July Drink of the Month - Sloe Gin Fizz

I have now inherited a second collection of alcohol from a grandfather, this time from Ann's maternal grandpa, John Gruber. Apparently once word gets around that you like to mix drinks, people line up to give you their leftovers. Grandpa Gruber was nice enough to give me several bottles of Cointreau (much to my delight), and an assortment of other liquors and mixers. There were several bottles of Creme de Menthe (which doesn't keep so well), but what really caught my eye (besides the embarrassment of riches in Cointreau) were the two bottles of Sloe Gin.

Sloe Gin is something that disappeared for a while from our collective consciousness. Sloe gin gets its name from its two primary ingredients: sloe berries and gin. The beverage is made by steeping small, tart sloe berries in gin, and adding a little sugar. Sloe berries are hard to find, so while a DIY version is possible, it is difficult to do on this side of the Atlantic. Why are sloe berries so hard to find? Because they taste terrible! However, once mixed with gin and sugar, you get a wonderful liqueur with a little pucker and a little sweetness. Sloe gin disappeared for a while in the 60's-70's (like many cocktail ingredients) because people made cheap, icky versions, using low-quality neutral spirits instead of gin as the base and using sloe berry flavored additives instead of actually steeping the berries. The result was a poor substitute for real sloe gin and should be avoided whenever possible.

Thankfully the folks at Plymouth (famous for their gin) have begun bottling sloe gin again. Which is really useful to remember if you want to go into a bar and order a drink that would make your mother blush. Many cocktail ingredients have a shorthand that you can use to order them as an additive in a drink. The most famous of these would be ordering a drink "on the rocks" (with ice), but there are lots more! To add an ounce of sloe gin to your whiskey (which you should never do), you could ask for a "slow" whiskey "on the rocks." Sloe gin goes into a pantheon of drinks that should never be consumed - they exist solely to embarrass the bartender (or yourself) when you order them. The linchpin of these drinks is the classic screwdriver - vodka and orange juice - which gets shortened to "screw" when you order it with add-ons. A morally impaired drinker might choose to order a slow, comfortable (Southern Comfort) screw against the wall (with a float of Galliano - from the classic drink the Harvey Wallbanger made with vodka, OJ, and Galliano), with satin pillows (Frangelico because the French are sissies). Or you could order a Long (tall glass) slow, comfortable screw up against a cold hard (on ice) wall with a kiss (Amaretto because those Italians are legendary romantics). If you want to make it a fuzzy screw, add Peach schnapps (from the classic drink the Fuzzy Navel) or if you like it the hard way, add an ounce of whiskey. The possibilities are endless. A really enterprising pervert could possibly order a Long, Slow, Comfortable, Fuzzy Screw against a Cold Hard Wall with Satin Pillows and a Kiss. But that would be a terrible drink. And it would cost a whole lot with all those add-ins. And don't do it, because you also kiss your mother with that mouth.

That was a long digression to take to talk about the Sloe Gin Fizz, but I think it was worth it, don't you? Now on to the real drink. The first few times I made a Sloe Gin Fizz, I somehow thought that the Fizz portion of the drink came from mixing sloe gin and super-fine sugar. I blame the Esquire article I was reading with the recipe. Regardless of how this mix-up occurred, I spent weeks trying different brands of sloe gin and different variations of superfine sugar trying to make a fizz. Of course, the actual fizz comes from adding soda water, which, well.... duh. Now that I have removed that possible error from your path, here is a simple recipe to follow for a Sloe Gin Fizz - a perfect summer drink that balances tart and sweet with refreshing!

In a cocktail shaker, combine:

1 oz Plymouth Gin*

1 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin

3/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 barspoon simple syrup or superfine sugar**

Shake over ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a Collins glass filled 3/4 full with ice. Top with soda water and serve!

*You can sub other gins/sloe gins for the Plymouth brand, but this is the most authentic version of the cocktail.

**This is a "to taste" kind of measurement here. You may choose to omit any sweetener, as the sloe gin is plenty sweet on its own, but a little simple syrup does help balance out the tart lemon juice.

I hope you enjoy your Sloe Gin Fizz!