Next month’s sloe gin competition in Rye will be the tenth. When tasting begins at the Waterworks at 7:30pm on Wednesday, March 5 entrants will be competing in a challenge that’s taken place in a number of venues in Rye over the years.
Entries need to be in a glass container containing at least 100ml. It must be homemade with no shop-bought entries eligible for consideration. While the main competition is for sloe gin, a separate spirit-based tipple category will also be judged separately. This category could include gin, vodka, or whisky and could include blackberry whisky, elderberry liquor, raspberry gin, damson gin and elderflower gin.
Entries should be labelled with ingredients and the name of person entering. All entries will be blind tasted by the judges.
After the competition, everyone will be able to sample the entries to see which is their personal favourite.
The first competition was held at Rye Club with 10 entries. In the following years the competition moved to Olde Worlde Wines until the pandemic after which it moved to the Waterworks. Over the 10 years entries have varied between six and 20 contestants. One year the competition was won by a novice who made sloe gin for the first time.
If you want to sample all brews that are entered you should have a good constitution!
Image Credits: Chris Lawson .