Jen and Erica have some trouble saying “Bulle Rock” but they get there while tasting Copper Horse Bulle Rock Gin.

Jen and Erica are starting off the season with a gauntlet! Friend of the show John Mannion, who has his own show John Drinks, sent us a box from Drinks by Dram. The set came with five mini-bottles and we drink them all in a single episode. We plow through:

• Williams Chase Pink Grapefruit Gin
• Chase Eureka Lemon Marmalade Vodka
• Sharish Blue Magic Gin
• Dark Matter Spiced Rum
• Ableforth’s Cold-Distilled Absinthe

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 103 - Blaum Bros Gin.

Erica brought back some Blaum Bros Gin from a trip downstate to Galena, Illinois and shares it with Jen.

Jen and Erica are trying Genius Gin (Navy Strength) which was sent to us by the good folks at Genius.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 86 - Bols Genever.

Jen and Erica are drinking Bols Genever, which is a sort of an ancestor of gin.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 21 - North Shore Eldergin.

This week, Jen and Erica are drinking North Shore Eldergin, a limited-release take on sloe gin from the Chicago-area distillers.

"Well Portland, Oregon and a sloe gin fizz, if that ain't love than tell me what is."--Loretta Lynn and Jack White, Portland, Oregon

I'd been hearing a lot about Sloe Gin Fizzes recently. It was showing up in song lyrics left and right. I was getting curious. I knew that it was made with Sloe Gin, and that it was not a less-fast version of regular gin, but I'd never had one.

I mentioned to a friend about it, and he said he'd had one before. He also called it a "Lady Drink."

Hmm. Well, I'm a lady and I like scotch as well as pink champagne, so that could be anything.

So I mentioned to Fuzzy that I wanted to try one, and in typical amazing Fuzzy fashion, he showed up one night with a bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin.

HOLY YUMMERS!

Each summer, I like to delineate one cocktail or drink to be my "official drink." In an earlier post, I mentioned "The Summer of Flights," and I've also have had 'The Summer of Weiss Beers," "The Summer of Whites" and I think last summer was all about beers. Undoubtedly, this summer is "The Summer of the Sloe Gin Fizz." We killed off that bottle pretty fast and are now onto another one.

A few weeks ago, I was out with a few friends and I was telling them about the SGF. My friend Jeff asked where you can get one, since it isn't a commonly consumed drink anymore. It just so happened that we were at a martini bar, so we decided that if they could make us one, we would all order one. They said they could, so we did. It was just good--way sweeter than what we make at home and a totally different color. Turns out, they used sour mix (which I love, but generally when mixed with a cheap whiskey or oooh, apple whiskey. Hey, while I am in this parenthetical moment, I just remembered that last summer was "The Summer of the Whiskey Sour" which I made with Leopold Brothers Apple Whiskey, which isn't as easy to find anymore.) but I must say, I much prefer the ones we've been making at home. Kinda fruity, a little sour, easy to drink and really refreshing.

I think I have to make myself one now!

Fuzzy adds:

Sloe Gin is, simply enough, Gin flavored with sloe berries. Binny's, our local well-stocked liquor store, has two varieties: the Plymouth at $30 a bottle and Dubouchett at $10 a bottle. The Plymouth has been so good I've been hesitant to try the Dubouchett, but I suppose if it's OK, it'd be a lot cheaper.

The recipe I'm using for a Sloe Gin Fizz comes from the Cocktails+ app on my iPhone and is:

2 1/2 oz sloe gin
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 simple syrup

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top with club soda.