Clover Club
This year for St. Paddy’s Day, we have the “Clover Club” cocktail. In Ireland, and the USA by way of Ireland, there is a “Lent Holiday” on St. Patrick’s Day which allows Catholics who are observing Lent to celebrate the saint in good spirits. Alcohol, which is typically given up during Lent, is allowed for the day, so talking about cocktails is perfectly appropriate. If you are looking for some green beer, this may not be your drink. In fact, the Clover Club is pink. This has led to some stereotypes of what kind of drink it is and who might be drinking it. For that kind of thinking we need a little rhyme:
Let’s not be so judgmental of pink – the Clover Club is a gentleman’s drink.
The Clover Club
Originating around the turn of the century in pre-prohibition era America, the Clover Club was the signature drink of a well healed group of Philadelphia lawyers, bankers, writers and “captains of industry”. They would gather in the social club of the same name inside the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Combine gin with lemon juice, a splash of raspberry syrup and some egg white for texture and you have a strong, tart and slightly sweet variation of the gin sour to be enjoyed by “distinguished patron[s] of the oak-paneled lounge”. The earliest mention of the Clover Club cocktail was in 1896, and the earliest recipe is found in a 1917 edition of “The Ideal Bartender” by Thomas Bullock. The cocktail has some Irish provenance as well besides its namesake, making it the ideal new drink for St. Patrick’s Day. William Butler Yeats was a fan and reportedly drank three of them in a row with his dinner once while visiting America. Perhaps it was on St. Patrick’s Day, too. I say, pink is the new green. Cheers!
A chance meeting of lucky clovers - lucky me!
The Clover Club, from The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book (1935):
2 oz dry gin (Plymouth or London Dry, preferably)
½ oz fresh lemon juice (half a lemon)
2 tsp raspberry syrup
¾ tsp superfine sugar
1 egg white (pasteurized eggs can be used for safety)
Shake all ingredients together vigorously without ice, then add ice and shake to chill. Strain into a favorite glass. A sprig of mint on top to garnish makes it a “Clover Leaf” cocktail.