We covered a bit about Mike, Mo and the Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrup line in our review of Jeffrey’s Not so Plain Tonic Syrup. Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup is one of their flavored tonic syrup line extensions.
While Elderflower— also known pejoratively as the “bartender’s Ketchup”— is a common gin botanical, the others are less so.
Yarrow, found in Whyte Laydie Dry Gin and Hendrick’s is a flowering plant native to nearly all of the Northern Hemisphere notes for its white flowers and strong scent some say reminiscent of mums.
Rosehips, or the fruit of the rose bush is found in gins like Sippewisset. I’ve always found to taste like concentrated rose. Or perhaps a combination of sweet apples with a rose flavor. In short, if you know what a rose smells like you have an idea of what rosehips adds to a tonic syrup.
Although not listed in the name, Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup also includes orange peel and Sicilian lemon juice as an acid.
Tasting Notes
On its own, while cinchona dominates the nose of Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup, there’s a clear floral note. I get rose, lilac and orange blossom on it.
The palate begins with a bit of cinchona, turns sweet with notes of candied orange rind mid-palate and then subtly adds some floral notes to a long and quite sweet finish.
In a 5:1 ratio with soda water, Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup tastes rather like a citrus flavored tonic syrup. I dialed up the ratio to a little less than 3:1 before I started getting a bit more jammy rose notes with a finish of honeysuckle and lily. There’s a touch of Elderflower on the backend, but it plays a really tertiary role in terms of the flavors in Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup. As in, I get why it might have last billing.
I made a gin and tonic with Damrak Gin. Somehow the combination of the tonic syrup and the gin seemed to elevate both of each other’s floral characters. While certainly citrus dominant, I had notes of dusty rose and orange blossom on the palate.
I do find that in general, the flavor character of Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup needs a bit more than other tonic syrups for the unique notes to come out.
Overall
Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup combines three floral elements rarely seen in gin together*, which means the risk of flavor clashing is nearly zero.
However, I find that in conventional quantities, some of the floral notes are a bit too subtle to come through. If you want to dial it up a bit more, I think you’ll get a bit more flavor. But overall, Jeffrey’s Yarrow, Rosehip and Elderflower Tonic Syrup can easily be overpowered.
My advice is dial back the gin a bit, especially if it’s bold with a strong perspective. But other than that, this is fun floral tonic syrup that also makes a really good soda.
*Okay, so probably never based on my work