Bloody Shiraz Sour Cocktail

This cocktail is bloody good! It uses Bloody Shiraz gin by Four Pillar⁣s, which is an Australian gin flavored with Shiraz wine grapes. It's a great choice for a gin and tonic, but I wanted to go beyond that and see how it would work in a mixed drink. In this sour cocktail, the flavors of pomegranate and cherry pair perfectly with the Shiraz for a refreshing, fruity flavor. Egg white foam on top gives it an elegant look, and a medicine dropper gives it a little vampire flair for a Halloween party!

I was inspired to create this cocktail for Halloween! This is definitely a vampire's kind of cocktail, IMO. I love the way the maraschino cherry at the bottom creates a darker look at the point of the martini glass!

If you're looking for more recipes like this, a Blueberry Gin Sour is a wonderful and refreshing cocktail. This Passionfruit Mango Sour is another delicious egg white sour.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Top tip
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Here is a list of the ingredients you'll need to create this cocktail:

• Bloody Shiraz gin by Four Pillar⁣s
• Lemon for fresh lemon juice
• Pomegranate juice
• Simple syrup
• Cherry bitters
• Egg white (fresh or carton)
• Maraschino cherry for garnish (preferably Luxardo cherries, but use your favorite)
• Clean medicine dropper for a little extra flair (optional) or a lemon wheel for a second garnish

Substitutions

If you're missing some of the ingredients, here are some ways you might be able to substitute:

• Bloody Shiraz Gin - if you don't have this particular gin, try using your favorite gin instead, but cut the amount back by ¼ ounce and substitute in 1 ounce of red wine (preferably Shiraz!). Note that you may need a larger serving glass, since the overall drink will have more liquid.
• Pomegranate juice - if you don't have this, try replacing it with an equal amount of cranberry juice.
• Egg white - if you don't want to use fresh or carton egg whites in this cocktail, there are some vegetarian options. Try the Fee Brothers Fee Foam, or you can use a little aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chick peas). Check out my Passionfruit Mango Sour recipe for a discussion of egg white best practices. Or, just omit the egg white altogether.
• Cherry bitters - any kind of citrus flavored bitters would also work well in this.

Equipment

You'll need a cocktail shaker and strainer for this cocktail, especially if you want the foam on top. Also, have ready a jigger (or small measuring cup), as well as a cocktail serving glass.

I really like this one in a Martini glass, it just screams vampire to me! But, or course, any glass will work. The wider the rim of the glass, the less thick your layer of egg white foam will be, so keep that in mind when you're choosing.

Instructions

Prepare egg whites

To make this cocktail, first get your egg white ready either by separating it from the fresh egg yolk, or by measuring it out from the carton. If you're using carton egg whites, be sure to shake the carton before measuring it out to distribute the egg white proteins through the liquid.

Mix ingredients and dry shake

Next, add the lemon juice, gin, pomegranate juice, simple syrup and bitters to the cocktail shaker along with the egg whites.

To develop the egg white foam, do a dry shake. A dry shake is when you shake all of the ingredients together in the cocktail shaker without any ice. Give it a really good shake, about 20-30 times. You don't have to worry about overshaking this, since there is no ice to dilute it at this point.

Tip: A really useful way to create a nice foam during the dry shake is to add a blender ball to the shaker. You could even take the spring off of a Hawthorne cocktail strainer and place the spring inside the shaker to have a similar effect.

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Wet shake and strain

Then, add ice to the cocktail shaker and shake it up again. You'll want to shake it about 15-20 times to chill and dilute the drink. Add the maraschino cherry to the bottom of the serving glass.

Then, strain the cocktail into your serving glass. If possible, do a double strain. A double strain is when you use a regular cocktail strainer, but also add a second, fine mesh cocktail strainer. Pour the drink into the serving glass through both strainers.

Garnish

Finally, add your garnish. To create this look suggestive of a vampire, I just used a clean children's medicine dropper (can you tell I have kids??) You can ask for this at any pharmacy, at least near me in the United States. Fill it with Bloody Shiraz gin for a little extra kick!

Another, less spooky, garnish option would be to cut a lemon wheel and add that to the side of the glass. Or, just twist a lemon peel over top of the egg white foam and float it on top.

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Top tip

Serve this one as soon as you make it! If you leave the egg white foam sitting too long, it may start to take on an "eggy" smell. A twist of lemon will help to keep the drink smelling fresh if it needs to sit out for a few minutes.

📖 Recipe