Clover Club
Gin, lemon, raspberry and egg white under a pink foam. Tart, fruity and silky rather than sweet.
- MethodShaken
- GlassCoupe
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 12.3% ABV
- BaseGin
- Tastefruity, sour, creamy
Recipe
| 45 ml 1½ oz | London dry gin |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lemon juice |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Raspberry syrup |
| 1 egg white | Egg white (or 25 ml aquafaba) |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Dry vermouth (optional) |
Garnish. One or three fresh raspberries on a pick, resting across the rim.
Method
- Chill a coupe.
- Shake everything without ice for 15 seconds to whip the egg white.
- Add ice and shake hard again for 12 to 15 seconds.
- Double strain into the coupe, let the foam settle, and garnish.
About the Clover Club
The Clover Club is a gin sour sweetened with raspberry and shaken with egg white. It is pale pink, with a soft foam and a sharp, berry-bright flavour. A little dry vermouth, as in some modern versions, adds a dry, winey depth.
History
Earliest record 1901: New York Press (Waldorf-Astoria recipe)
Documented
The drink is named after the Clover Club, a Philadelphia society of journalists, lawyers and businessmen that met at the Bellevue Hotel (later the Bellevue-Stratford) from the 1880s. The earliest recipe found so far is in a New York newspaper article of 1901 drawn from the bar staff of the Waldorf-Astoria, whose manager George Boldt had run the Bellevue. Paul E. Lowe's Drinks: How to Mix and How to Serve (1909) is among the first cocktail books to include it. Julie Reiner's Brooklyn bar, opened in 2008 and named after the drink, helped revive it.
Legend and lore
That the club's own members invented it is a natural assumption; no record says who first made it.
Disputed or unclear: Sources disagree over whether the earliest versions included vermouth; the founding year of the Clover Club itself is also given differently.
Variations
- Clover Leaf. The same drink garnished with a sprig of mint, or shaken with a few leaves.
- Pink Lady. Adds apple brandy and uses grenadine instead of raspberry.
- Bramble. A modern berry and gin drink served over crushed ice, without egg.
Bartender's notes
- Fresh raspberries (four or five, muddled) can stand in for the syrup; add 10 ml simple syrup with them.
- Make sure the egg is very fresh, or use 25 ml aquafaba instead.
