Jasmine is a gin cocktail that’s both delicious and underrated, and I’m here to bring it to your attention. A really beautiful and delicious late summer cocktail.
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What is Jasmine ?
Jasmine is a gin sipper that could easily be regarded as a gin sour, but it’s far more complex, and it does not have egg foam at all. Instead the Jasmine uses gin, orange bitter aperitif, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. It’s a simple cocktail but quite delicious and unfortunately not very well known.
Here’s hoping you enjoy it just as much as I did, and perhaps enough to make it for a friend or two.

Jasmine Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz gin
- 0.25 oz Campari
- 0.25 orange liqueur
- 0.75 oz lemon juice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a shaker, add ice. Shake well.
- Strain into chilled coupe glass.
Notes
When is this drink best ?
I think Jasmine is a great summer cocktail, especially for later in the summer and definitely more of an evening cocktail. It’s elegant, it looks beautiful, and the lemon juice in it plus gin turn it into a very nice digestive after dinner. Or a pre-dinner appetizer, if you like.
My thoughts on Jasmine
I liked Jasmine, the gin goes surprisingly well with a small amount of Campari. A larger dose would easily overwhelm the delicate notes in gin. Even so some of the juniper is lost in this, but not entirely. There’s a mild bitterness that comes with the orange bitter.
And for a drink that’s got 0.75 oz of fresh lemon juice and barely any sweetness to balance it, Jasmine isn’t nearly as sour as I expected it to be. So while you could technically class this as a gin sour, it’s so much more than that and much more complex.
If you like Jasmine, you might also like…
Lucien Gaudin – a blend between Jasmine and Negroni
Leap Year – another gin sipper, with sweet vermouth and orange liqueur
Notes, substitutes, and tips
Jasmine is a little bitter, since it’s got Campari but it’s a small amount (0.25 oz). If you want to lower the bitterness and up the sweetness a little, swap the Campari for Aperol (same amount).
If you consider the lemon juice too much (some do), you can tone it down to 0.5 oz. It will be less sour and it might let the orange aperitif and liqueur come through better.