Rosemary Sloe Gin Fizz

About 50 years ago sloe gin was a common liqueur in American bars and restaurants. Back then a "sloe gin fizz" was known all over the U.S., even though not everyone made it the same way, as I recall, with some adding club soda to the sloe gin, while others added either Sprite or ginger ale. Nowadays it's still around, but when I went to the liquor store to buy a bottle recently, I had to explain to the clerk what I meant, because I didn't immediately see it on the shelves. She finally got the drift, but she too had a hard time locating it; so, you might say the whole thing was a "sloe" process. Obviously sloe gin is not as well known today. By the way, "sloe" is pronounced like "slow." Sloe gin typically has an alcohol content of 25% to 30%. For a little more, see the "Word History," below.     

I'm not much for shaken and strained drinks, so I use a tall glass with some ice cubes. Of course, you can always adjust the amounts to suit your own taste.

Ingredients (per drink): 

 

1 1/2 to 2 ounces sloe gin

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/2 ounces rosemary syrup*

club soda (fresh, with lots of fizzzzzzz)

ice cubes

rosemary for garnish

 

In a tall glass (10 to 12 ounce), add the sloe gin, lemon juice, rosemary syrup, then stir well. Add some ice cubes, but don't fill the glass with ice. Add the club soda to nearly fill, then carefully stir a little to mix (if the soda is really fizzy, the drink may bubble up or even run over, so be careful). Garnish with a sprig of rosemary. (You: Hey, what's that stem with the green needles?  Me: That's rosemary.  You: What's that little stem with needles next to it?  Me: That's "rosemary's baby." YIKES!)    

* Real easy to make, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2020/03/herbal-syrup-rosemary.html

 

WORD HISTORY:

Sloe-This word is distantly related to "livid," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French. "Sloe" goes back to Indo European "sleihuo," which had the notion "blue, bluish, dark blue/purple." This gave Old Germanic "slaihon/slaihwon," which meant "sloe, the dark blue fruit/berry of  the blackthorn bush/small tree." (Note: Blackthorn bushes are related to hawthorns and plum trees, among many others.) The Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "slah" (long a), with the same meaning, and this then became "sla," then "slo," before the modern form. The sloe berry is a tart, mouth-drying fruit that is common to parts of Europe, especially to England. The English began adding alcohol, one of those being gin, and sweetener to the berries and this became "sloe gin." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schlehe," Low German once had "sle," Dutch has "slee," but now more commonly used in the compound "sleedoorn," literally "sloethorn," as the hedge-like bush has many thorns, Danish has "slåen," Norwegian has "slåpe," but now used in the compound "slåpetorn" (sloethorn), Swedish has "slån," more common in the compound "slånbär" (sloe berry), Icelandic "sló" (?).