Sloe Gin for a Slow Tuesday

The first cocktail book I ever owned was a 60's edition of "Old Mister Boston" that I took from my parents when I was in college. Having no real knowledge of what made (of even what was) a good cocktail, I just sort of flipped through it looking for something that caught my eye. Eventually my eye was ensnared by the intriguing looking Sloe Gin Fizz. I headed on down to the liquor store and picked me up a bottle of, appropriately enough, Old Mister Boston Sloe Gin. It was the delectable color of liquid bruise, what could go wrong? When I got home I took a smell and though Smells nice and sweet - I'm a fancy lad now!. I pulled out a glass and threw in lemon juice, some sugar, the Gin, and then topped it all off with soda water. Feeling quite self-satisfied I took a big 'ol gulp.

The carbonation from the soda water opened my palate up just enough to really be able to taste the overly sweet cough medicine that was Sloe Gin. If that was its real name! I promptly dumped the rest of the bottle down the drain never to return to that foul land of liquid shame again.

Somewhere around a decade later, I heard tell that Plymouth was getting ready to release a Sloe Gin in the U.S. this year. My first thought was that my sweet beloved Plymouth had lost their mind. Why would they do such a thing to me? The flavor of that Sloe Gin still clings to my memory as a moment of great trauma. Fortunately a modicum of searching about quelled my fear as I was assured that this stuff is the real deal. Actual sloe berries are steeped in Plymouth Gin, based on a recipe from 1883. Hell yeah! Thus was the waiting game incepted. Also, I might be a whore for Plymouth. But I digress.

While at the Plymouth event I recently attended, the brand ambassador made mention of the Sloe Gin in relation to a fire that had occurred at the distillery (it was safe), and I tried to corner him at one point in the evening to get an actual date out of him. Unfortunately I was thwarted by the booze fueled revelry that was underway - Stupid cocktails. I had just about figured I would be waiting for all eternity for this damn stuff, when Ed sent me an e-mail invitation he had received to an upcoming industry launch event at Bourbon and Branch.

I was excited for him, and even more excited for me as I knew I would be able to get my mitts around a bottle of this stuff. Then I found out that they're only sending 1,000 half cases over here. I think it's a safe bet that some will end up here in San Francisco, but I would bet my chances of getting a bottle are slim. Stupid bottles.

So the question is - Do I create a byzantine plan to break into Bourbon and Branch during the event, or do I kill Ed and wear his face like mask?

I could go either way.

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