Japanese Roku Gin Cocktail with Orange Blossom Syrup

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Japanese Roku Gin Cocktail with Orange Blossom Syrup is perfect for the cozy holiday season. The botanical flavors from the highly fragrant gin make this drink refreshing and light. Great as a pre-dinner cocktail!

2 Roku gin tonic cocktails on a dark table

Roku gin is a delightful drink. The smell of all the Japanese botanicals is out of this world! Especially the citrus notes. I'm going to add this delicious cocktail to my brunch drink ideas.

For more fun cocktails, make these drinks. Mekhong whiskey sour with pineapple juice, Tom Yum cocktail, Tanqueray Seville Gin cocktail. They are incredibly refreshing and tasty!

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What is Roku Gin?
Why this recipe work
Ingredients for making Roku gin tonic with orange blossom syrup
How to make Roku Gin cocktail with orange blossom syrup
Helpful Tips for Ruko Japanese Gin
More ideas for uses of Roku gin.
FAQs
More drink recipes you may enjoy
More Recipes to Try
Japanese Roku Gin Cocktail with Orange Blossom Syrup

What is Roku Gin?

Roku gin is a Japanese craft gin using only Japanese herbs and florals from different areas of Japan by Japanese artisans. Roku is a Japanese word for the number 6. That's how many Japanese herbs are used for this carefully curated gin.

Those six ingredients are sakura flowers (cherry blossoms), sakura leaf, Gyokuro tea, Sencha tea ( both green tea), Yuzu peel (a type of citrus fruit), and Sansho pepper (Japanese pepper). All are grown and cultivated in Japan during all four different seasons!

Japanese Roku gin bottle lay flat on a black top

Why this recipe work

Roku gin is so fragrant from carefully selected Japanese herbs. When mixed in a cocktail, it's so refreshing and DELICIOUS!
Ingredients are minimal, and you can make this cocktail in 5 minutes.
It's a good gin cocktail for special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or holidays.
You can adapt the drink to be stronger by adding more Ruku gin or St Germain.
Add more or less orange blossom syrup for the sweetness and more lime juice for the tangy taste.

Ingredients for making Roku gin tonic with orange blossom syrup

ingredients for roku gin orange blossom syrup

Roku gin. Find it at your local liquor store.
St. Germain. An exquisite French elderflower liqueur. (Hand-picked elderflowers during the Spring season only!)
Fresh lime juice. Use fresh lemon, orange, or even grapefruit juice.
Orange blossom syrup. Adds a fresh citrus flavor to the cocktail. Simple syrup will work as a substitute.
Tonic water. Club soda water, bubbly water, or ginger ale works great too.
Ice cubes. Just a few pieces for the shaker.
Optional. Cocktail sugar, orange bitters.

Garnishing options: Dried chrysanthemum, dried oranges, lime, lemon, or grapefruit peel. In the summertime, use fresh mint leaves and ginger to garnish.

How to make Roku Gin cocktail with orange blossom syrup

Step 1. Squeeze lime for fresh lime juice. Lemon juice will work too.

Step 2. Measure (or not!) and add Roku gin, St Germain, orange blossom syrup, and lime juice to a cocktail shaker.

Step 3. Add ice to the shaker, then shake the cocktail until it's cold to the touch. 30 seconds.

Step 4. Pour into a cocktail glass.

roku gin tonic cocktail pouring into glass

Step 5. Add tonic water and garnish with your favorite herbs and spices! That's it! Enjoy.

tonic water pouring into Roku gin cocktail

Helpful Tips for Ruko Japanese Gin

Use cocktail sugar for a more celebratory feel. Mix the colors of the sugar to match the theme of your party or season.
Infuse your Roku with other dried herbs like chrysanthemum, dried rose petals, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, or any of your favorite herbs. Mix an herb with the Roku in a glass jar for 24-48 hours before use.
Making your kaffir lime syrup will elevate this cocktail to another level! Simple mix sugar with kaffir lime leaves at a 1-1 ratio until the sugar dissolves. Let cool before use.
Adds aromatic bitters for a stronger herbaceous taste. Use only a little bit. A few drops go a long way.

More ideas for uses of Roku gin.

Create happy hours by mixing and matching a few ingredients or liqueur you already have at home. Play around with these combos and find the best flavor for your taste.
Make gin sour using grapefruit juice with grapefruit bitters.
Orange blossom cocktail and sweet vermouth are a great pair. Add one ounce of pineapple juice for an extra citrusy taste.
Add Roku gin to my butterfly tea lemonade or the hibiscus tea recipe to make a hibiscus flower cocktail.
The cocktails will make great breakfast drinks by adding fresh squeezed orange juice.

FAQs

What can I add to my Roku Gin?

Roku gin goes well with tonic water, and a small amount of citrus syrup adds a subtle sweetness to the drink. Ingredients with Asian-infused flavors pair well with Roku.

What tonic do you have with Roku Gin?

Elderflower tonic water and tonic are excellent options for use with Roku gin.

What is the best way to serve Roku Gin?

It depends. If you like strong gin, sipping it "neat" or without mixing it is the best way to get the full flavor of Roku gin. Add your favorite tonic water if you want a simple cocktail of gin with tonic. For cocktail drinkers, mix Roku with some of the suggested ideas above.

What botanicals go well with Roku Gin?

Any citrusy botanicals like oranges, lime, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass pair well with Roku gin.

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