Cocktails with Sloe gin
Sloe gin is a red fruit liqueur made by steeping sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, in gin with sugar; despite its name it is a liqueur, not a gin.
ABV15–30%
Taste profile
A ripe, plummy blackthorn-fruit aroma leads into a sweet, red-fruit body with a soft almond-like edge and low acidity and bitterness.
How it's used
Used as a sweet fruit modifier, poured in measures that both flavour and colour a drink; it carries high sweetness and body, so it is dosed to balance sharper or drier components rather than as a base measure.
Substitutes for Sloe gin
Where it is only a flavouring accent, another red fruit liqueur can stand in — matching its colour and topping up sweetness with simple syrup and strength with a touch of gin or neutral spirit. But the specific sloe/blackthorn aroma is species-specific: where sloe gin is the featured ingredient, only a closely related sloe-based liqueur will preserve the drink's identity.
Often confused with
Gin
Sloe gin is a sweetened fruit liqueur (EU minimum 25% ABV) flavoured with sloes, not a juniper-forward distilled spirit; it is the one liqueur legally permitted to use the name 'gin'.
Pacharán
Pacharán is a Navarran sloe liqueur flavoured with aniseed and typically 25–30% ABV, whereas sloe gin is a British gin-based sloe liqueur with no anise character.
