🍸 Inside the R&D Shift: Volume 3
Updated: Aug 30
Every R&D shift starts with an idea.
Sometimes that idea makes it all the way to the final glass. Most of the time, it doesn’t.
That’s the part of cocktail development people don’t always see. Ingredients get swapped.
Specs get tightened. Entire concepts get scrapped. Something that sounded perfect on paper might completely fall apart once it hits the glass.
This week was a perfect example.
Two cocktails started in completely different places and slowly evolved into SOLACE and
RONIN.
🌸 SOLACE
SOLACE started with tea.
I originally wanted to build the cocktail around jasmine green tea-infused LALO Blanco Tequila. The idea sounded great, but once I started testing it, I realized I didn’t have as much control over the tea flavor as I wanted.
Instead of forcing the infusion, I changed direction.
🔥 The pivot: Turn the jasmine green tea into a rich 2:1 syrup.
That gave me much more control over exactly how much floral tea character made it into the cocktail while still allowing the clean agave profile of LALO to come through.
From there, the drink went through several versions.
At one point I was working with a cucumber Thai basil cordial. Toasted coconut was also part of the conversation. There were a lot of interesting flavors happening, but the cocktail was starting to feel like it was trying to do too much.
So I stripped it back.
Lychee stayed, but I dropped it from 0.5 oz to 0.25 oz. At the higher spec it became too perfumed and started dominating everything around it.
Then came the raspberries.
Muddling a few fresh raspberries completely changed the personality of the drink. They added fresh berry acidity and gave SOLACE its naturally vibrant pink color without needing to force the presentation.
The finished cocktail became floral, bright, slightly tropical and much more focused than where it started.
Another part of the concept was presentation.
I specifically wanted SOLACE to be a stirred cocktail rather than shaken. Serving it over one large cube meant I wanted that clean, level wash line around the ice with a polished, intentional look in the glass.
Even with the muddled raspberry bringing that vivid pink color, stirring kept the finished drink feeling elegant and composed rather than frothy or aerated.
That visual decision became part of the cocktail itself: bright color, crystal-clear edges, one large cube and a clean garnish sitting above it.
🍹 SOLACE
1.5 oz LALO Blanco Tequila
0.25 oz Lychee Liqueur
0.5 oz 2:1 Jasmine Green Tea Syrup
0.25 oz Agave
0.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 dash Orange Bitters
4 Fresh Raspberries
Muddle the raspberries, add remaining ingredients into Yari glass and stir for 12 seconds.
Double strain over a large cube.
Garnish: Lime leaf with lychee pearls.
🧠 R&D Lesson: Sometimes changing where a flavor lives in the cocktail makes all the difference. Moving the jasmine from an infusion into a syrup gave me considerably more control over the final balance.
🌿 RONIN
RONIN started as an entirely different cocktail.
The original thought was to build some type of
Clover Club riff, but I had a lot of fresh Thai basil available during R&D.
Instead of trying to force the Clover Club idea, I started thinking about another classic.
The Southside.
Traditionally, a Southside combines gin, citrus, sugar and mint. Swapping the mint for Thai basil immediately took the drink somewhere different.
Thai basil brings that fresh green quality, but underneath it you also get subtle anise, spice and savory herbal notes.
That became the foundation for RONIN.
I used Commerce City London Dry Gin, a local gin with enough juniper structure to stand up against the basil and citrus.
Then I added just 0.25 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth.
It isn’t enough vermouth to turn the cocktail into something Martini-like. Instead, it adds another layer of dry, herbal and slightly savory complexity behind the gin.
A quarter ounce of yuzu liqueur brings bright citrus and floral character, while fresh lime keeps the drink sharp.
The result is definitely gin-forward, but still incredibly refreshing.
⚔️ RONIN
2 oz Commerce City London Dry Gin
0.25 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
0.25 oz Yuzu Liqueur
0.5 oz 2:1 Simple Syrup
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 dash Saline
Fresh Thai Basil
Shake the cocktail with Thai basil and ice.
Double strain into a chilled Martini or coupe glass.
Garnish: Fresh Thai basil leaf.The final profile is juniper-forward, herbaceous, citrusy, lightly floral and dangerously easy to drink.
🔥 Saints & Spirits Pro Move: Herbs don’t always need to be turned into syrups, cordials or infusions. Sometimes shaking fresh herbs directly into the cocktail gives you exactly the aromatic lift you need without adding another prep project behind the bar.
🧠 What This R&D Shift Reminded Me
Cocktail development isn’t always about finding more ingredients.
A lot of the time, it’s about figuring out what doesn’t need to be there.
SOLACE started with an infused tequila, cucumber cordial, Thai basil and toasted coconut before eventually becoming something much cleaner.
RONIN started as a Clover Club before an ingredient sitting on the R&D table pushed it toward an entirely different classic.
Neither cocktail ended where it started.
That’s R&D.
Taste. Adjust. Remove. Rebuild. Repeat.
Until the cocktail finally tells you it’s done.
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