Modern Classic

Juliet and Romeo

A beautiful drink

Ingredients

60mlGin
22.5mlLime Juicefreshly squeezed
15mlSemi-Rich Simple Syrup
4 dropsRose Water
7.5mlAquafabaoptional but recommended
3 slicesCucumber
a pinchSalt
3 dropsOld Fashioned Bitters

Make it well

Shake

Directions

1. Drop 3 slices of cucumber into your shaking tin, with a small pinch of salt. Give it a muddle, about 5-10 presses until it's broken down (but not slush) 2. Add the gin, lime juice, syrup, aquafaba and rose water to the shaking tin, with ice 3. Shake hard for 10-15 seconds 4. Double strain into the glass. If you're using aquafaba you should have a little foamy layer on top - let it settle 5. To garnish, place a mint leaf and add 3 drops of bitters around it to represent health, wealth and happiness

Taste

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.

Origin

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