Skip to main content

What is Sloe Gin?: A Brief Introduction to the Traditional Spirit

Despite its distinctive base flavor of juniper berries, gin is a fairly versatile spirit with many different iterations, including the traditional fall sloe gin.

While it may not be all that popular in the United States these days, sloe gin is a traditional flavored spirit that dates back to the 17th century in England. Sloe gin gets its name from the purple sloe berries it is made with.

Related Videos

Grown on hedgerows, sloe berries offer an autumnal predicament as they’re available, but they’re also a bitter, unpalatable berry. While sloe berries aren’t recommended for solo consumption, the geniuses of the 17th century realized that you could add the berries and sugar to gin and create a spirit with wonderfully sweet, yet tart, nuttiness following a lengthy steep.

sloe berries
Sloe berries. Renáta Dobránska/Getty Images

Early sloe gin was looked fairly down upon and considered a lower-class drink, but by the 19th century, established gin distilleries were releasing their own packaged sloe gins and the beverage became an accepted holiday tradition. Sloe gin was again big during the cocktail age of the early 20th century, but was nearly forgotten through the middle of the century. Essentially a liqueur, sloe gin is now catching back on with cocktail lovers across the globe.

It has been a traditional Christmas drink for generations in the U.K. and it’s worth having around throughout the holiday season.

Sloe Gins to Try Today

There are dozens of sloe gin producers in the U.K., but few make their way to the US. Some US distilleries are making their own version of sloe gin, including California’s Spirit Works, while others are choosing to experiment with other fruits. Meanwhile, two major English gin producers make a packaged sloe gin worth grabbing this year:

Plymouth Gin

Plymouth/Facebook

Plymouth Gin has made sloe gin since 1883 and still uses the original recipe. It has cherry and almond on the nose and a balanced and dry fruitiness on the tongue. It finishes with a great fruity freshness.

Sipsmith Gin

Sip Smith/Facebook

Sipsmith Gin harvests its sloe berries every fall and lets the traditional Sipsmith London Dry Gin rest on the berries for up to four months. The distillery touts the berries’ annual changes in flavor creating a unique product each year. The general flavor is jammy and loaded with marzipan notes.

Sloe Gin Fizz

Spirit Works/Facebook

Sloe gin is perhaps best known in America in the well-known Sloe Gin Fizz cocktail, but the enhanced spirit is tasty on its own or with a bit of ice and soda water or tonic water. To make a Sloe Gin Fizz, it’s pretty simple.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz sloe gin
  • .5 oz lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp simple syrup
  • 1 egg white
  • Club soda/champagne

Method: Combine sloe gin, lemon juice, egg white, and simple syrup in a shaker. Shake well, add ice and shake again. Strain into glass and top with champagne or soda.

Editors' Recommendations

This fish cooking trick gives you perfect crispy skin without messing up the pan
How to cook fish: The secret is something you probably already have in your pantry
parchment paper tip for cooking fish salmon

Fish is one of those foods that a lot of us don't often cook at home. It's finicky, sometimes tricky to get just right, and often sticks in a way that makes you want to just throw the damned pan in the garbage can instead of the sink for two days of soaking. If these frustrations are familiar to you, take a deep breath. We're here with a solution.

This clever little hack from ChefSteps is here to save your cookware and your sanity with just one quick and easy addition to your fish cooking process — parchment paper. Parchment paper, that humble little sheet that helps your cookies bake perfectly, can also save your pans from a sticky fish fiasco.
How to cook fish with perfectly crispy skin and zero frustrating clean-up

Read more
Nam prik, the fiery Thai chili dip you should be adding to everything
Chiang Mai native Chef Setalat Prasert of Spicy Shallot breaks down this amazing Thai favorite
Spicy Shallot Nam Prik in a basket.

Fiery, herbaceous, tart, and savory, nam prik is a chili sauce that's absolutely beloved throughout Thailand. With more than a dozen varieties, this hot sauce and dip is enjoyed with everything from raw and steamed vegetables to grilled meats or fish. While the dip is traditionally prepared in a mortar and pestle (or a Thai krok), modern cooks often use a blender or food processor to make this vibrant chili dip. 

To guide us through this Thai delicacy is Chiang Mai native Chef Setalat "George" Prasert of Spicy Shallot. Spicy Shallot, located in Elmhurst, Queens, on a three-block stretch of Woodside Avenue named Little Thailand Way, serves a unique blend of Thai cuisine and Japanese sushi. The restaurant is also a showcase of Prasert's favorite — nam prik kha.

Read more
Why you should sous vide your baby back ribs this summer
Once you make your baby back ribs this way, you'll never go back
why you should sous vide baby back ribs

Summertime is coming, and that means ribs. Sweet and spicy, fall-off-the-bone, savory, meaty, delicious ribs. And while you may already have your grilled or baked ribs mastered, we bet you haven't yet tried sous vide ribs.
Before you roll your eyes at the idea of something as primitive and macho as ribs being prepared in something as modern and geeky as a sous vide machine (how dare you), hear us out. You're going to want to try this the next time you get that delivery from .

Sous vide ribs are more tender (and customizable)
We're sure your grilled or baked ribs are tender. But not like this. Really.

Read more