Union member

This cocktail is a mystery. I found a post-it note in my cocktail bible with the name Union Member, with the following ingredients.

I can’t recall where I found it. I’m guessing it’s close to Union Jack, with sloe gin, more regular gin and grenadine.

It could be that if you use a really dark sloe gin, it comes out a shade of red worthy of a socialist flag. My home-made sloe gin is rather pale, so it's definitely more 'pinko' than truly communist.

So, whatever the origin, here it is:

Ingredients:

1 measure sloe gin

1 measure dry vermouth

Dash angostura bitters

Shake over ice – and serve with a maraschino cherry if you’ve any left over from Christmas.

If anyone knows where this originated, I’d love to hear from you.

PS: Here's a sneak preview of the next batch of sloe gin I'm making, which is reminiscent of a murky pond at this stage. A month on, it's now mulberry-coloured, thanks to using brown sugar. We shall see ...