When a Sloe gin makes the perfect Christmas cocktail
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By the looks of it, The Canberra Distillery’s Sloe Gin is a perfect Christmas tipple.
For starters, its bright red colour makes it part cocktail ingredient, part Christmas decoration.
But more importantly, its rich berry taste makes it a delicious drink when we are toasting the festive season or seeing in the end of 2020 (cheers, to THAT!).
The Canberra Distillery’s chief distiller Tim Reardon said it was one of the more challenging gins to create, using fresh Tasmanian sloe berries and covering his distiller in bright red juice.
“The gin itself is simple, a lightly spiced London Dry. The challenge is infusing the sloe berry flavour into the gin because it takes time. Ninety percent of the making of sloe gin is cleaning: run them through a grape crusher sending blood-red juice everywhere! Then comes straining which is also messy.”
Tim sources his precious berries from “Eric the beekeeper in Tasmania”.
He goes around the state collecting honey, and as he sees fruit around the place he picks it, freezes it and sends it to Canberra.
Once the Dry Gin is made, Tim and his team crush the berries through a grape press, leave to infuse in the gin for three months, and then spend next three months filtering out the sloe berries.
While its Christmas suitability is unquestionable (it pairs beautifully with cherries and fruitcake), Tim also sees it as an all-year-round drink.
“It’s sweet and fruity therefore can be a winter warmer. But it is also a cocktail option for a diverse range of recipes and also perhaps easier to drink on the rocks than, say, a Dry Gin.”
The only issue he has with it is its shorter-than-average shelf life.
“Because it contains a lot of fruit, it is best to consume it fairly quickly once you open it, otherwise there is a chance of it oxidizing.”
We probably won’t have a problem with that, Tim.
He has come up with a perfect Christmas cocktail recipe—the Sloe Dancer—an homage to Santa’s second reindeer. It’s garnished with thyme and blended with raspberries, to look particularly festive.
THE SLOE DANCER
Muddle a handful of raspberries and add some ice to a cocktail shaker
Pour 30ml of The Canberra Distillery Sloe Gin, and shake well
Strain into a glass.
Top with about 100ml of Elderflower Tonic (or similar).
Garnish with fresh raspberries and thyme for a festive look.
You can order Sloe Gin here, or purchase it at selected liquor shops.
Photography: Emma Bickley
