July 2010 Archives

"Well Portland, Oregon and a sloe gin fizz, if that ain't love than tell me what is."--Loretta Lynn and Jack White, Portland, Oregon

I'd been hearing a lot about Sloe Gin Fizzes recently. It was showing up in song lyrics left and right. I was getting curious. I knew that it was made with Sloe Gin, and that it was not a less-fast version of regular gin, but I'd never had one.

I mentioned to a friend about it, and he said he'd had one before. He also called it a "Lady Drink."

Hmm. Well, I'm a lady and I like scotch as well as pink champagne, so that could be anything.

So I mentioned to Fuzzy that I wanted to try one, and in typical amazing Fuzzy fashion, he showed up one night with a bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin.

HOLY YUMMERS!

Each summer, I like to delineate one cocktail or drink to be my "official drink." In an earlier post, I mentioned "The Summer of Flights," and I've also have had 'The Summer of Weiss Beers," "The Summer of Whites" and I think last summer was all about beers. Undoubtedly, this summer is "The Summer of the Sloe Gin Fizz." We killed off that bottle pretty fast and are now onto another one.

A few weeks ago, I was out with a few friends and I was telling them about the SGF. My friend Jeff asked where you can get one, since it isn't a commonly consumed drink anymore. It just so happened that we were at a martini bar, so we decided that if they could make us one, we would all order one. They said they could, so we did. It was just good--way sweeter than what we make at home and a totally different color. Turns out, they used sour mix (which I love, but generally when mixed with a cheap whiskey or oooh, apple whiskey. Hey, while I am in this parenthetical moment, I just remembered that last summer was "The Summer of the Whiskey Sour" which I made with Leopold Brothers Apple Whiskey, which isn't as easy to find anymore.) but I must say, I much prefer the ones we've been making at home. Kinda fruity, a little sour, easy to drink and really refreshing.

I think I have to make myself one now!

Fuzzy adds:

Sloe Gin is, simply enough, Gin flavored with sloe berries. Binny's, our local well-stocked liquor store, has two varieties: the Plymouth at $30 a bottle and Dubouchett at $10 a bottle. The Plymouth has been so good I've been hesitant to try the Dubouchett, but I suppose if it's OK, it'd be a lot cheaper.

The recipe I'm using for a Sloe Gin Fizz comes from the Cocktails+ app on my iPhone and is:

2 1/2 oz sloe gin
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 simple syrup

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top with club soda.

Fried Chicken
Strawberry Buttermilk Waffles
Homemade Pesto with Grilled Chicken on Italian Pasta
Coffee Ice Cream
Lemon Lime Sorbet
Yogurt

For years I've been intimidated by the idea of making my own Simple Syrup--I think because it involved sugar and boiling water I assumed it was as complicated as candy making, with monitoring of temperatures and so on. Nothing could be farther from the truth, it turns out. You just put equal amounts of sugar and water in a saucepan and heat it until the water boils and the sugar dissolves completely. You don't even have to stir it (though, if you're like me, you'll give it the occasional stir just to feel like you're doing something). Then cool and store in some convenient container (I use an old port wine bottle with a cork). Store it in the fridge.

For determining what size container you'll need, know that 250 ml (1 cup) of water and sugar each makes 300 ml of syrup. Science! That's perfect for that little 375 ml port wine bottle.