Sloe or Blackthorn

The sloe is the ancestor of our cultivated plums. Man has been eating it for thousands of years. The sloe makes such a good wine that, according to Brook, 200 years ago it was much used ‘by fraudulent wine merchants in adulterating port wine, for which purpose is well adapted on account of its astringency, slight acidity, and deep red colour. It has been stated that there is more port wine (so called) drank in England alone, than is manufactured in Portugal.’ Researchers at Holy Cross Abbey in Ireland showed that the medieval monks were partial to sloes in the form of an alcoholic drink akin to gin. The leaves have also been made into a rather astringent tea (Irish tea). The flowering of the blackthorn is often accompanied by a cold spell, and this is known as ‘blackthorn winter’.