Meet the Clover Club: a raspberry martini topped with foam and fresh raspberries!

Love classic cocktails? Check. Love hearing the history behind them? Check.

Then strap yourself in as we take you on a ginny journey through the alphabet, one classic gin cocktail at a time! We’ve enjoyed the Alexander and Bee’s Knees so far – now it’s the Clover Club’s turn to shine.

Pink, pretty and perfectly flavoured, you’re in for a treat. This tangy cocktail recipe is easy to put together and its refreshing taste makes it an ideal summer cocktail.

So, where did the Clover Club cocktail be-gin?

This pre-Prohibition cocktail was born amongst the oak panelling of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. It can be traced back to a men’s club of the same name, populated by writers and lawyers.

Concocted around the turn of the century, it wasn’t long before the Clover Club made its way to New York and became the toast of the town. The poet W.B. Yeats was said to have had a taste for them.

However, the Clover Club’s luck turned in the 1930s, when Esquire magazine listed it among the 10 worst cocktails of the previous decade (incidentally, the likes of the Alexander, Bronx, Pink Lady and Orange Blossom also made the list).

Was it the taste, texture or aroma they took issue with? Not in the slightest! It was merely the colour – a pink drink like the Clover Club was deemed far too feminine for serious cocktail connoisseurs. We beg to disagree!

Luckily for us, celebrity mixologists like Julie Reiner have reintroduced Clover Clubs to the world, and gin lovers have been enjoying them ever since.

In terms of the gin, a high-quality London dry gin is what we recommend in order to best complement the cocktail’s flavours.

Finally, a note on the use of egg white. This is very common practice and what all high-end bartenders use to create that fabulous foam on top of your tipple! If you’re vegan, and would like to replicate the foam, try using aquafaba - find out more about how to do this and create the perfect results in our blog about how to make vegan cocktails at home.