Juliet and Romeo
A beautiful drink
- Method
- Shaken
- Style
- Modern Classic
- Glass
- Nick and Nora
- Time
- 5 min
Ingredients
- 60mlGin
No Gin? London Dry Gin — juniper forward, and what these recipes assume if you have not got a preference · Old Tom Gin — sweeter and rounder, the older style · Navy Strength Gin — a lot stronger, so save it for a clear afternoon
- 22.5mlLime Juicefreshly squeezed
- 15mlSimple Syrup, 1.5:1
No Simple Syrup? Demerara Syrup — richer, faintly molasses — adds colour and body, which most drinks welcome
- 4 dropsRose Water
- 7.5mlAquafabaoptional but recommended
No Aquafaba? Egg White — the original, if you are not keeping it vegan — one egg white to every 0.25 oz of aquafaba
- 3 slicesCucumber
- a pinchSalt
- 3 dropsAngostura
No Angostura? Old Fashioned Bitters — close to Ango, with the same spicy notes — just not the standard bottle
- Garnish
- Mint leaf with three drops of bitters
Make it well
Shaken, properly.
Drop 3 slices of cucumber into your , with a small pinch of salt. Give it a , about 5-10 presses until it's broken down (but not slush)
Add the gin, lime juice, syrup, and rose water to the shaking tin, with ice
for 10-15 seconds
into the glass. If you're using aquafaba you should have a little foamy layer on top - let it settle
To garnish, place a mint leaf and add 3 drops of around it to represent health, wealth and happiness
On the palate
On the nose this one is really perfumed and light. The rose and lime come through with cucumber. This one is a perfect summer drink. On tasting, its sweet lime and cucumber up front ending in the peppery and herbal notes from the gin. Tastes nothing like it but we get a vibe of Pimms from this - if you're after a boozy summer drink, this might just be it.
Where it came from
This is a modern cocktail, created in 2007 by Toby Maloney while bartending at The Violet Hour in Chicago. If that bar rings a bell, it should: it's the same room, and the same man, that the Paper Plane was written for a year later. Maloney printed this one in his book, The Bartender's Manifesto, in 2022. It's a gin sour rebuilt around a garden. Cucumber and mint get muddled in, rose water goes over the top, and three drops of bitters sit on the surface so you get the perfume before you get anywhere near the drink. Fussy to make, worth it every time.
Keep pouring
If you like the Juliet and Romeo, try these
The bartender’s note
One drink, one story, one bottle worth buying.
Thursday evening, so you have time to shop. No more than that.