Sakura Martini

Sakura Martini

2 oz Roku Gin
1 1/2 oz Nigori Sake
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
Garnish: Sakura blossom

Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 15 seconds until chilled. Strain into a chilled martini or coupe glass. Garnish with a Sakura blossom or any edible blossom you can get your hands on.

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This recipe calls for House of Suntory’s Roku Gin. Roku means ‘six’ in Japanese and as such, there are six unique botanicals in each bottle of Roku Gin. One of these botanicals is the Sakura flower, or cherry blossom, as we call it in North America. It’s important that this gin is used and not a dry London gin, in order to capture the drink’s floral nature.

Nigori sake is a type of unfiltered, milky white sake that you should be able to find at specialty liquor stores.