Sloe gin fizz cocktail

Sloe gin fizz cocktail.

There are two things that I think about when I think of a sloe gin fizz cocktail!

1.) It was my grandmother Bena’s go to drink when we went out to a restaurant as a family. She used to say, “This is potent.”  Every.  Time.  But my grandmother wasn’t a big drinker so every drink she ever had was “potent.”

2.) I remember my mother (and company) imbibed this drink long ago at a dinner party hosted at our house and everyone had a hangover the next day.

That’s not to say that you will get a hangover if you try this drink.  The reason my mom had one the next day is because she/they imbibed way too many that night.  I don’t think she ever drank one again.  Ever.

But that’s what happens when you overindulge any type of drink.  I feel that way about a certain brand of wine that I drank to excess when I was younger.  I can still smell it when I think of it.  Glurg!

On to the recipe:

THE INGREDIENTS

Sloe gin (naturally), gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and club soda make a sloe gin fizz!

I haven’t made this cocktail too many times in my career as a mixologist but I’ve made my share.  When my folks made it for that fated dinner party, they used a sweet and sour mix that came in an envelope.  I remember those drinks being super sweet. (Okay, I admit it.  I took a few sips in the kitchen from the glasses I carried to the guests in the dining room.  “Here you go.  Hehe!  Don’t mind the lip marks on the glass.”  No, I didn’t say that…)

My sloe gin fizz is not super sweet.  It has the perfect amount of sweetness, balanced by the sour of the lemon.

Now, there are a bazillion, (okay, probably not that many) recipes out there, so there are many ways to make it.

The liquor store I frequent only had one type of sloe gin and it’s not ‘top shelf’, in my opinion. So, I chose to lessen the sloe gin and add more straight gin to the recipe, so as not to make it too sweet.  If I had a choice,  I would have gone with the Plymouth brand sloe gin.

With that said, let us begin.

MIXING THE COCKTAIL

I grab my shaker and fill it halfway with ice.

I measure 1 ounce of gin.  I use Bombay gin.  I love you, Bombay gin.  Kiss, kiss!

Into the shaker it goes!

Next up, I measure out 1 ounce of sloe gin.

See that redness?  Sloe gin is made from gin and sloe (blackthorn) drupes, which is a small fruit that is a relative to the plum.  It has a alcohol percentage between 15 – 30 percent, depending on the brand, etc.

Into the shaker it goes.

Time for the simple syrup.

I measure out 1/2 ounce.  Now, start with 1/2 ounce when you make your cocktail, if you like a sweeter cocktail, add another 1/2 ounce.  Only problem is you won’t know until you finish making the drink, so I would suggest that you under pour the club soda.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Into the shaker it goes!

Now, I grab my lemon and  squeeze 1 ounce of the juice out of it.

I pour the lemon into the shaker to join the rest of the ingredients.

While I am handling the lemon, I cut a wedge out of one of the halves.  If it takes a whole lemon to get the 1 ounce of juice, I cut the wedge out of a new lemon.

Okay, now I cap the shaker and shake it a good 10 times and pour it into my Collins glass.  I like these cocktails in a tall glass!

Notice the space at the top!

That space is for the club soda!

I open by bottle of club soda and pour it in the glass.  (Here’s where you can leave a little space to sip it to see if you want it sweeter.)

I take my stirrer and give the cocktail a brisk stir.  It doesn’t need any more simple syrup.

I squeeze the wedge of lemon into the glass and slip the wedge into the drink.

BOTTOMS UP

Yay!  It’s done and ready to drink.

But not too many sloe gin fizzes.

I learned my lesson by watching my relatives.

At least, my lesson on sloe gin fizzes.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  I enjoyed drinking the cocktail!

Leave me a comment to let me know what you think.  And feel free to Pin any photo to Pinterest and Yum the recipe to Yummly.

And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe.  I enjoyed drinking the cocktail!

Leave me a comment to let me know what you think.  And feel free to Pin any photo to Pinterest and Yum the recipe to Yummly.

And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish!