Cocktails with Sloe gin
Sloe gin is a traditional British red liqueur made by macerating sloe berries — wild plums — in gin with sugar. Despite the name, it is a sweet liqueur, weaker than gin. EU and UK rules set a 25% minimum.
ABV15–30%
How it's used
Expect dense berry sweetness, a ruby color and a faint astringency. That much sugar needs citrus or a dry spirit beside it. As the base, in a Sloe Gin Fizz, lemon does the balancing. In smaller amounts, dry gin alongside keeps the drink from tasting like cordial.
Substitutes for Sloe gin
Homemade replacement
Mix 1 part crème de mûre or crème de cassis with 2 parts gin. Close enough in strength and sugar, though it tastes of blackberry or blackcurrant, not sloe.
Unsweetened, at 37.5% or more, with no fruit. The drink will be stronger, drier and no longer red. Add some syrup to make up the sugar.
Chambord
Black raspberry liqueur on a cognac base, at 16.5%, with no gin. In the same amount it makes the drink sweeter and weaker.
