Of Mint and Mind
Ah … summer. The season where you start putting mint in everything—salads, spritzers, your pockets (oddly, this happens to me a lot!)—I simply can’t get enough. Fresh mint is where I began with the Kyoto Pearl, a cocktail so fresh and summery it should come with a sun hat.
This drink was inspired by two memories that linger like a good garnish: my 2010 pilgrimage to the late, great Pegu Club in New York City (where the cocktails were incredibly smart and a little flirty), and a recent trip to Kyoto, Japan, where moss is art, matcha is religion and sake flows with the grace of a well-tended koi pond.
The Kyoto Pearl is inspired by the French Pearl, Audrey Saunders’s gin-based modern classic that uses mint, lime and a touch of absinthe. Gin and sake are the romantic comedy pairing you didn’t know you needed: Gin brings bright, sharp botanicals; sake lends a silky softness and mint weaves through it all like sunlight through green leaves—fresh, delicate and just a little wild.
Snag some fresh mint at the farmers market or pluck it from your garden (or from a friend’s—I guarantee someone you know grows mint!) Heck, even that clamshell of mint from the grocery store works. (Yes, I’ve made this cocktail while barefoot in a swimsuit, using store-bought mint and a little piece of my soul.) Whatever you do, don’t forget to set aside extra mint sprigs for garnishing for the full olfactory effect.
The Kyoto Pearl
Ingredients
- 1 oz dry gin
- 1 oz chilled sake (preferably Junmai)
- ¾ oz fresh lime juice
- ¾ oz honey simple syrup*
- ¼ oz absinthe or pastis
- 6 mint leaves (+ 1 small sprig for garnish)
- Lemon peel for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Shake ingredients in a bar tin with ice for 10 seconds and double strain into a chilled cocktail coupe.
- Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and optional lemon peel.
