Saffron Sour

You’ve probably heard the term ‘a sour’ before when someone was referring to a drink. For example a whiskey sour. But it’s certainly not the only one in the family. A sour is actually a combination of a spirit / liquor, acidity and a sweetener. The acidity can be lemon or lime while the sweetener can be a syrup. The most important thing when creating a sour is finding that perfect balance between sweet and sour.

He are some tips that can be helpful finding this balance:

1. Too sweet:
   You will notice the viscosity of the drink is too thick. The texture is also too sticky and your mouth will automatically produce more saliva to break down the sugars of the drink. This results in your tongue absorbing less flavors, which meanssweeteners are covering up a lot of flavors when they’re being overused. 
2. Too sour:
   It’s perfectly normal to feel the acidity on the sides of your tongue. It produces a slight tingly feeling. When the acidity is overdone however, you will also feel the sourness in the back of your throat, being an unpleasant feeling. 
3. Keep it in between:
   Practice and experience will have your tastebuds evolving so it will be much easier to feel and taste the difference. Try it out by sticking to the recipe, but adding 10 ml of sugar syrup for the ‘too sweet version’ and adding 10 ml of lemon juice for the ‘too sour version’.

We will be making a sour with Everleaf Bittersweet Aperitif at its base. (Learn all about it on our Everleaf page) We’ll use verjuice and lemon for the acidity and balance it all our with a homemade saffron syrup. Adding some Aquafaba will give this cocktail its silky texture.

Ingredients

• 50ml Everleaf Forest
• 10ml Minus 8 Verjuice white or other verjuice
• 10ml Citroen sap
• 10ml Saffron syrup
• 10ml Aquafaba or Eggwhite
• Ice cubes
• Garnish with an orange zest spray

Saffron syrup

Pour 500 ml water & 500 gr of sugar in a cooking pot. Heat it up until the sugar completely dissolves.
Add 5 strings of saffron to the syrup when it’s starting to cool down. Let it rest for 3h. Strain the Saffron out of the syrup before use

Aquafaba & verjuice

Aquafaba is the juice of chickpeas. It adds a foamy texture to the drink. We use it as a vegan alternative to egg white. 
Verjuice is a juice made from unripe grapes. It contains the same PH level of a lemon or lime so it delivers acidity, but without the taste of citrus. Very cool to use in full bodied drinks.

How to?

• Prepare the drink in a shaker
• Dry shake the drink for 10 sec so the Aquafaba is activated
• Shake with ice for 25 sec.
• Strain it in a coupe glass
• Use an orange zest and spray the oils over the drink
• Ready to serve & enjoy

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