cafe royal special

1/4 Dry Gin (3/4 oz Darnley's View)
1/4 Lemon Juice (3/4 oz)
1/4 Dry Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat)
1/4 Sloe Gin (3/4 oz Plymouth)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

On Saturday night, I was in the mood for a lighter style of cocktail when I spotted the Café Royal Special. The drink was created by the compiler of the Café Royal Cocktail Book, William Tarling, and with the split base of gin and sloe gin, it reminded me of a drier Improved Ping Pong. For a gin, I opted to try out the sample of Darnley's View Gin that we were sent. A quick taste of this Scottish gin gave a good balance of citrus, juniper, and coriander notes without anything being too sharp or overpowering. With this citrus notes, I felt that the gin would be a good match for this recipe. What I could glean off of their website is that they keep it simple with only 6 botanicals: juniper, coriander seed, lemon peel, elderflower, orris root, and angelica root.
The Café Royal Special started with a lemony aroma from the twist and the juice. The sloe gin came out as a berry flavor on the dry and tart sip, and this was followed by the dry vermouth and lemon notes on the swallow. Overall, the drink was surprisingly dry for a sloe gin recipe, although it did gain a bit of sweetness as it warmed up.