The Empress

Ingredients

• 60 ml Juliet Gin
• 15 ml dry vermouth
• 10 ml crème de violette
• 2 dashes lemon bitters
• 1 dash orange bitters

Method

Stir. Serve in a Martini glass (chilled). Garnish with Edible violet or lemon twist.

The story

Empress 1908 Gin made indigo its selling point and proved that colour in a cocktail glass is not trivial — it changes the drinking experience in ways that are impossible to articulate but entirely real. This drink doesn't use Empress (you have Juliet Gin), but it borrows the chromatic idea: crème de violette turns the martini a deep, shifting purple. The flavour of violette is floral and slightly medicinal, like candy from a French pharmacy. In small quantities — and it must be small — it adds a dimension that no other ingredient can replicate. With Juliet Gin's lemon and cherry notes, the violet finds a natural habitat. This is a drink you make for someone you want to impress.

Tasting note

Deep purple at the edges, shifting toward lavender at the centre. The nose is gin-forward with a violet florality. The palate is dry and aromatic — cherry and lemon from Juliet, flower and herb from the violette, and a saline finish from the bitters. One of the most beautiful drinks in this book.