Sleeping Lotus

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Cocktail History

The Sleeping Lotus is a tiki cocktail that was created by Sierra Kirk at Hale Pele in Portland, Oregon. Reminiscent of a tropics-inspired 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, alcohol, and water. I used Bombay Sapphire Gin.

Orgeat Syrup: This is a sweetener made with roasted almonds, orange blossom, sugar, and water. I used Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup.

Lemon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lemon. I used freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Orange Bitters: This is a food product made with oranges, botanicals, herbs, and alcohol. I used Angostura Orange Bitters.

Mint Leaves: This is an herb. I used Mojito mint leaves.

Orchid Blossom: This is the flower of an orchid plant.

Mint Sprig: This is an herb. I 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. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.

Muddler: This is used to muddle ingredients. I used the HQY Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler.

Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. I 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. I used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.

Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. I used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.

Juicer: This is used to juice citrus. I used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.

Tasting Notes

This cocktail has the following flavor profile:

• Appearance: Transluscent pale yellow

• Aroma: Mint and botanical gin

• Taste: Soft, crisp gin flavor that transitions into the sweetness of orgeat syrup, zesty citrus, and a cooling mint presence

• Finish: More bright botanicals and a hint of almond

Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Kendall’s Take: “I’m always intrigued when I 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.

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