I’ve been making no-cook fruit syrups ever since I picked up a masticating juicer. It makes a huge difference – my peach syrup tastes like fresh peaches instead of jam/pie. I imagine there are some cases where cooking will lead to a more desirable flavor, but I default to heatless techniques now.
Oh believe me I concur, this was merely an experiment to see if/how it could be done. The flavor and texture of raspberry syrup adds a lot to the personality of the Clover Club but I see the Crème de Framboise option as a lighter, shelf-stable alternative.
Muddled fresh raspberries are also fantastic in the Clover Club and with the addition of simple syrup you’re essentially getting raspberry syrup a la minute. I also agree with @jesse in that cold raspberry syrup is much brighter than cooked. A personal rule of thumb, cold raspberries/muddle when you have good, in season berries and cook the rest of the year.
I made two batches of raspberry syrup, one Armin’s hot process, and one Garret Richard’s cold process (Tropical Standard), using frozen raspberries divided up from the same bag.
There is a difference in color and flavor:
The hot process is on the left: it’s darker colored, clearer, and it tastes like raspberry jam.
The cold process is on the right: it’s lighter/brighter colored, hazier (could be controlled for), and it tastes like sweetened raspberry juice (no jammy-ness).
I then carefully made two identically bad Clover Clubs. They look sad because I am not a good bartender. Yes, there is egg white in there, but I deflated the foam through incompetence. The drinks are quite identical, except for the different syrups. (Those are all facts.) They are bad drinks because the Clover Club is a bad drink. (That is my opinion.)
Yes, the difference in color between the syrups comes through in the resulting drinks, but it is not a dramatic difference.
Yes, the difference in flavor between the syrups comes through in the resulting drinks, but it is subtle and of debatable importance. A punter will not care. A mixologist with high standards probably will.
My primary takeaway: the difference between hot process and cold process raspberry syrup is far smaller compared to the difference between cooked grenadine and fresh grenadine.
I will test again, soon, with a drink I actually like.
Additional notes:
- the hot process is faster, but felt like slightly more work; this is the way to go if you need raspberry syrup now
- the cold process is slow (overnight), but felt slightly easier
- neither are particularly aromatic, but the hot process syrup seems slightly more aromatic than the cold process
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Swap sloe gin for the London Dry and you have Duffy’s “Love Cocktail.” Made it recently—with hot-process raspberry syrup—and it’s like drinking raspberry sorbet. Recommended.
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Many thanks for the taste test. I’m not surprised to hear that the type of raspberry syrup doesn’t make that much of a difference in a drink with only .5oz/15ml. I wonder how Anders Erickson’s (the guy who pointed out the Hotel Bellevue issue that started this endeavor) recipe would hold up in a taste test?
Out of curiosity, @martin I wanna hear why you think the Clover Club is a bad drink? I’m not much of a fan of the drink myself. It’s… fine. A tactical way to introduce the wary to gin cocktails, but it doesn’t thrill me so don’t hold back.
Erickson’s recipe for the adventurous:
4-6 raspberries
.5oz/15ml semi-rich simple syrup (1.5:1)
1oz/30ml Plymouth Gin
1oz/30ml Dolin Blanc Vermouth de Chambéry
.75oz/22.5ml fresh lemon juice
1 small egg white
Expressed lemon oil and raspberry for garnish
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I think it tastes nasty, and I don’t think it matters whether there’s vermouth or not. (The one I just made had no vermouth, but I don’t even care for the ones Julie Reiner carefully makes.) My best guess is that it’s something related to the total proportion of gin, and maybe some sort of interaction (interference/masking?) between the gin and the lemon juice (and/or the raspberry syrup, although at this point, I find other gin sours like the Aviation similarly kind of nasty, so I suspect the raspberry syrup is irrelevant). Note: I spent the summery happily drinking Collinses made variously with dry gin, old tom, and genever, so I do not have any absolute problem with gin and citrus juice. 
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As the one who first dug up the Cliver Club recipe with vermouth and passed it on to Julie, I just want to go on record as stating that I think it’s a great recipe and that the ones that Julie and her crew turn out are divine. “There’s no accounting for taste,” I hear Martin muttering—or maybe that’s me.
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I made another one, today, just to be sure. This time with dry vermouth and Julie’s proportions, although I am using the more assertive Tanqueray and Cocchi Dry rather than Plymouth and Dolin. I think this is significantly better than the non-vermouth recipe. Even still, I will never love this drink. It’s not for me.
That homemade raspberry syrup does supply a great color, though!
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