On paper, the Old Etonian doesn’t exactly seem like a Martini. The original 1930 recipe for it in The Savoy Cocktail Book features equal parts dry gin and Kina Lillet with a touch of nutty crème de noyaux and orange bitters—far from the drier Martinis that reign today. But for Leishla Maldonado, beverage director at Loma, that makes the cocktail a gateway. “A Martini can feel abrasive if you’re not accustomed to drinking things that are super spirit-forward,” she says. “While [the Old Etonian] looks like a Martini, there’s no alienation.”
At Loma, which is also one of Punch’s Best New Bars of 2025, there are 11 original cocktails as well as a rotating, curated list of featured spirits, each paired with a classic cocktail to showcase what it can do in a drink. Maldonado had been looking for a recipe to feature Le Gin, from Calvados producer Christian Drouin, which uses an unaged apple brandy as the base and, rather than lean heavily on juniper, the botanicals—rose, ginger, almond, citron and cinnamon among them—offer what she calls a “softer” gin. The Old Etonian was a perfect match.
When looking at the original recipe, it’s important to note the Kina Lillet. The liqueur was discontinued decades ago and had much higher quinine content than modern Lillet Blanc, which would have made it far more bitter in flavor. But Maldonado doesn’t try to exactly replicate the bitterness of the original. “Lillet gave it a gentler citrus,” she says, “and it allowed everything else to shine.”
Maldonado had only just ordered a bottle of the Tempus Fugit crème de noyaux when she came across the Old Etonian recipe. It brought to mind the only classic she could think of that employed the nutty, red-hued liqueur: the Pink Squirrel, whose Grasshopper-like vibe couldn’t be further from the Old Etonian’s. Pairing a touch of crème de noyaux with the Christian Drouin gin, which has almond notes, gives the drink a “warmth” that tastes like marzipan, she says.
The original recipe calls for orange bitters and an orange peel, but Maldonado opts for a lemon twist. “The orange bitters allowed these bitter almond, apricot and ginger flavors in the cocktail,” she says. “But the lemon twist was needed in order to give it a nice lift.”
The whole team at Loma noticed the Old Etonian’s power to give their guests confidence in the often overwhelming world of cocktails. Yefri Cortave, who works on the floor at the bar, likes to think that the Old Etonian can reveal a myriad of personal preferences to those who see its charms—if you like the drink, you’ve learned you like stirred cocktails, Martinis, gin and probably Calvados, too. Yefri’s brother Osman (who is also Maldonado’s partner) echoes Maldonado’s sentiment about offering Martini skeptics something gentler as a stepping stone into spirit-forward drinks. “A dry Martini doesn’t have to be your thing,” he tells customers. “We’re gonna find something that’s a little more of your thing.” Maybe an Old Etonian will be just right.
