Sloe Gin?

[TMFIII]

Ace Beverage in DC has had it for about a week. Ummm boy is it tasty!

Cheers!

Marshall

[slkinsey]

Anyone seen it at retail around NYC?

[johnder]

Supposed to be delivered to the NYC area this Wednesday or Thursday hopefully.

[Alchemist]

We will have A sloe gin sour (with egg white) on the summer menu at The Violet Hour. I found that I had to balance it out with regular gin so it looks something like this

1.0 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin

1.0 oz Plymouth Gin

.75 oz Fresh Lemon

.75 oz Simple

Egg white

Slash of Angostura, swirled

[campus five]

that sounds really good. can't wait until it arrives in Los Angeles.

[eje]

We will have A sloe gin sour (with egg white) on the summer menu at The Violet Hour.  I found that I had to balance it out with regular gin so it looks something like this

1.0 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin

1.0 oz Plymouth Gin

.75 oz Fresh Lemon

.75 oz Simple

Egg white

Slash of Angostura, swirled

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They make a similar Sloe Gin Fizz to this at Flora in Oakland, except they gild the lily and top it up with a splash of sparkling wine. Yummers.

[Snowy is dead]

It just showed up in Massachusetts this week. I was told by the distributor that it's a trial batch. I'm not sure if Plymouth only made a little or my distributor only bought a little, but they have what they have and won't get any more and will obtain more next year only if it sells, and none if it doesn't. Hopefully they'll be realistic about how much sloe gin they'll sell and won't expect grey goose sales numbers.

Sean

[Snowy is dead]

This month's Massachusetts beverage journal has an article about gin. Plymouth sloe gin is mentioned. Plymouth has no intention of mass marketing the product, and it will remain a regionally targeted item with a limited yearly production, released twice a year only.

[thirtyoneknots]

This month's Massachusetts beverage journal has an article about gin.  Plymouth sloe gin is mentioned.  Plymouth has no intention of mass marketing the product, and it will remain a regionally targeted item with a limited yearly production, released twice a year only.

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Bah, of course that means we won't be seeing it in Texas.

[lemon_twist]

Bah, of course that means we won't be seeing it in Texas.

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Actually, Spec's printed a little article about it in their store magazine. I haven't looked for it in Austin, but presumably the Houston stores will def. have it.

[Mike S.]

For those in the SF Bay Area, Blackwell's in SF and Beltramo's in Menlo Park both have Plymouth Sloe Gin on the shelves (at least as of today ). I just picked up two bottles at Beltramo's and can't wait to give a try in something.

[Nathan]

Anyone seen it at retail around NYC?

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Warehouse Liquors has it.

about $48. kind of steep but I'm sure I'll talk myself into it.

[Nathan]

I like it. nice amount of complexity.

be careful with balance though...it's plenty sweet.

had the crazy idea that maybe a take on the Aviation would work...it kind of does if you pump the lemon juice way up (at least an ounce and a half)

[slkinsey]

Made a good one last night, the Savoy Tango Cocktail. Half bonded applejack, half Plymouth sloe gin. Stir. Strain. Up.

[Nathan]

my current favorite sloe cocktail is here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117347

just really really balances out the assertiveness of the sloe gin and has a great finish.

[weinoo]

Finally got a bottle ($47, for comparison's sake) and have seen 3 recipes in this topic:

Millionaire #1, Toby's Sloe Gin Sour and the Savoy Tango. The Savoy Cocktail Book has a couple of others, including the Sloeberry Cocktail (dash angostura, dash orange bitters, 1 "glass" sloe) and the Sloe Gin Cocktail (equal parts dry and sweet vermouth and sloe).

Any other favorites out there?

[bostonapothecary]

Finally got a bottle ($47, for comparison's sake) and have seen 3 recipes in this topic:

Millionaire #1, Toby's Sloe Gin Sour and the Savoy Tango.  The Savoy Cocktail Book has a couple of others, including the Sloeberry Cocktail (dash angostura, dash orange bitters, 1 "glass" sloe) and the Sloe Gin Cocktail (equal parts dry and sweet vermouth and sloe). 

Any other favorites out there?

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right now i'm drinking...

1 oz. macallan cask strength

1 oz. plymouth sloe gin

1 oz. euro formula noilly prat dry vermouth

1 dash raegan's bitters

stirred...

i wish i had a citrus peel but the drink is delicious. i'm starting to regard plymouth's sloe gin as one of the most important liqueurs out there... its has learning curves like st. germain does because of its high acidity and low sugar content relative to things like cointreau. its flavor contrast with a potent brown spirit is beautiful.

lately i really need the decadence of cask strength spirits... i wonder how the same drink would be with the mocha like character of old potrero's 18th century rye?

[slkinsey]

I really feel that Plymouth's price point for their sloe gin at retail is ridiculously high. It's a great product, but for something that calls for more than the half ounces in which one uses things such as Cointreau, it's quite expensive. It's going to be hard to do much mixing with something that costs significantly more than Courvoisier VSOP. This stuff is priced at around double the price of regular Plymouth. In the UK, from what I have been able to tell, Plymouth Sloe is priced just a touch higher than their regular gin. That price has got to come way down in the US if it's ever going to catch on. Eventually, the cocktail geeks will have acquired all they want, and they'll be using it up in miserly increments because of the absurdly high price, and that will be that. It will never increase in popularity. Even some cocktailians balk at the cost of using Cointreau, and Cointreau is significantly less expensive than Plymouth Sloe.

