Say hello to the Clover Leaf – a vintage cocktail dating back to the days of bathtub gin. A little sister to the more classic Clover Club cocktail.
A quick poll of friends suggests that sharing a cozy meal at home trumps dinner out – and many hinted darkly at the ‘weird vibe’ infecting restaurants on V-Day. An air of heightened expectations and grim determination to have a good time? I think we have all been there.
In my book, the best (or perhaps the only) way to celebrate is retreat into your happy little love bubble and enjoy each other’s company away from crowds. Naturally, you have set the mood with the right cocktail.
My pretty in pink suggestion is the Clover Leaf – a vintage cocktail dating back to the days of bathtub gin. The Clover Leaf is basically a Clover Club with an added mint leaf – it looks very girly indeed but that’s not to say it’s a lightweight drink. Instead it is nicely balanced between sweet and sour with the gin holding everything together and rounding off the flavour.
By the way if Valentine’s Day is too corny and ‘couples only’ for you to handle, why not celebrate Galentine’s Day instead? This will be familiar to all fans of Parks and Recreation, but, for those not in the know, Galentine’s Day (13th of February) is the day to celebrate all your female friendships and I don’t need to tell you that cocktails are mandatory.
You can get the recipe for a classic Clover Leaf from The Bar – the recipe below is a slight variation with the addition of homemade raspberry syrup (it sounds fancy, but really it is fresh raspberries muddled with lemon and sugar). This ups the sweetness/tartness and makes the drink a deeper pink.
Clover leaf cocktail
Ingredients
- 60 ml | 1/4 cup gin
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tbsp egg white
- 1 tsp grenadine
- 2 mint leaves to garnish
- 2 raspberries to garnish
Instructions
- Put a martini glass or coupe glass in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
- Put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a glass and let them macerate for 10 minutes. Muddle with a spoon and then sieve the pulp to extract the raspberry syrup, pressing on the berries with the back of a spoon.
- Add the gin, raspberry syrup, egg white and grenadine into a cocktail shaker. Shake hard for 30 seconds.
- Add plenty of ice and then shake the cocktail again to froth up the egg white.
- Strain into the chilled glass and garnish with a mint leaf and a fresh raspberry.
Emmyw says
YUM! You've put together my perfect drink their Lucy 🙂 might treat the OH to one this evening when he gets in from work. We celebrated Valentines day quite literally IN a crowd at Chinese New Year in China Town! Perhaps we should have been sipping these instead!
Lucy Allen says
Mmm, my favourite flavours in a cocktail. must try this when we get a kid-free evening!
Coriander Queen says
What a beautiful cocktail, looks and sounds delicious! (I love your cocktail glasses)
Elizabeth says
I could happily drink this any day of the year! How beautiful do they look!
Emily says
You beautiful photography gets me every time! Gin? Raspberries? Lemon? I'm in! x
Margot says
This is beautiful!!! The colour, the flavours… perfect Valentine's Day drink! 🙂
Camilla Hawkins says
What a gorgeous and perfect cocktail for Valentines Day! Thank you for linking to my mocktail:-)