for special occasions.
Though the sloe berry is best associated with gin, it is a wild relative of the plum and the damson and can be used in a number of culinary ways. “We have developed the SLOE Motion range to include a unique SLOE Whisky together with SLOE Vodka, SLOE Chutney and SLOE Gin Belgian Chocolate Truffles,” says Curtoys. “And we have plenty more ideas!”
Whisky lovers should try the SLOE Whisky neat, or for a delicious cocktail try The Pink Whisker – as above, in a chilled hi-ball glass add one third SLOE whisky to two thirds traditional ginger beer and crushed ice. Add a generous squeeze of lime around the rim and place the spent lime in the glass.
The possibilities with SLOE Vodka are numerous and present many opportunities for experimentation and fun…
The Taste of Britain Awards, run by The Daily Telegraph in association with Sainsbury’s, was established last year ‘to highlight and celebrate all things great and good from within the Great British Food Industry’. The voting panel is made up of food industry experts from DEFRA (Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), the Institute of Grocery Distributors and market development consultancy Food from Britain, as well as Sainsbury’s and The Daily Telegraph.
The entrants were judged not only on the flavour and quality of their product, but on their innovation, business acumen, environmental record and benefits to the local economy. Another important factor was the “Britishness” of their product and their ability to take on an ambassadorial role for their region or category.
SLOE Motion has already won the 2007 Yorkshire Post Readers Award for its SLOE gin, voted for by the customers of Harvey Nichols Foodmarket, and now it’s struck Gold in the “Taste of Britain Awards”. This is clearly one to watch, or taste maybe.
And SLOE Motion is surely the answer to every Christmas or birthday shopper’s ‘what-to-buy’ nightmare – SLOE Gin, SLOE Whisky, SLOE Vodka, SLOE Chutney and SLOE Gin Belgian Chocolate Truffles, can be delivered to your door, singly or in any combination, and all beautifully packaged in smart black boxes.
SLOE Motion products can be purchased from
http://www.sloemotion.com or by calling 0844 800 1911.