All dolled up, and solid underneath. Sloe gin and London dry shaken with lime and real pomegranate grenadine, served up in a coupe with a red sugar rim and one good cherry. It is deep glossy red on purpose, because red lipstick is the one thing Dolly's town tramp and Frank-N-Furter actually share. Sweet, tart, and considerably more serious than it looks, which is the entire idea.
5 steps, about 15 minutes start to finish.
1. GRENADINE, AHEAD: warm the pomegranate juice in a small pot over low heat and stir in the sugar until it fully dissolves. Do not boil it. Boiling cooks out the fresh fruit flavor and you end up with the thing you were trying to avoid. Cool and bottle. Keeps two weeks in the fridge.
2. Chill the coupe. Freezer is best, ten minutes minimum.
3. RIM IT: run a lime wedge around the outer edge of the glass, then roll the outside in red sanding sugar. Rim the outside only, so it does not fall into the drink and so the first sip is the cocktail rather than a mouthful of sugar.
4. Shake the sloe gin, London dry, grenadine and lime juice hard with ice, about 12 seconds, until the tin frosts.
5. Double strain into the chilled coupe. Drop in one cherry.
“The London dry is not optional and it is the whole reason this works. Sloe gin is only 15 to 26 percent alcohol and it is sweet, so on its own it makes a cooler rather than a cocktail. The full-proof gin underneath is what gives it a spine. Lime rather than lemon is deliberate too: every other sloe gin drink in the world is built on lemon, and lime keeps this one from tasting like a Sloe Gin Fizz. If it comes out too sweet for you, push the lime to a full ounce before you touch anything else. Store grenadine works in a pinch and the drink will still be good, but making it is ten minutes and it is the difference between the drink and the point of the drink.”
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