This Blueberry Gin Sour hits the sweet spot between rich and creamy and light and refreshing. The blueberries and lemon give a bright flavor, and the egg whites give it a creamy mouthfeel and beautiful foam-tastic presentation.
When I first started drinking alcohol, I thought I hated gin. And honestly, I am still not a huge G&T fan. I like a little bitterness, but as a supertaster it can easily become overwhelming. But the first time I had Hendrick's, my eyes were opened to the endless possibilities of gin. Instead of a heavy juniper flavor, it features cucumber and rose, which makes the cocktail experience totally different.
This Blueberry Lemon Sour will be tasty with pretty much any type of gin, but I used Hendrick's for its floral qualities. Like all home cocktail making, though, this is a choose-your-own-adventure kind of thing. I definitely recommend trying out different gins! Aviation Gin is another popular one that would also go really well here.
Blueberry Syrup
This cocktail features limoncello (I used my Homemade Limoncello) and blueberry syrup along with the gin. Although you can definitely use store bought, it's pretty easy to make the blueberry syrup at home.
All you need to do is heat up blueberries with sugar, water and some lemon zest until the sugar dissolves, and then strain out the leftover blueberry skins.
I didn't heat the syrup for very long in order to keep a fresh blueberry flavor, but if you want a thicker, more jam-like syrup, you can keep it on the heat for 5-10 minutes longer.
Making the Cocktail
This is a fairly straightforward cocktail, made by pouring everything into a cocktail shaker and shaking it up.
Since this cocktail has egg whites, we will have to shake this twice in order to create that foam on top. (See this recipe for more info on egg whites in cocktails.)
One shake will be with ice, and one shake without. I usually have more success shaking with ice first, but some people prefer to shake the other way around, without ice and then with ice. In the end, they both produce a nice foam.
Strain everything into a fancy coupe glass (or whatever you have around!) and serve immediately. You might want to take a lemon peel and squeeze it over the top of the foam to get some nice lemon aroma.
Are you a gin drinker? If not, you should still give this a try! Let me know how you like it in the comments!
Blueberry Gin Sour
Equipment
- Cocktail shaker and strainer(s)
- Saucepan and strainer for syrup
Ingredients
Blueberry Syrup
- 2 cups ripe blueberries rinsed
- 4 oz water (118 ml/½ cup)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3.5 oz sugar (118 ml/½ cup)- see note
Blueberry Gin Sour Cocktail
- 1¾ oz Hendrick's Gin
- ½ oz Limoncello
- 1 oz Blueberry syrup - you can use the homemade syrup or purchase pre-made
- 1 oz Lemon juice
- 2 dashes Aromatic bitters
- ¾ oz egg white (20 g)
- lemon peel (optional)
Instructions
Blueberry Syrup
- Put the blueberries, sugar, water and lemon zest in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Mash up the berries and stir occasionally.
- Once the sugar is fully dissolved, you can remove it from the heat. This will give your syrup a more fresh blueberry taste. If you prefer, you can bring this to a boil for 5 minutes if you want a more jam-like flavor.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and store the liquid syrup in your refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Discard at any sign of mold. You can add a splash of vodka to this to extend your shelf life.
Blueberry Gin Sour cocktail
- Add the gin, limoncello, blueberry syrup, lemon juice, bitters and egg white to a cocktail shaker.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake about 15-20 times, until the mixture is chilled.
- Strain out the ice and then shake the mixture without ice.
- Strain the cocktail into a coupe glass. You can also double strain through two strainers at the same time. Garnish with blueberries on a cocktail pick (or use your imagination!)
- Optionally, take a piece of lemon peel and squeeze it over the cocktail to express some lemon oil onto the foam.
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