Sloe Gin Fizz

Since my last post, I've had some amazing bar breakthroughs. I acquired a lovely 10 cubic foot refrigerator, located just a few feet from the bar that allows me to store all my supplies downstairs, which makes it far easier to prepare a drink without three trips up and down the stairs. I also found some amazing new liquors, so I've managed to swig back a couple new cocktails.

I've discovered a new love, the Sloe Gin Fizz. First of all, I know. We've all had a miserable experience with this weird cough syrup-like swill. I too had an unfortunate time with a bottle of De Kuyper's "Sloe Gin" shortly after the Jack White/Loretta Lynn song "Portand, Oregon" was released.

Anyway, it was 2004 and during those heady days, this weird faux sloe gin was all that was available, so I had one Sloe Gin Fizz (SGF) and a bottle of sloe gin that sat in my cabinet for approximately four more years before I threw it out.

Cut to this 2013 and I'm searching out vintage and curious cocktail recipes. In many of the new books I've gotten, sloe gin has popped up more than once and is always referred to as "Plymouth Sloe Gin." Interesting, as the only Plymouth I've ever seen is their spectacular regular gin. Their sloe gin has thus been on my shopping list for awhile, but until a few weeks ago, I hadn't been able to find it. We were in Madison, Wisconsin for an overnight trip and went to a liquor store there where, lo and behold, they had Plymouth Sloe Gin! It's not cheap (like $35), so I only bought one bottle. This past weekend, I wanted to try something new, so I found a recipe in The PDT Cocktail Book (I like this book, but many of the drinks are so complicated and call for such obscure ingredients that it makes Imbibe recipes look basic). There are a ton of different SGF recipes out there. Out of the books I have, maybe three of them include SGF recipes. All three of these are different. The PDT references a recipe from J.A. Grohusko in Jack's Manual from 1910, and because that was the oldest I saw, it won. A good friend had a good amount of Meyer lemons and she gave me some wonderful Meyer lemon simple syrup and I used it here (by the way, AWESOME). I've noted how I adjusted my recipe to account for this.

• 1 oz. Plymouth Sloe Gin
• 1 oz. Plymouth Gin
• .75 oz. lemon juice
• .25 oz. simple syrup (I used .5 oz. Meyer lemon simple syrup and .5 oz of lemon juice)
• 3 oz. soda water

Mix all ingredients except the soda water and pour into an ice-filled glass. Top with soda.

I am absolutely in love with this drink. The sloe gin is nice and fruity and not cough syrup-y at all. There are a lot of good articles out there about sloe gin (sloe gin at Wikipedia, how to make your own sloe gin from Gordon's, and the always-helpful Imbibe Magazine with Elements: Sloe Gin), so I won't get into all that. Just know that in England, sloe gin is one of those drinks like limoncello that people often make at home. This sort of explains why good sloe gin is hard to find, as there doesn't appear to be much of a market for it. I like this drink so much because it is incredibly drinkable. I think the mixing of regular gin and sloe gin kind of thins out the sloe gin and makes it more palatable. Additionally, the lemon adds just enough sourness to the sweetness of the sloe gin and simple syrup.

Even if you've had a bad experience with sloe gin in the past, give this a try. I'd love to hear of your past SGF indiscretions and current better experiences, so leave me some feedback in the comments section.