Gin
Gin and Jam Cocktail
A shaken gin sour finished with a spoonful of seasonal jam floated on top — the original from Brett Hughes at Madam Geneva, New York.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- ¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- ¾ oz Simple Syrup — 1:1 ratio
- 1 tsp Seasonal Jam or Fruit Preserve — Lemonbird's Satsuma Mandarin with Passion Fruit is the original; whatever's in the fridge works
Method
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Add gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup.
- Shake vigorously for 12–15 seconds.
- Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
- Place a heaping teaspoon of jam on top of the drink — do not stir yet.
- Serve immediately and let the drinker stir it in gradually to their preferred sweetness.
Notes
Garnish
Spoonful of jam floated on top
Tasting Notes
Bright lemon and gin botanicals up front, with the jam adding a wave of fruit sweetness on the back half as you stir it in. Adjust to taste — the drink changes character as the jam dissolves.
The History
The Gin and Jam was created by bartender Brett Hughes at Madam Geneva, a speakeasy-style lounge tucked in the back of Saxon + Parole restaurant in New York City. Madam Geneva was a gin-focused room — the name itself is 18th-century London slang for gin, drawn from the Dutch jenever — and Hughes developed the cocktail as a way to bring seasonal flavors into a straightforward sour format without complicating the build.
The defining move was placing the jam on top rather than incorporating it during the shake. This kept the base drink clean and gin-forward while giving the drinker control over how sweet and fruity the cocktail would read — minimally stirred for a sharp sour, fully integrated for something rounder and more dessert-adjacent.
The drink sits in the lineage of the gin sour, which Jerry Thomas codified in his 1862 The Bar-Tender’s Guide — the first major American cocktail manual. The template (spirit, citrus, sugar) has stayed constant for over 150 years. What Hughes contributed was a small act of personalization: a seasonal sweetener with real fruit character resting on the surface, waiting to be folded in.
The Jam
The original recipe called for Lemonbird’s Satsuma Mandarin with Passion Fruit jelly. In practice, Hughes’s point was that seasonal jam works — whatever is in the refrigerator is a legitimate answer.
A few directions worth trying:
- Citrus marmalade — bitter, complex, pairs especially well with juniper-forward London Dry gins
- Raspberry or blackberry — bright and tart, leans more summery
- Apricot or peach — softer, sweeter, works well with floral or citrus-forward gins
- Fig or plum — darker and more autumnal, rounds out the lemon sharpness
Brighter jams will keep the drink feeling light and refreshing. Darker preserves will make it richer and more complex.
The Build
The technique is the point. Shake the base hard so it is cold and well-integrated, then float the jam on top rather than stirring it in before serving. As the drinker stirs, the drink transforms — tart at first, then progressively sweeter and more fruit-forward.
If you prefer the jam fully dissolved, you can shake it in with the other ingredients. But the incremental version is the one worth trying at least once — it is a small piece of theater that also produces a better-tasting result because you can stop exactly where you want it.
House Note
Two ounces of gin is a full pour that keeps the botanicals in front. Use a clean London Dry for the classic version. A citrus-forward gin will amplify the lemon and play well with marmalade. A floral gin will push the drink in a softer direction.
The simple syrup is in the recipe to provide a foundation of sweetness regardless of how much jam gets stirred in — without it, the drink can read too sharp if you are conservative with the jam.