Sloe Gin Fizz Cocktail- the party

Friday night we had a Sloe Gin Fizz party here at '80'.

In my classic cocktail research, I'd tried a few cocktails made with Sloe Gin: The Millionaire #4 (Savoy Cocktail Book), The Blackthorne, the San Francisco - and they weren't very good. When I saw the PR surrounding the new release of the Plymouth Sloe Gin* , I went back and tasted the sloe gin I'd been using and realized it is terrible. How did this stuff get to be associated so heavily with sex? "Sloe comfortable screw"? "Panty Dropper?"

Inspite of the PR from Plymouth, for over a year I couldn't find any Plymouth Sloe Gin. So when I visited London I went to Gerry's and bought a bottle of Lindisfarne Sloe Gin**, which is remarkable stuff.

Finally, Plymouth Sloe Gin arrives. It is available in a couple of stores here in the bay area (Ledger's Liquors in Berkeley is my 'go to' liquor store). The fellow at the Jug Shop in San Francisco told me its only available in New York and San Francisco.

We picked the Sloe Gin Fizz at the request of The Polynesian Princess. For these drinks we used our 'rings' glasses which hold a 5 oz pour - we believe in small glasses - chilled (of course). Oceana did most of the set up and Kate did the food table and was our food waitress, O helped me with the pour and then walked the tray of drinks around. Meira kept on offering to help and like a dope I didn't accept.

We had some hot appetizers from Trader Joes which were a big hit - puff pastry kinds of things. It seems like our regulars are getting have figured out how we work - we had a dozen people here by 6:40 (the party was 6:30 to 8:00)

How could we have made it a better party? In our world, this means how could it have been more fun for us, cause if we had more fun, you too would have had more fun!

First, we did the big no-no of not doing a research group to proof and finalize the recipe. In this case, it wasn't a big deal, but it added to the tasks I had to do, and added to my level of stress. If we'd done this, I would have had the famous recipe spreadsheet* all ready to go, and might have bought a second bottle of sloe gin after I did all the math. FYI, we served about 40 drinks.

Second, we didn't have people signed up for clean-up - if we'd had someone who was bussing [collecting empty glasses, trash, etc.] it would have taken them 15 minutes over the course of 90 minute party - not an onerous task. The other thing we could have used was some heroic individual who would have washed about two dish drainers full of dishes - mostly from the food prep. [I always wash all the cocktail glassware myself]

Third, we didn't have a designated photographer. Ruth, our Ansel-Adamsette, wasn't expected, but did arrive a few minutes before the end of the party. I'm hoping for one good photo of Oceana with a drink in hand.


*especially since we like Plymouth Gin

** I asked the fellow at Gerry's if they had Plymouth Sloe Gin and he said "yes, and I have something that is better." He was right.

***OK, how do I post a spreadsheet in blogger?