gulab sharbat sour

1 3/4 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Gulab Sharbat Syrup (housemade)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with dried rose petals.

Last night, Andrea and I went to Rendezvous in Central Square for dinner and drinks. For my first cocktail, I asked Scott Holliday what he had been tinkering with lately that he might like to share. He said that he had been playing with a few syrups and the one he went with first was a North Indian one called Gulab Sharbat. Gulab Sharbat is rose-flavored syrup (or beverage) and the one he made also contained lemon juice and zest, cardamom, and sugar besides the rose. One recipe I found online for Gulab Sharbat syrup is as follows (and I believe rose syrup can be found in Indian spice stores):

• 10 oz water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp green cardamom seeds
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 oz pomegranate juice
• 2 cups rose petals (fresh preferred)
Heat water and sugar in a pot until dissolved. Added juices and crushed cardamom seeds; bring to a boil. Crush rose petals and add to pot. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit for 12 hours. Strain and store in the refrigerator. (Note: 1 oz of 80 proof vodka per pint will help to stabilize the syrup for longer term storage.)

The end product of Scott's work was rather stunning. The drink was rather rosy with the right level of sweetness to balance the lemon juice. Andrea commented that it was "sort of like super-gin... like I wish gin actually tasted!" Indeed, the rose worked well with the juniper and other notes in the Beefeater quite well. Perhaps this should not be all that surprising since some gins, such as Hendricks, use rose petals in their distillation head to flavor their product; however, I had never had rose flavors like this with gin in a cocktail. While the drink Scott served me was a work-in-progress, I hope this delightful cocktail makes it on to Rendezvous' summer menu soon!