Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

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Snowfire
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Snowfire »

Can anybody tell me how to tell the difference between sloes and damsons? Is there a way of telling ? There is a large tree overhanging my garden which is full of fruit and I want to either make them into a jam or make slow gin. It would be nice to know the difference.

Looking at wiki, they could be either
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Snowfire
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Snowfire »

Well, I've sort of worked out that damsons are generally bigger than sloes and grow on a tree rather than a bush. The bush that the sloes grow on is thorny (blackthorn) and to taste, sloes are very sour and feel like your mouth is drying out. Damsons are juicy and pleasant to eat.

Looks like I have damsons.

Off to make damson chutney
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Snowfire
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Snowfire »

Picked enough to make 2 large jars of damson jam. Stored one and tasted the other.

Fantastic
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valerie
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by valerie »

Too bad the shipping costs would be so prohibitive,

that extra jar could come here!

Signed,

A Damsel, not a damson...

:yh_battin
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Snowfire
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Snowfire »

Mmmm ! Damsel jam:yh_think
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fuzzywuzzy
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by fuzzywuzzy »

Ha ha ha ha that's the way I was thinking "damson in distress" but it's "damsel" isn't it. I've never heard of that fruit before.

hmmmm ..I have nothing more to say in this thread so I shall take my leave . :)
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Bryn Mawr
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Bryn Mawr »

Snowfire;1333700 wrote: Can anybody tell me how to tell the difference between sloes and damsons? Is there a way of telling ? There is a large tree overhanging my garden which is full of fruit and I want to either make them into a jam or make slow gin. It would be nice to know the difference.

Looking at wiki, they could be either


Easy, put one in your moth and chew - if it feels like all the moisture has disappeared into the void it's a sloe.

The easier way is to look at the tree - sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn and the bush lives up to its name - the thorns a long black and very sharp.
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Snowfire
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Snowfire »

Bryn Mawr;1333786 wrote: Easy, put one in your moth and chew - if it feels like all the moisture has disappeared into the void it's a sloe.

The easier way is to look at the tree - sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn and the bush lives up to its name - the thorns a long black and very sharp.


Yep did that. Figured that and made the jam
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Bryn Mawr
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Bryn Mawr »

Snowfire;1333793 wrote: Yep did that. Figured that and made the jam


I'm not a jam person but have been known to go huning the odd sloe.

Cannot drink Gin but love the sloe variety :-)
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Oscar Namechange
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Oscar Namechange »

Bryn Mawr;1333786 wrote: Easy, put one in your moth and chew - if it feels like all the moisture has disappeared into the void it's a sloe.

The easier way is to look at the tree - sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn and the bush lives up to its name - the thorns a long black and very sharp.


Is the sloe not a rose hip or similar Bryn? I have rose hip In the garden but I must add, not by choice. Where as the Damson Is a variety of plum.

I am sure I can remember my Father making sloe gin cocktails years ago.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. R.L. Binyon
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Bryn Mawr
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Bryn Mawr »

oscar;1333806 wrote: Is the sloe not a rose hip or similar Bryn? I have rose hip In the garden but I must add, not by choice. Where as the Damson Is a variety of plum.

I am sure I can remember my Father making sloe gin cocktails years ago.


Nooooo - sloes are small spherical dark purple berries with a pale blue bloom on the skin. No resemblance to a rose hip that's red and full of itchy buds.
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Oscar Namechange
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Oscar Namechange »

Bryn Mawr;1333813 wrote: Nooooo - sloes are small spherical dark purple berries with a pale blue bloom on the skin. No resemblance to a rose hip that's red and full of itchy buds.
Ahhh In which case I am wrong. Yes, the one's In my garden are rose hip and red and not dark purple. Thanks.
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fuzzywuzzy
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by fuzzywuzzy »

Could someone post a pic of this tree I want to see one.
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Bryn Mawr
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by Bryn Mawr »

fuzzywuzzy;1333823 wrote: Could someone post a pic of this tree I want to see one.


Here :-

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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by fuzzywuzzy »

thankyou Bryn. I shall look into that plant. It sort of looks like a piccalilly but much darker
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by G#Gill »

I always thought that damsons were a bit quicker !
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by spot »

I ate a sloe once outside Liskeard in the 1980s to see whether it was a sloe. It was a sloe. I have to drink a glass of water every time I remember doing it.
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Does anybody know the difference between sloes and damsons

Post by LarsMac »

I drank a Sloe Gin Fizz, once. Wasn't at all impressed.
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