Several months ago during the #hype of Crown Royal Northern Harvest, I was tinkering with a lot of rye whiskey and shrubs. The Dark Clover was the delicious outcome of the experiment.
Based very (very) roughly on the Pegu Club, I combined the spiciness of rye with the bitterness of Punt e Mes and a grapefruit shrub, and then added a little extra acidity in the form of lemon, to balance it all out.
For those of you that are curious, Punt e Mes is a special Italian vermouth that has amaro built right in. The name says it all, really. It translates to “a point and half” – as in one point of sweet and a half point of bitter.
Recipe
1 ½ oz rye
⅓ oz Punt e Mes
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz grapefruit shrub
Egg white
In a shaker, add all of the ingredients with ice and shake vigorously. Strain out the ice and then dry shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with Angostura bitters shaped like a clover leaf.
The result is a bitter and sour cocktail with a lot of nuances, so prepare your palette and enjoy!
I’m a long-timer reader, first time commenter. Very excited to try this particular recipe, but I was hoping for some additional guidance. Would you recommend using the hot process or cold process to make the grapefruit shrub for this particular cocktail? I’ve also noticed the LCBO does not carry Punt e Mes. Are there specialty stores where it can be purchased?