Clover Club

The Clover Club is one of Philadelphia's great contributions to cocktail history. It was named after an exclusive gentlemen's club that met at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia from the 1880s through the 1920s — a gathering of lawyers, writers, and businessmen. The drink appeared in print as early as 1901 in the New York Press and again in Thomas Bullock's The Ideal Bartender in 1917. Like many pre-Prohibition classics, the Clover Club nearly disappeared during the 20th century. It was revived in 2007 when Dave Wondrich featured it in Esquire, and in 2009 when bartender Julie Reiner named her Brooklyn bar after it. The dry shake is non-negotiable. Shaking without ice first allows the egg white proteins to emulsify fully, creating that signature silky foam. Skip it and the texture suffers. After the dry shake, add ice and shake again hard — the second shake chills and dilutes the drink properly. Make your own raspberry syrup when possible — equal parts sugar and water with fresh raspberries, simmered and strained. The flavor difference over commercial syrup is significant. The IBA official spec uses 45ml gin, 15ml raspberry syrup, 15ml lemon juice, and egg white. Variation: the Clover Leaf is the same cocktail with a mint sprig added to the garnish — a small distinction that has divided cocktail historians for over a century.