Sloe Gin & Lemon Tonic
A Sloe Gin and Lemon Tonic is 50ml of sloe gin over cubed ice in a highball, topped with 150ml of Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Lemon Tonic Water and finished with a squeezed slice of lemon. It is Fever-Tree’s published serve. About 1.3 UK units, with the sloe gin taken at 25% ABV. Sloe gin is a liqueur, not a gin. Sloes, the fruit of the blackthorn, are steeped in gin with sugar, and the result is sweet, plummy and usually around 25% ABV, against the 37.5% minimum for gin. That sugar is why the mixer matters. The lemon in the tonic brings the acid sloe gin lacks, and the quinine dries the finish. Taste the sloe gin first. Homemade bottles vary widely in sugar, and a sweet one wants a shorter pour, 40ml, rather than more tonic.
Glassware: Highball Glass
Garnish: Lemon slice
Ingredients
150ml
Fever-Tree’s lemon tonic, sold in the UK as Refreshingly Light, chilled and freshly opened. The lemon brings acid and the quinine dries the finish. Plain tonic leaves the drink sweeter, and lemonade sweeter still.
50ml
A liqueur, usually around 25% ABV, made by steeping sloes and sugar in gin. Sweetness varies between bottles, homemade ones most of all, so taste it and adjust the measure.
Fill the glass
Cubed, filling the glass. A full glass melts slowly; a half-filled one waters the drink and leaves the sugar showing.
Instructions
Fill a highball glass with cubed ice.
Pour in the sloe gin.
Top with the lemon tonic, poured down the inside of the glass.
Squeeze a slice of lemon over the drink and drop it in.
Lift once from the bottom with a bar spoon.
Source: the producer's own published serve (Fever-Tree). Last checked 22 August 2026.
Expert Tip
Taste the sloe gin before you pour. Sugar in homemade sloe gin goes in by eye, so bottles differ widely. If yours is sweet, drop to 40ml rather than adding tonic; more tonic makes a bigger drink, not a drier one. Squeeze the lemon slice over the glass before dropping it in. Sloe gin has fruit and almost no acid, and the juice does more for the balance than the slice does for the look. Pour the tonic down the inside of the glass and lift once from the bottom. Hard stirring flattens it, and the bubbles carry the lemon.
Behind the Sloe Gin & Lemon Tonic
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
Sloes are the fruit of the blackthorn, a hedgerow shrub common across Britain, and they are too astringent to eat raw. Steeping them in gin with sugar is the traditional way to get something good out of them.
The tradition is domestic. Sloes are picked late in the year, traditionally after the first frost, and the bottles sit in a cupboard for months. This serve takes the liqueur out of winter and into a long, cold glass.
Why It Needs Acid
Sloe gin has fruit and sugar and very little acid, and sweetness without acid tastes flat. It is the reason squash tastes better with lemon in it.
Lemon tonic brings both corrections at once: citrus acid at the front, quinine bitterness at the finish. That keeps the drink lively to the bottom of the glass instead of turning syrupy halfway down.
Which Mixer
Sloe gin with four mixers
Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Lemon Tonic
- What it adds
- Acid and quinine
- Result
- Sharp front, dry finish, fruit in the middle
Plain tonic
- What it adds
- Quinine only
- Result
- Dry finish, noticeably sweeter
Soda water
- What it adds
- Dilution only
- Result
- Light and plain; the sugar shows
Lemonade
- What it adds
- Sugar and a little acid
- Result
- Sweet and soft
| Mixer | What it adds | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Fever-Tree Refreshingly Light Lemon Tonic | Acid and quinine | Sharp front, dry finish, fruit in the middle |
| Plain tonic | Quinine only | Dry finish, noticeably sweeter |
| Soda water | Dilution only | Light and plain; the sugar shows |
| Lemonade | Sugar and a little acid | Sweet and soft |
We follow Fever-Tree’s serve: 50ml of sloe gin to 150ml of tonic, three parts mixer to one.
The Almond Note
A good sloe gin has a faint marzipan character under the fruit. It comes from the stones, which release a trace of benzaldehyde during the long steep, the same compound that gives almond extract its smell.
It grows with time, which is the case for leaving a bottle alone for a year. In a long drink it sits at the back, and it is what makes a sloe gin taste of more than plums.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sloe gin actually gin?
How do you make a Sloe Gin and Lemon Tonic?
Can I use ordinary tonic?
Does homemade sloe gin work?
How strong is a Sloe Gin and Lemon Tonic?
Why does sloe gin taste of almond?
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Dan Freeman · Updated 11 October 2026