Episode 272

Featured Cocktail: The Water Lily

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Water Lily. To make it, you’ll need:

• ¾ oz Gin
• ¾ oz Orange Liqueur (clear triple sec is preferred here for color purposes)
• ¾ oz creme de violette
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice

Combine these ingredients in a MIXING BEAKER. Yes, that’s right. We’re putting citrus juice in a mixing beaker. Why? I can only speculate. And I will in a second, But anyway, we’re in a mixing beaker, we stir (not shake) over ice until well chilled and properly diluted, then strain into an elegant coupe glass, express an orange twist over the top (but don’t garnish), and enjoy.

Invented by bartender Richie Boccato at either Milk & Honey or Little Branch (accounts differ), this cocktail bends the equal parts Last Word format into all sorts of interesting contortions. Gin and citrus are there–but lemon instead of lime. Lemon makes sense here because of that intensely floral, perfumey note from the creme de violette. And in this context, the triple sec comes off almost like an orange blossom note, playing the role of both an aromatic and a sweetener. In other words, if you soften your gaze to the point where things start to get a little blurry, the triple sec is playing the part of Maraschino liqueur, and the creme de violette is like a single-note Chartreuse.

Now, back to this elephant in the room. Why is this cocktail stirred, rather than shaken? Well, to be honest, the internet does not agree on this point. A lot of recipes out there simply tell you to shake it…but my guess is that these folks saw citrus and just assumed there was a typo in the source they were looking at. Because there’s enough references to stirring–including by Imbibe, to which I attribute a high degree of trust–that I simply have to assume that Richie Boccato had his reasons.

Coming off a week-long gin class, where I delved heavily into botanical spirits, my gut tells me that if there IS truly a reason to stir the Water Lily, it’s got something to do with the creme de violette, which is this drink’s most problematic ingredient. From a visual standpoint, shaking it will make the service pour appear cloudy and pink–much less dark than it would be if you stirred it. And although this is pure speculation, it’s also possible that shaking could cause the violet liqueur to revolt a little bit, coming off as harsh or soapy when aerated and diluted too aggressively. When I made Lavender bitters, this was always true after we proofed them down with water. It took about a week of resting in the bottle before they tasted normal again. Knowing that, perhaps the stirred nature of the Water Lily cocktail is ultimately a nod to the delicate nature of floral ingredients.