For regulars at Jianna, a well-loved Italian spot tucked against Greenville, South Carolina’s Reedy River, there’s an unspoken menu hack: an order of “the purple drink,” aka Respect Your Elders, which mixes violet-hued gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, and tonic water. The floral cocktail was a short-lived star at the bar before moving off the menu. “To this day we still receive regular requests for it, and we’re always happy to oblige,” writes Andrea S. Royko, managing partner and general manager at Jianna and contributor to chef Michael Kramer’s new cookbook, Jianna. The drink gets its splash of color from Conniption Kinship gin, crafted in Durham, but Empress gin works as an alternative.
