This rather unusual cocktail came about because a client wanted something different for their year-end function as a welcome drink. Being on a tight budget, I couldn’t use my go-to cocktails where you had a mix of various spirits and liquors, it would have blown the budget completely!
From a culinary point of view it made total sense! The bitterness from the gin, the subtle flavour from the sage, sweetness from the honey and the saltiness from the bacon. It is unusual but it is delicious!
Taste! If you want a bit more sweetness, add more honey/sage syrup. A bit more kick, add more gin; too much gin, add more soda. I recommend you make the bacon/salt crumb and honey/sage syrup well in advance, giving you plenty of time to show off your mixology skills.
Cheers!
You’ll need
- • For the syrup
- ½ cup x honey
- ½ cup x water
- 8 x fresh sage leaves
- • For the honey bacon rim
- 1 slice x bacon, fried crispy, cooled and broken into fine crumbs
- Pinch of fine smoked salt
- Honey
- • For the Gin fizz
- 90ml x gin
- 30ml x honey/sage syrup
- 15ml x fresh lime juice
- 150ml x Club soda
- Additional sage leaves for garnish
Method
- For the honey/sage syrup, add all the ingredients in a saucepan, stirring continuously until you reach boiling point.
- Turn the heat down and simmer on medium heat until the honey has dissolved.
- Remove from heat and cool completely. Place in a jar in the fridge until used. (Remember to remove the sage leaves at this stage!)
- On a plate, mix your fine bacon bits and smoked salt.
- I used a small handcraft paintbrush and paint 1/3 of the rim with honey. No more than this or the bacon and smoked salt will overpower the drink! Run the honey rim through the bacon mix.
- To mix the cocktail, place the gin, honey/sage syrup and lime into a cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake until cold and strain into 3 prepared glasses.
- Top up with a dash of soda water and a few sage leaves.
Tip : I placed my glasses in the fridge after I have rimmed them with the bacon and salt mix.