Sours are available in countless variations, using a wide variety of spirits. Classics are the Vodka Sour, Whisky Sour, Pisco Sour and the Gin Sour. They are so popular because you don’t have to take a cocktail course to be able to mix them, but at the same time they can easily outshine the taste of many more complex drinks. “5 – 3 – 2” is the basic formula for a classic Sour. 5 units of a spirit, 3 units of something citric (sour) and 2 units of something sweet. It only needs to be shaken on ice and there you have it. In this blogpost we would like to present you with some delicious Gin Sour variations that you can easily mix at home. Easy to do and colourful at the same time.
For these Gin Sour recipes we have used all three of our THE DUKE Gin’s (Munich Dry Gin, Wanderlust Gin & Rough Gin) infused with various flowers, spices or herbs. To learn how to infuse Gin yourself at home check out our blog post about it there: “DIY Infused Gin“.
The strong, bright colours you see in these drinks are not from chemical dyes, but solely from natural ingredients. The yellow in the Saffron Gin Sour comes from saffron threads that we have put into our Rough Gin. To get the pink in the Hibiscus Gin Sour, we infused our Wanderlust Gin with hibiscus flowers. Responsible for the violet in Pea Tea Gin Sour is the Asian butterfly blossom. We have already writen a blog post about this infusion. Details about the wondrous petals, as well as other recipe ideas can be found here: “From blue to pink gin – Gin cocktails in fantastic colours“. You get the juicy green colour of the Basil Gin Sour by muddling and shaking basil leaves.
In addition to the beautiful colour effect, the infusion of the gin also has an effect on the taste of the the gin sour. The difference in taste varies fromdrink to drink. Depending on how much the taste of the original gin should be changed, more or less flowers, herbs or spices can be macerated in the gin. In the case of the four infusions used here, the saffron and basil, give off a lot of their own flavour to the gin. Hibiscus and Pea Tea flowers are much more restrained and only add a slight additional flavour.
Of course you can also infuse other spirits and conjure up sours or other colourful drinks. For an example we have also made a Hibiscus Vodka Sour with our LION’s Vodka. Don’t be scared to use other herbs, spices, flowers or fruits – you don’t always have to infuse a whole bottle of gin. Just infuse the amount of gin for one or two drinks and try lots of different versionsa. Lavender, raspberries or cinnamon for example can also give your Gin Sour an exciting twist.
Here are the recipes for our four colourful Gin Sour variations.
Have fun mixing – Cheers!
Thank you to Pascal Herliczek for the great pictures!
