Strawberry Roan Recipe
A rye highball with lime and green Chartreuse, topped with strawberry soda — spicy whiskey and alpine herbs under a playful berry fizz.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 12%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Rye whiskey60 ml (2 oz)
- Fresh lime juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Green Chartreuse15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Simple syrup7.5 ml (0.3 oz)
- Strawberry soda120 ml (4.1 oz)
How to Make It
- Shake the rye, lime juice, Chartreuse and syrup briefly with ice.
- Strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice.
- Top with the strawberry soda and give it one gentle stir.
- Garnish with a strawberry and a sprig of mint.
Garnish
Strawberry and mint sprig
What it tastes like
Fruit notes come forward, it has a green, botanical backdrop, it is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Rye whiskey
- Rye whiskey. Where bourbon is sweet, rye brings black pepper and a mint-like sharpness; in drinks with sweet vermouth, like a Manhattan, that sharpness is what holds the balance.
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Green Chartreuse
- The 55% liqueur French monks make from 130 plants. Nothing really tastes like it and nothing really replaces it; yellow Chartreuse is sweeter and 40%.
- Simple syrup
- One part sugar to one part water, stirred until it dissolves — no need to boil it. Keeps a month in the fridge. No syrup? Use the same amount of honey, loosened with a little water.
The Story
A contemporary whiskey highball; it shares its name with the old cowboy song about an unrideable horse, a fitting image for rye and Chartreuse.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Strawberry Roan mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Strawberry Roan?
- Roughly 12% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Strawberry Roan be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Strawberry Roan hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.