Sloe Gin Fizz

The Sloe Gin Fizz is a delightfully refreshing drink packed with the sweet and tangy notes of sloe gin. Fall in love with its sweet-tart, herbal and berry flavor and effervescence from sparkling water.

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About this Sloe Gin Fizz recipe

Okay, you are probably wondering… did I spell “slow” wrong? (No, no I did not.) That’s the first thing people ask about sloe gin. The second is if it is really a type of gin. I know this because these were my questions back in bartending school!

The short answer is yes, but also no. It’s a bit more complicated than that! It’s essentially gin infused with sloe berries, which have a bright and fruity flavor, making this gin taste more like a liqueur than a spirit.

If you find yourself with a bottle of this reddish-colored gin in the back of your bar cabinet, then you’ve got to try out a Sloe Gin Fizz. (But I bet you’ll buy another after trying this recipe!)

Unlike its cousin the Ramos gin fizz, the sloe gin version is very fruit-forward, with sweetness from the sloe berry infusion and and tartness from fresh lemon juice.

More fizzy drink recipes: Vodka Soda • Rosé Wine Spritzer • Pimm’s Cup

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Sloe Gin Fizzes are refreshing fruity and bubbly, perfect for spring and summer.
• This drink is a great way to use up a bottle of sloe gin in your bar cabinet.
• It is an easy drink to elevate with improved ingredients like real cocktail cherries, fresh juices and a high-quality bottle of sloe gin.

What is Sloe Gin?

Sloe gin is a type of gin that is infused with sloe berries from the blackthorn. They grow natively in Europe, western Asia, northwest Africa and parts of North America, specifically New England and the Pacific Northwest. The berries have a robust flavor, similar to blueberries or raspberries, so sloe gin is usually a reddish-pink color.

Sloe gin, in my opinion, is not used as often as it probably should be! It is well known in the Alabama Slammer cocktail and Alabama slammer shots. And the Sloe Gin Fizz, of course.

But beyond those, it’s not a very common cocktail ingredient. That should change! If you pick the right bottle of sloe gin (more on that in a minute!), it adds lots of flavor to cocktails and increases the level of creativity you can add to your drinks.

Tools & glassware

To make a Sloe Gin Fizz, you don’t need much more than a cocktail shaker and a jigger for measuring.

The drink is shaken, and then poured into a highball glass, which leaves some room for sparkling water, which is what give it the “fizz” in gin fizz.

Beyond that, it can help to have some cocktail picks to display the classic cocktail cherry garnish and a lemon slice.

Ingredients

The sloe gin fizz requires just a handful of ingredients.

• sloe gin: Sloe gin is different from gin. It’s a liqueur made by infusing gin with sloe berries and sugar. Sloe gin has a dark reddish-purplish color and a fruity, berry, herbal flavor.
• lemon juice: As always, I recommend using fresh lemon juice if you can. It will help to better balance the sweetness of the sloe gin and simple syrup.
• simple syrup: You can make simple syrup at home with just sugar and water! It’s so easy.
• soda water: There are many kinds of sparkling water, but club soda works pretty universally in most cocktails. Be sure to keep it cold in the fridge for the fizziest results!

Best sloe gin

When choosing a sloe gin for your home bar, you’ll probably need to head to the gin section, not liqueur, section of your liquor store. (Yours might be different than mine, but mine keeps the better sloe gins in the gin section and the cheaper stuff with the bottom-shelf liqueurs.)

Now, there are high quality bottles and there are bottom-shelf ones. The difference is going to be massive in flavor, so I don’t recommend going the cheapest route. You’ll find more high-quality bottles made in the traditional way. Sipsmith (what I used), Plymouth Gin and Hayman’s all carry great sloe gin options. These sell for about $30-40 and it’s worth the splurge.

Garnishes

To elevate the presentation of your Sloe Gin Fizz, start by preparing a cocktail cherry and a fresh lemon slice (or lemon wedge). This garnish not only enhances the drink’s aesthetic but also provides a hint of citrus aroma and a touch of sweetness, making each sip more delightful.

You can display this a few ways:

• Cut a slit in the lemon slice and perch it on the rim of the glass. Spear the cocktail pick through a cocktail cherry and insert it in the top of the drink against the edge of the glass.
• Using a cocktail pick, skewer the cherry through the center, followed by a thinly sliced lemon wheel, creating what’s called a “flag” — a colorful and balanced garnish. Place the cocktail pick across the rim of the glass so the lemon slice rests against the side, or insert it at an angle resting on the rim.

Also, I suggest using real cocktail cherries, not the bright red maraschino cherries.

Substitutions & variations

No sloe gin? If you don’t have sloe gin, you’re not out of luck. It won’t be quite the same, but you could always substitute another berry liqueur like Chambord or crème de cassis. These will have a very similar flavor, but it will lack in the botanical- and herbal-infused flavors that you’ll find in sloe gin.

Add egg white: You can add an egg white to this drink if you like! Just be sure to do a dry shake (no ice) and then a wet shake (with ice) to get the optimal frothy foam layer on top.

Non-alcoholic version: There are a few steps I would take to make this a Sloe Gin Fizz mocktail:

1. Instead of the plain simple syrup, make your own simple syrup. Use a raspberry syrup or cranberry syrup for a similar flavor and color — or use real sloe berries if you can find them! You can also warm and water down preserves and jams if you don’t want to make a syrup from scratch.
2. Swap the sloe gin for a zero-proof spirit like Seedlip Garden 108 or Ritual gin alternative.
3. If you’re not using zero-proof spirits, then cook some botanicals, like rosemary, orange zest and peppercorns, into the simple syrup to capture some of the gin flavor.

Instructions

You can make this Sloe Gin Fizz recipe in a few simple steps:

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes, add the sloe gin and lemon juice.

Then add the simple syrup and shake it all up well until the shaker feels very cold in your hands.

Strain the cocktail into a tall highball glass with ice. Top up with club soda.

Embellish the drink with a classic cocktail cherry and a lemon slice on a cocktail pick.

Tips & tricks

Here are some tips and tricks for making this recipe:

• Always opt for high-quality spirits and mixers whenever possible. While it might be tempting to go for the cheapest options, using premium ingredients will make a noticeable difference in the flavor. A well-crafted drink deserves the best components!
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice is key to balancing the sweetness of the sloe gin and simple syrup. It adds a bright, zesty flavor that enhances the drink’s complexity. Avoid bottled lemon juice if possible, as it can taste overly sour and lacks the vibrant freshness we crave in the best cocktails.
• Make sure to shake cocktail ingredients thoroughly until the shaker feels ice-cold in your hands! This ensures that all the flavors blend together perfectly and the drink has the proper chill and dilution (from the ice) for the best taste.

Food pairings

Pair your Sloe Gin Fizz with some delicious treats. The berry and lemon flavors would go well with anything cheesy, like a cheese board with a berry jam or some cranberry brie bites.

For dessert, a slice of lemon pound cake or ginger ale cake would pair well with the citrus flavors.

You could also go for spicier foods to combat the sweetness of the drink. An appetizer of shishito peppers or some spicy salsa would be delicious too.

FAQ

More gin cocktails

• Elderflower Gin Cocktail
• Gin & Tonic
• Classic Gimlet