sage cocktail sage

[alonewiththemoon]

If you google sage cocktail, you get a bunch of results about people who think they are cocktail sages, sage colored cocktail napkins and sage colored cocktail dresses.  Plus a couple of recipes :-/

My not terribly interesting experiment tonight yielded the information that you need a lot of sage, and it requires more muddling than either mint or basil do.  I suppose the leaves are a bit tougher.  Making a sage-infused syrup might be a better way to go, although I don't know if I want to be locked into making sweet drinks--I really want to figure out something more hearty, more appetizer than dessert.  All I did tonight was muddle some sage with bourbon and top it off with some sparkling cider.  I like the sage in the bourbon but the cider is much too sweet.  But, it's a start, and I learned something about sage.

Comments

[talesinsdaughtr.livejournal.com]

A less sweet soda? Like a club or a tonic to lighten the combination? The sage and bourbon sounds good on it's own.

[xenoglaux]

Make a sage extract?
WSmith could probably advise on it. I've been considering that with some flavours I want to play with more.

[synaesthesia.livejournal.com]

You could do a basil-infused simple syrup, and make old-fashioneds with it?

[dirtyknees.livejournal.com]

You could try buying a sage tincture from a place that sells herbal tinctures (like the Harvest Coop), but I'm not sure how sage-y they will taste.

Perusing some of the herbalist sites, I noted that culinary sage contains a hefty slug of thujone - that bad boy associated with absinthe.

I think you might be able to do a water extraction with the fresh (muddled) sage. Try boiling it down and then topping off with a grain neutral spirit (good vodka will do) (let it cool a bit first). Or, just try putting a bunch in some vokda and let it sit in the fridge.

--Andrea