Cherry blossom season at the Tidal Basin has a specific visual quality that’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t been there. The blossoms are pale pink and white, and when they’re at peak bloom, the trees make the whole basin feel softer, despite the hard stone of the monuments and the seawalls; everything goes quieter under all that delicate color.

The Petal & Stone Sour, a cherry blossom cocktail recipe, is a gin sour built on cherry blossom syrup and fresh lemon, with egg white shaken in for a foam top that floats above the drink like something that landed there, just like the cherry blossoms land in the Tidal Basin (see the theme I’m going with here).

The “stone” in the name is the sour structure: gin, citrus, and real acidity. The “petal” is the white foam and petal garnish that sits atop it.

The DC Cherry Blossom Season Connection

The Yoshino cherry trees that ring the Tidal Basin were Japan’s gift to the United States in 1912. They bloom mid-March through mid-April, with peak bloom (when roughly 70 percent of the blossoms are open at once) lasting only a few days.

The National Park Service announces the predicted dates each February.

The season is short, the crowds are real, but the experience of standing under those trees as the petals fall is hard to replicate. This cocktail is the closest I’ve come to bottling it.

What Cherry Blossom Syrup Tastes Like (A Reminder)

Cherry blossom syrup doesn’t taste like cherries. The flavor is floral and delicate, closer to rose water and honey with a faint almond note in the background. In a sour format, it provides the sweetness while also adding fragrance that carries up through the foam when you take a sip.

Check out all of my simple syrups.

How to Create Foam in a Cocktail

This is what makes the Petal & Stone different from my other cherry blossom cocktails. Egg white doesn’t add flavor. What it adds is texture and a soft, cloud-like foam layer on top, making it silky smooth on your palate.

The technique is the dry shake, which means that all ingredients go into the shaker without ice first. Shake hard for about 15 seconds. This emulsifies the egg white into the other liquids, starting to build the foam. Then add ice and shake again for another 15 seconds. The cold shake chills the drink and sets the foam. Double-strain into a chilled coupe, and the foam rises on top as you pour.

What You Need to Know About Egg Whites

One egg white is about 0.75 to 1 oz. That’s the standard amount for a single cocktail. If your eggs are very large, use most of one white — you don’t need every drop.

Fresh eggs give better foam than older ones. If you’ve had the carton in the fridge for two weeks, the foam will be less stable.

If raw egg white is a concern, pasteurized liquid egg whites are a perfectly good substitute and behave the same way in the shaker. You can also use aquafaba as a vegetable-based vegan option (it’s chickpea water).

The Twist: Orange Bitters on the Foam

Add 2 drops of orange bitters to the foam surface after you’ve poured the drink. The bitters won’t sink into the cocktail (the foam holds it up), and they create a marbled pattern on the white surface that looks beautiful in a coupe.

Beyond the visual, the orange bitters add a slight citrus-bitter note on the first sip, contrasting with the floral cherry blossom syrup.

Angostura orange bitters or Regans’ No. 6 are both good options. Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters also works well here. You can grab this multipack of different bitters if you are building out your bar collection. It saves a lot of money.

Which Gin to Use

The same guidance applies here as throughout with all of my cherry blossom gin cocktails. Lean toward something botanical and citrus-forward rather than heavily juniper-forward. The cherry blossom syrup is delicate, and a big, assertive gin will push it aside.

Hendrick’s is an easy choice that compliments floral syrups, or you can get fancy with Empress 1908, which already contains cherry blossom in its botanical list, plus it changes colors with lemon.

A citrus-forward London Dry works if you want something more classic.

Garnish

A thin dehydrated lemon slice rested on the rim, or a small lemon twist expressed over the glass before serving, is the easiest option.

If you have fresh cherry blossoms from an untreated tree, a single petal laid on the foam, works, but I always have pansies growing, so I tend to throw a pansy or other edible flower (I just planted this seed mix for more options).

Get ideas for cocktail garnishes.

What Glass to Use

The wide, shallow bowl of a coupe glass shows off the foam layer and keeps the aromatics concentrated before you drink. Chill it in the freezer for at least ten minutes before pouring your shaken cocktail into it.

I like these classic coupes, these with a slightly larger bowl, and Nick and Nora glasses for a slightly more contained pour.

The Mocktail Version

The foam technique works exactly the same without gin, but I use the aquafaba version since egg white without alcohol can sometimes taste slightly eggy without the spirit to balance it out.

• Combine 2 oz Non-alcoholic gin, 0.75 oz cherry blossom syrup, 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice, and 0.75 oz aquafaba in a shaker.
• Dry shake hard for 15 seconds.
• Add ice and shake again for another 15 seconds.
• Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
• Add 2 drops orange bitters to the foam if you like.
• Garnish the same way.

The result is a floral, lightly tart, foamy drink that looks and feels like a proper cocktail. Here’s another non-alcoholic gin you can try for added botanical depth.

Cocktails That Use Cherry Blossom Syrup

• Cherry Blossom Bee’s Knees
• Cherry Blossom Quiet Old Fashioned
• Falling Petals Gimlet
• Herbal Sakura Garden
• Pear Sakura Collins
• Petal & Stone Sour
• Sakura Drift Martini
• Strawberry Sakura Smash
• Cherry Blossom Green Tea Spritz
• Lychee Blossom Spritz
• Lychee Sakura Martini
• Pink Grapefruit Sakura Sour
• Cherry Blossom French 75 — gin, cherry blossom syrup, lemon juice, topped with Champagne
• Sakura Spritz — cherry blossom syrup, prosecco, splash of soda, over ice

Check out more spring cocktail recipes

More Sours to Shake Up

• Emerald Sour
• Thyme Honey Lemon Whiskey Sour
• Rosemary Reverie: Rosemary Blackberry Gin Sour
• Blueberry Lavender Sour
• Cardamom Orange Gin Sour
• Hibiscus Guava Sour

Petal & Stone Gin Sour

Glass: Coupe | Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 oz gin
• 0.75 oz cherry blossom syrup
• 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 egg white (or 0.75 oz aquafaba)

Twist: 2 drops orange bitters, placed on the foam surface after pouring

Garnish: Dehydrated lemon slice on the rim, a lemon twist, or a single fresh cherry blossom petal laid on the foam

Instructions

1. Add the gin, cherry blossom syrup, lemon juice, and egg white (or aquafaba) to a cocktail shaker without ice.
2. Dry shake hard for 15 seconds to build the foam.
3. Add ice and shake again for 15 seconds until fully chilled.
4. Double-strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a chilled coupe.
5. Drop 2 drops of orange bitters onto the foam surface (optional).
6. Garnish with a lemon slice on the rim or a fresh cherry blossom petal (or pansy flower) on the foam.