For this month’s Mixology Monday, I decided to try something new–the Plum Royale.

I came to this with a melange of inspiration:

• Anita’s post on the Rosemary Five got me thinking about pairing fruit and spice in a champagne drink.
• A day after I read her post, I had a Gin Royale at brunch and decided to riff on that.
• Finally, Jen brought home some beautiful black plums.

photograph by Jennifer Hess

So with three ingredients already in mind–gin, champagne, and plum–I had to find my spice.

In Googling around to find inspiration, I came across an article about Plymouth gin that discussed, among other things, the botanicals in Plymouth–angelica root, cardamom pods, coriander seeds, lemon peel, orange peel, orris root, and juniper berries. Hm, cardamom. Turns out that cardamom and plums are a popular pairing, so I chose to go that way.

I made up a variation on this Cardamom Lime Syrup, sans lime this time. I also made a plum puree. The puree, gin, and syrup formed the basis for the drink, which I topped with champagne.

Delicious.

Plum Royale (a.k.a. the Eve Plum)

makes two drinks

• 4 oz. Plymouth gin
• 2 oz. plum puree
• 1 oz. cardamom syrup
• Mint sprig, for garnish

Technique: Shake over ice and divide between two champagne flutes. Top with champagne and garnish with a sprig of mint. (The mint is more for presentation than for flavor, so feel free to leave it out.)