The Juliet & Romeo is a contemporary traditional, marrying gin with freshly squeezed lime juice, easy syrup, cucumber, mint, rose water, and a pinch of salt, completed with a number of floating drops of Angostura bitters.

In 2007, after formative bartending stints at Sasha Petraske’s Milk & Honey, Julie Reiner’s Flatiron Room, and Audrey Saunders’ Pegu Membership in New York Metropolis, Toby Maloney decamped to Chicago to open The Violet Hour, extensively considered one of many metropolis’s first severe cocktail bars. With the Juliet & Romeo, Maloney got down to create “a gin cocktail for individuals who suppose they don’t like gin.”

Since its debut, the drink has change into a Violet Hour staple — successfully the bar’s home cocktail — and, exterior of Sam Ross’s Paper Aircraft, one of the crucial recognizable trendy classics to emerge from the influential bar. The recipe seems in Maloney’s 2022 e-book, The Bartender’s Manifesto.

Why the Juliet & Romeo works

Refreshing, fragrant, and balanced, the Juliet & Romeo is actually a Gin Bitter with a garden-forward twist. For the bottom spirit, the recipe in Maloney’s e-book requires Beefeater, a quintessential London dry gin recognized for its assertive juniper spine and shiny citrus notes.

Freshly squeezed lime juice is tempered with equal elements easy syrup, making certain the drink is neither overly candy nor overly acidic. Muddled cucumber and mint lend a crisp, cooling freshness, whereas a contact of rose water amplifies the gin’s perfumed botanicals. A number of drops of Angostura bitters add depth and visible distinction, blooming towards the mint garnish.

The recipe additionally requires a pinch of salt. In The Bartender’s Manifesto, Maloney advises, “There needs to be simply sufficient salt to make the cucumber pop; this isn’t a salty, savory drink.” Begin conservatively, tasting and adjusting as you go.