Recipes
Cocktails that Elevate Our Botanical Recipe!
Enjoy the complexity of our spirit with these tasty tipples!
We’ve shared tons of recipes that feature their own twists to showcase our Indigo Gin. Here, we’re gonna get you reacquainted with five of the eight natural botanicals in our recipe and share a cocktail that we feel complements each one nicely! For more information, check out Our Story!
READY TO GET STARTED? JUMP TO THE RECIPES:
1. Butterfly Pea Blossom – Empress & Tonic
As one of the botanicals that makes our gin a particular showstopper, this flower doesn’t only contribute the stunning indigo colour that changes by acidity. It also provides a warm earthiness and rich texture that feels more full-bodied on the palate compared to other gins.
We think the Empress & Tonic showcases this blossom the best through the presentation and flavour! Adding that tonic water will transform the deep indigo hue into a more vibrant violet before your very eyes. The bittersweetness also plays amazingly with the herbaceous notes in butterfly pea.
Bonus tip! We always like mixing with Fever-Tree’s Premium Indian Tonic Water for a more classic take, but to showcase this beautiful botanical, feel free to play around with floral or herbaceous options!
2. Fairmont Empress Tea Blend — Sir Earl
We couldn’t make a gin using the Fairmont Empress as inspiration without including their world-class tea blends! Our blend offers a unique tannic quality that you often find in black tea, as well as some fruity and woodsy notes with a floral delicacy.
Sir Earl by @mrs.barnes brings the afternoon tea to you through the use of an Earl Grey syrup to accentuate those aromatics. The use of citrus in this sip also pairs amazingly here through offering a light and sharp dimension to cut through some of the maltiness of the tea.
Ingredients
- 1 oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- 1 tbsp Earl Grey Tea Syrup
- 1 tbsp Fresh Orange Juice
- Soda Water
- Orange Twist
Method
Shake gin, orange juice and syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass (or teacup) over fresh ice. Top with soda water and garnish with and orange twist.
3. Juniper – Cucumber Blue
It’s not gin without juniper! Juniper berries provide that complex flavour profile with fresh notes of pine, black pepper, and citrus oil. The London Dry style goes heavy on the juniper, but we use a varietal that’s more subtle to allow the other botanicals to shine.
To play up the dry and crisp notes of juniper, try the Cucumber Blue, which boasts immense refreshment with cucumber and herbs! The mint especially elevates the alpine qualities of juniper that the cucumber’s vegetal nature also complements perfectly.
4. Grapefruit Peel – Paloma Pamplemousse
You may have come off our recent article about ways to play with this citrus in your Empress 1908 cocktails. We go with grapefruit peel instead of the more traditional lemon or orange in our botanical recipe since we love the bright bittersweetness it offers whether you sip it neat or in a dressed up cocktail.
It should come as no surprise that we’re going with the Paloma Pamplemousse when we’re in the grapefruity mood! Obviously, the liqueur and soda accentuate it in our gin, but the sharpness of the lime and heat from the rim bring additional life to this sip. The touch of mezcal not only has citrus notes, but its smokiness adds a savoury edge that’s simply stunning with the juiciness of grapefruit!
Ingredients
- 1½ oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- ¾ oz Pamplemousse Liqueur
- ½ oz Mezcal
- ½ oz Lime Juice
- Grapefruit Soda (to top)
- Salt, Sugar, & Cayenne
- Grapefruit Slice
Method
Rim a cocktail glass with salt, sugar and cayenne. Shake all ingredients on ice except grapefruit soda, and strain into the cocktail glass over fresh ice. Top with grapefruit soda and garnish with a grapefruit slice.
5. Ginger Root — La Vie en Rose
Last but not least, we have ginger root, which offers wonderful complexity with bold spice and pungency as well as slight lemony freshness. This pairs perfectly with the cinnamon bark in our botanical recipe to offer warmer dimensions to round out the flavour profile.
La Vie en Rose by @mintforthesoul is absolutely stellar in highlighting this aromatic through the complementary notes in cardamom. The rose also contributes a more delicate sensation that plays nicely with ginger. Everything put together creates a very unique approach to an Empress 1908 cocktail by focussing on the ginger root to create a spicy, floral, and almost savoury sip.
Ingredients
- 1½ oz Empress 1908 Indigo Gin
- 3-4 Cardamom Pods
- 1 tbsp Rose Water
- 2 tbsp Simple Syrup
- ¾ oz Lemon Juice
- Soda Water (to top)
- Rose Petals
- Cardamom Sugar
Method
Coat glass rim with lemon juice, and dip in cardamom sugar. Add crushed cardamom pods and Empress 1908 Gin. Let sit for 5-10 min to let the flavours infuse. Add rose water, simple syrup, and lemon juice, and mix. Add ice, and top off with sparkling water. Garnish with dried rose petals. Enjoy!
There are many ways to go about making a cocktail, but as you saw here, we’re especially fans of taking specific elements from the base spirit and finding ways to accentuate and complement those nuances. After all, we still want to enjoy the premium flavour of our Indigo Gin!
For more cocktail inspiration, you know where to look. Check out our Instagram, Cocktail Page, or Blog!
Sip responsibly!