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Cocktail History
The Sleeping Lotus is a modern cocktail that was created by Sierra Kirk at Hale Pele in Portland, Oregon. Reminiscent of a cross between the Army & Navy and Southside, the recipe combines a dry gin, lemon, and citrus bitters with tropical orgeat syrup and refreshing mint.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Gin: This is a spirit made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. We used Bombay Sapphire Gin because it has a crisp and clean botanical flavor. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin.
Orgeat Syrup: This is a sweetener made with roasted almonds, orange blossom, sugar, and water. We used Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup because it’s delicious and high quality.
Lemon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lemon. We used freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Orange Bitters: This is a food product made with oranges, botanicals, herbs, and alcohol. We used Angostura Orange Bitters. For a mocktail version of this drink, try All The Bitter Non-Alcoholic Orange Bitters in place of the orange bitters.
Mint Leaves: This is an herb. We used Mojito mint leaves.
Orchid Blossom: This is the flower of an orchid plant.
Mint Sprig: This is an herb. We used Mojito mint.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Muddler: This is used to muddle ingredients. We used the HQY Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler.
Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Juicer: This is used to juice citrus. We used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.
Tasting Notes
The Sleeping Lotus has aromas of mint and botanical gin, a taste with fairly soft gin at first before transitioning into sweet, nutty orgeat and cool mint, and an aftertaste with more crisp gin and mint.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Much like the Southside and Eastside (two other favorites of ours), the gin and mint combination in the Sleeping Lotus can really do no wrong, and although the distinct flavor of orgeat is easy to miss in the mix, its contributions to the overall flavor are certainly integral.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I really, really enjoyed the taste of the Sleeping Lotus; in a lot of ways, it’s like another favorite (the Southside) since it combines mint with gin, but it adds the wildcard of nutty orgeat. Somehow the orgeat actually gets a bit lost in it, in my opinion, but I have no doubt that without the ingredient, the drink would feel very different overall. While it didn’t necessarily feel very tiki, it certainly was balanced and delicious.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I’m always intrigued when we come across a tiki-inspired cocktail that calls for a spirit other than some sort of a rum. At first taste, this reminded me a lot of one of my go-to gin drinks, the Southside. It’s essentially the same recipe, after all; it just adds in orgeat and stretches the format into a tall drink by serving it over ice instead of strained and up. As delicious as it was, it didn’t really scream ‘tiki’ to me, so I wouldn’t rank it among the greats in that genre necessarily, but I did really like it.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from Easy Tiki: A Modern Revival with 60 Recipes by Chloe Frechette.
Add gin, orgeat syrup, lemon juice, mint leaves, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a hurricane or tiki glass filled with fresh cracked ice.
Garnish with orchid blossom and mint sprig.
Ingredients
Directions
Add gin, orgeat syrup, lemon juice, mint leaves, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Strain into a hurricane or tiki glass filled with fresh cracked ice.
Garnish with orchid blossom and mint sprig.
Make It a Mocktail: Use MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin and All The Bitter Non-Alcoholic Orange Bitters in place of the orange bitters to try a booze-free version of this drink.
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More Tiki Cocktails
If you like this tiki-inspired cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Wishful Thinking: A sloe gin and rhum agricole cocktail made with ginger syrup, lime juice, absinthe, Angostura aromatic bitters, and a mint sprig
Tia Mia: A mezcal and rum cocktail made with lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat syrup, a lime wheel, a mint sprig, and an orchid blossom
Junior Colada: A pineapple rum cocktail made with coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, coconut soda, and pineapple fronds
Caribe Daiquiri: A rum cocktail made with pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and a lime slice
This post contains affiliate links, meaning we make a small commission each time you purchase a product using our links. Product images sourced from Amazon Product Advertising API. Amazon affiliate links last updated on 2023-09-24.
