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Clover Leaf

By Toni Tipton-Martin
Three Clover Leaf cocktail in coupe glasses garnished with mint.
Photo by Dan Liberti

The Clover Leaf is a floral, fruity, and sweet gin drink, made with grenadine (pomegranate syrup), lemon juice, and egg whites, resulting in a cocktail with the taste and mouthfeel of berry cream soda. It is sometimes confused with the Clover Club, which uses raspberry syrup in place of the grenadine and vermouth for the lemon juice. (Longtime Tulsa caterer Cleora Butler enjoyed combining grenadine and vermouth—pantry staples that are more accessible than raspberry syrup and fresh lemon juice.) Either way, the drink is sensational, and is another delicious way to serve that homemade grenadine mixed with Old Tom gin, which is mild and smooth.

If you prefer raspberry syrup to the grenadine, this updated option relies on Chambord, a luxury brand of black raspberry liqueur, to tone down some of the sugar. Pasteurized egg whites or half-and-half also replace the frothy raw egg. In either case, this technique demonstrates the high art of cocktail making, shaking to create a beautiful crown of foam.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: A Cocktail Recipe Book' by Toni Tipton-Martin. Buy the full book on Amazon.

What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

½ oz. (1 Tbsp.) Chambord liqueur or grenadine
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. pasteurized egg whites, or 1 Tbsp. half-and-half
1 to 1½ oz. (2 to 3 Tbsp.) Old Tom gin
Ice cubes
1 fresh mint leaf

Preparation

  1. Combine the Chambord or grenadine, lemon juice, egg white or half-and-half, and gin in a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds, until the ingredients are cold and the mix is frothy with a pink blush. Strain into a martini or coupe cocktail glass. Garnish with the mint leaf.

Juke Joints-COVER.jpg
Reprinted with permission from Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice by Toni Tipton-Martin, copyright © 2023. Photographs by Brittany Conerly. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon or Penguin Random House.
TagsCookbooksCocktailAlcoholBeveragesGinLemonCitrusFruit

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