Ah, Sloe Gin, how do I love thee? As frequently as possible.

For the uninitiated, sloe gin is a warm, bright red liqueur that looks like a pre-made cocktail in a bottle. It derives its name from what it's flavored with: well, sloe, or blackthorn berries. They're a cousin of the plum, without as much tartness. The process of infusing gin with sloe is quite... to avoid the obvious joke here, the process takes time and requires some amount of patience. But when you're done, you have a complex and beautiful drink that's ready to be quaffed as is or made into one of my favorite cocktails: the sloe gin fizz.

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Here's how:

1. Choose your gins.

Find a good Sloe Gin. Plymouth should work just fine here. For that matter, if you're using Plymouth for your sloe, also use it for your regular gin. Or you can mix and match: Bombay Sapphire works wonderfully here for your regular gin.

2. Mix.

Combine three parts lemon juice to four parts gin, four parts sloe gin, and four parts simple syrup. Shake.

3. Serve.

Pour it into a highball glass. Finish the glass with a splash of soda water. Serve.