Friday, February 17, 2017

Sloe Fizz Twist


As someone who enjoys drinking Spirits as much as I do, I really need to get into making more cocktails. And one I have been making more recently and really enjoying is the Sloe Gin Fizz. Sloe Gin, being a combination of a Gin and Sloe berry juice blended together, is combined with Gin, club soda and lemon juice. Sloe Gin typically has a nice combination of fruitiness, tartness and can be vegetal. It is the work of the juniper, club soda and lemon juice to balance those flavors. Usually the standard Gin used for a Sloe Gin Fizz is more juniper focused than spice focused. Something like St. George’s Botanivore Gin is one usei to complete your Fizz. But the folks in Alameda make two other Gins as well; their Dry Rye and Terroir. Both I decided to try the other night to see how they rounded out the Sloe Gin Fizz. 



With Sloe Gins being a little tart and earthy, I figured with the Rye heavy Gin, the cocktail would take a woodsy feel. With 1 ½ ounces of Sloe Gin, 1 ounce of St. George Dry Rye Gin, Club Soda and a quarter of a lemon squeezed in it, the drink in fact did. The fruitiness became more brambly like, as if you were harvesting fresh berries in the forest while praying you read your survival manual right and these are safe fruits. More of the stem/root flavor popped out with the Rye spice making this a real cocktail of the earth. The lemon provided a nice little pop of brightness on the finish, so while you still might be in the woods, at least you’re in a tent and not on the floor.



St. George Terroir Gin has a much more pine needle flavor up front. Meaning you don’t need a whole lot of it to enhance a cocktail. With 1 ½ ounces of Sloe Gin, ¾ an ounce of St. George Terroir Gin, Club Soda and lemon juice, this version of the Sloe Gin Fizz was much bigger and bolder than the  Dry Rye version. Those bold pine flavors pair with the Sloe berry tartness up front giving it a nice complexity. The slight fruitiness of the Sloe berries combine with the floralness of the Juniper berries making a nice medley in the middle palate. Again, that pop of lemon tartness on the finish is needed, this time to assist with the subtle tartness of the Sloe berries.