Another Earl Grey Gin Drink
After overwhelming success with homemade "Mulled Cranberry" bitters last month (I'll eventually get around to writing up a post about them, recipe included), I'm getting ready to try out a couple more bitters recipe ideas, this time citrus-related. Since it's "Citrus Fest" at the local Central Market, I went in to stock up on hard-to-find varieties for peel-drying purposes.
Shockingly, I found actual bergamot oranges! Admittedly, half the shock was the $5.99/lb. price, but still... I had to have some! My Lady Grey bitters will now (hopefully) be all the more delicious! Of course, at that price point, I couldn't let the delicious fruit/juice go to waste. But not surprisingly, there's a lack of cocktail recipes featuring fresh bergamot juice. Not wanting to waste this precious liquid commodity, I decided to try something fairly safe with a basic sour.
2 oz. Earl Grey-Infused Gin (see below)
1 oz. freshly-squeezed bergamot juice
1-2 barspoons honey, to taste (or 2-3 barspoons honey syrup)
Bergamot peel for garnish
Combine ingredients in a shaker. Stir until honey is dissolved (skip this step if using honey syrup). Add ice and shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze peel over drink, rim glass and drop in.
For the infusion, I steeped an Earl Grey teabag in the gin for 4 or 5 minutes, bobbing and dredging the bag every minute or so. Also, if you keep your gin cold, let it warm up to room temp first... I haven't tried this yet, but in the absence of true bergamot, I imagine lemon juice and a few shakes of a good grapefruit or lemon bitters would be a serviceable substitute... Also, if you're one of those weirdos who prefer sugar in their tea over honey, by all means substitute simple syrup. Weirdo.
This was a truly delicious drink. I used only one heaping spoon of honey, so it was a bit less sweet than many of the sours I've made. The cool thing was, the tannins in the tea helped tame the tartness of the bergamot enough that the extra sweetness I normally enjoy wasn't really needed. Unfortunately, the honey flavor was a little lost too, so maybe next time I'll add a bit more.