United Crushers – Tesla Sljivo

I already reviewed the Tesla Sljivo six years ago. So, I thought it is again time to take a look at this Croatian plum eau de vie created in Frankfurt. Named after the famous Croatian inventor, the Tesla gives a traditional Croatian eau de vie a new look. On top of that, for a drink with the Tesla, I also was inspired by a popular gin drink, the Bombay Crushed.

For their eau de vie, the folks behind the Tesla Sljivo (they also created the Quarantini Gin with Felix Kaltenthaler) use local Croatian plum varieties. Furthermore, the recipe which was developed in one and a half years with bartenders from Frankfurt. Fermented under a framed portrait of Nikola Tesla, the plum mash is distilled on small copper pot-stills. Afterwards, Croatian spring water dilutes the Šljivovic to a drinking strength of 42 % ABV. Additionally, only natural ingredients are used during the production of the Tesla.

Same old, same old

Do not take the heading the wrong way, it does not mean that the Tesla tastes antiquated. Instead, I just was rather consistent in my tasting notes compared to six years ago. When you have the Tesla Sljivo in your glass, you instantly get a whiff of plum notes. On top of that, the taste also carries some spices, reminding me of cinnamon. Again, I noticed some menthol notes, but in my opinion they add to the depth of the eau de vie. After all, you are drinking a Šljivovic!

Crushed kumquats

Well, when you are inspired by the Bombay Crushed cocktail, you have to use fresh kumquats in the drink. Apart from that, I thought it would be fun to replace the gin in the drink with the Tesla Sljivo. However, I decided to fine strain the whole mess after shaking and garnish the drink with a couple of kumquat halves instead. Moreover, I did not name the drink after a song this time. Instead, I went for the title of the 2016 Poliça album.

As you might already imagine, this drink is very refreshing! I was surprised on how well the Tesla and the kumquats worked together. Apart from that, the drink is more on the sour side, but through the reduction of lime juice, in comparison to my regular sour template, the drink is still well-balanced. All in all, if you are looking for a drink for sunny days, give this one a try!

Pesto highball

I followed a tip by Galyna from Quarantini Gin and mixed the Tesla Sljivo with Balis Basil-Ginger lemonade. The lemonade itself has an intense basil flavour with some ginger notes . On top of that, it is medium dry with a good carbonation. However, the flavour reminds me more of pesto instead of fresh basil leaves. You should definitely try it, but I still prefer to mix the Tesla Sljivo with lime and ginger beer as a Frankfurt Mule.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The Šljivovic was provided by Tesla.