Sloe Gin Fizz

August 13, 2010 (196) — Day Sloe Gin Fizz

For all my (invented) knowledge of cocktails, I’ve never tried sloe gin. Not only that, I wasn’t even sure what EXACTLY slow gin is.

This is what I found: “Sloe gin  a red liqueur flavored with sloe berries, the fruit of the blackthorn, a relative of the plum. Sloe gin has an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by volume.”

Awesome. Works for me. It’s kind of reddish, bluish too. And it’s a lot cheaper than regular gin. Plus, one drink I always heard about when it came to cocktails was the Sloe Gin Fizz. I had everything on hand. Why not? Let’s make one.

Sloe Gin Fizz

1.5 oz sloe gin

1.5 oz gin

1.5 oz lemon juice

1.5 oz simple syrup

Club soda

Combine all of your ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice. Stir thoroughly. Top with club soda, then stir gently to mix everything together.

I used a bigger than average highball glass. For a good reason. You need a good chunk of club soda to temper this drink’s sweetness. I mean, take a look at that recipe again. That’s a full shot of simple syrup. That’s a full shot of sloe gin (which, tasted neat is pretty damn sweet). You need that soda water to temper the sweetness. Seriously. You need it. If you don’t have it, it’s like drinking syrup.

Other than that, it’s a relatively solid drink. It’s pretty inoffensive, and it’s easy to drink these down.  Truth be told though, it seems like an awful lot of ingredients for a drink that’s not very complex or layered. Jenn, as usual, summed it up best.

“Honestly, for all that work, why not just make a double gin and tonic?”

I’m kind of inclined to agree. There’s a slightly different flavor in there thanks to the sloe gin, but in the end, it didn’t really knock me off my feet.

Cheers!

— Mark