Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the Prunus spinosa tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per cent and 30 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV); however, European Union regulations established 25 per cent ABV as the minimal alcoholic content for the blackthorn beverage to be a sloe gin. Historically, despite being a liqueur based upon gin, the EU included the colloquial name sloe gin to the legal definitions; thus, sloe gin is the only alcoholic beverage that legally uses the term gin without appending the liqueur suffix.