Related to that: Does anyone know how to procure sloe berries in the US?

Edited July 25, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[db_campbell]

I really feel that Plymouth's price point for their sloe gin at retail is ridiculously high.  It's a great product, but for something that calls for more than the half ounces in which one uses things such as Cointreau, it's quite expensive.  It's going to be hard to do much mixing with something that costs significantly more than Courvoisier VSOP.  This stuff is priced at around double the price of regular Plymouth.  In the UK, from what I have been able to tell, Plymouth Sloe is priced just a touch higher than their regular gin.  That price has got to come way down in the US if it's ever going to catch on ... ...

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I must concur with all the points elucidated above. That said, I acquired my bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin for $37.5 in Washington, D.C. Considering the norm in other areas of the country seems to be approx. $47, something is obviously at play in the pricing of this product external to Plymouth ..

EDIT: adjusted for accurate pricing conveyance

Edited July 26, 2008 by db_campbell (log)

[eje]

I really feel that Plymouth's price point for their sloe gin at retail is ridiculously high.

[...]

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Hmm? In the San Francisco area Plymouth Sloe gin is retailing for around $35 per 750ml. About the same as Cointreau.

And this is at pretty upscale stores.

$25-ish for 750ml of Plymouth Gin, even at warehouse liquor stores.

[slkinsey]

Well, $47 seems to be the going price in NYC. In consideration of the fact that $25 is the going rate for a fifth (even in the fanciest NYC liquor stores), and that $30 seems to be the breaking point for most people at which they will start thinking about seeking out a less expensive alternative, something in the range between $25 and $30 would seem like the reasonable price point for a product that the makers hope will be used in relatively large amounts as a primary spirit and not doled out in half-ounces here and there as a precious modifier. In the UK example I provided above, a fifth of Plymouth Sloe was selling at around 6% more than a fifth of Plymouth Gin. I've seen UK prices for Plymouth Sloe that are as much as 24% higher than Plymouth Gin. Similar pricing structures would put US Plymouth Sloe at somewhere between $26.50 and $31.00 -- either one of which would be acceptable and a vast improvement over $35.00 to $47.00.

Clearly, however, something fishy is going on with the pricing in the NYC market, which appears to be substantially higher than anywhere else.

[bostonapothecary]

Well, $47 seems to be the going price in NYC.  In consideration of the fact that $25 is the going rate for a fifth (even in the fanciest NYC liquor stores), and that $30 seems to be the breaking point for most people at which they will start thinking about seeking out a less expensive alternative, something in the range between $25 and $30 would seem like the reasonable price point for a product that the makers hope will be used in relatively large amounts as a primary spirit and not doled out in half-ounces here and there as a precious modifier.  In the UK example I provided above, a fifth of Plymouth Sloe was selling at around 6% more than a fifth of Plymouth Gin.  I've seen UK prices for Plymouth Sloe that are as much as 24% higher than Plymouth Gin.  Similar pricing structures would put US Plymouth Sloe at somewhere between $26.50 and $31.00 -- either one of which would be acceptable and a vast improvement over $35.00 to $47.00.

Clearly, however, something fishy is going on with the pricing in the NYC market, which appears to be substantially higher than anywhere else.

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boston prices were about the same as new york... is the price due to a trial importation or something like that which will come down?

i can't stand the prices of liqueurs these days. i don't like having to pay for full page magazine ads. i think we need to learn more about sourcing ingredients and making liqueurs are home. the only things i feel are worth the big money these days are chartreuse and benedictine... i don't like mono infused liqueur makers getting rich off me.

[thirtyoneknots]

I had a friend snag a bottle for me when he was in Chicago, he said it was about $25, which makes it comparable with the price of Plymouth gin at Spec's (something like $23 or 24 cash price). I'm slightly appalled at the prices quoted for NYC. In related business, when I started buying Plymouth over 2 years ago it was like $12 or 13 for a 750 mL bottle, making it a no-brainer as a go-to. Now it's approaching the price of things like Junipero and Tanq. 10. What gives? I love the stuff, but not when it's 25% more than Beefeaters.

[Oolong]

Related to that:  Does anyone know how to procure sloe berries in the US?

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I researched this extensively last summer. Without purchasing a box car load from a Bulgarian farm, sloe berries are unavailable commercially and must be picked wild from country lanes in England and Germany. However, fresh fruit may not come to the US from Western Europe. The USDA website says they do grow in the northeastern US and in various other northern states. I hiked several areas in Maine that, according to the USDA, had wild sloes but nothing turned up. I did procure 4 pounds for myself last September through an English connection and infused Seagram's Distiller's reserve with some sugar and have been delightfully enjoying it since last Christmas.

[Snowy is dead]

Not sure why the pricing is so high in some places for this stuff. I pay $26 and change for it from my distributor, so $30 or slighly over would be the norm for a liquor store. Unfortunately, some liquor stores in my area have started marking up their wine with the 2 and 3 time restaurant mark up. Maybe this is a similiar example of liquor store gouging.

I understand that sloes are found as part of the large hedgerows that separate fields and lanes in the UK. Maybe in the northeast there are some small patches of fields that use this method of separation. I'm thinking the Great Pasture on RT 95 North, Essex county MA, which I believe is part of Newbury. They still have stone walls and lots of hedges marking the old plots, maybe that is a good place to start.