Velvet Orchard
A gin sour with cloudy apple juice, lemon, a house thyme honey syrup and egg white, shaken and served up in a coupe with a thyme sprig and an apple slice.
Ingredients
- 2 oz / 60 ml London dry gin
- 1 oz / 30 ml Cloudy pressed apple juice, unsweetened
- 0.75 oz / 22 ml Lemon juice, fresh
- 0.75 oz / 22 ml Thyme honey syrup (house, 1:1)House recipe in the batching and preparation notes.
- 1 egg white, about 1 oz / 30 ml Egg white
- Technique
- Shaken
- Glass
- Coupe
- Ice
- Served up
- Prep
- 6 min · Intermediate
- Garnish
- A fresh thyme sprig laid across the foam and one thin apple slice on the rim. Serve in a large coupe (7 oz / 210 ml or more).
- Approximate strength
- about 13% ABV in the glass
- Allergens
- Egg
Method
Chill a large coupe of at least 7 oz (210 ml) capacity in the freezer or with ice and water; the finished drink is about 7 oz with its foam, so a standard 5.5 oz coupe will overflow.
A cold glass waiting, the way the orchard waits for first frost.
Measure the gin, apple juice, lemon juice, thyme honey syrup and egg white into a shaker tin.
Juniper, apple, lemon, honey, and the white that will become the velvet.
Seal the tin without ice and shake hard for 10 seconds (a dry shake) to whip the egg white; the mixture should look foamy and pale when you open the tin.10 sec
The first shake is for texture, done warm, done fast.
Open the tin, fill it two-thirds with cubed ice, seal again and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds until the tin frosts.12 sec
The second shake is for cold. Now the orchard gets its October.
Empty the coupe and double strain the drink through a fine mesh strainer into it. Let it stand for 20 to 30 seconds so the foam rises and sets.30 sec
Pour, then wait. Velvet needs a moment to settle its nap.
Lay a fresh thyme sprig across the foam and rest a thin apple slice against the rim. Serve.
A sprig across the white, like a path across snow.
Flavor notes
Thyme and juniper on the nose rising off the foam; cloudy apple and honey through the middle with a soft, almost creamy weight; lemon and a faint apple-skin tannin on the finish. Medium sweetness, bright acid, silky texture.
Substitutions
- Egg white: Aquafaba (chickpea cooking liquid), 1 oz (30 ml) · Vegan and egg-free; the foam is a little looser and takes a longer dry shake, about 15 seconds.
- Thyme honey syrup: Plain honey syrup, same measure, with 2 thyme sprigs shaken in the tin · Shaking fresh thyme gives a greener, sharper herb note; double strain carefully to catch the leaves.
- London dry gin: Old Tom gin, same measure, with the syrup reduced to 0.5 oz (15 ml) · Rounder and sweeter; the reduction keeps the sour balance.
Without alcohol
Shake 1.5 oz (45 ml) of a zero-proof juniper-forward gin alternative, 1.5 oz (45 ml) cloudy apple juice, 0.75 oz (22 ml) lemon juice, 0.5 oz (15 ml) thyme honey syrup and 1 oz (30 ml) egg white or aquafaba exactly as in the method (dry shake, then ice shake, double strain). The extra apple and the lighter syrup keep the body up without the gin.
Batching
House thyme honey syrup (the one house preparation in this drink): warm 1 cup (240 ml) water until steaming but not boiling, remove from heat and stir in 1 cup (340 g) runny honey until dissolved. Add 10 fresh thyme sprigs (about 8 g), bruise them against the side of the pan with a spoon, cover and steep 30 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh, bottle and refrigerate; keeps about 3 weeks. Steeping longer than 45 minutes turns the syrup medicinal. Batch for 8 drinks: 16 oz (480 ml) gin, 8 oz (240 ml) cloudy apple juice, 6 oz (180 ml) lemon juice and 6 oz (180 ml) thyme honey syrup can be combined on the day and kept refrigerated up to 6 hours (apple juice browns and lemon fades after that). Shake each 4.5 oz (135 ml) portion with 1 oz (30 ml) egg white to order; egg white cannot be pre-batched into the mix. Egg-based drinks: please enjoy responsibly and use pasteurized egg white for guests who are pregnant or immunocompromised.
Gin, pressed apple and thyme honey under a soft white foam
Walk an orchard in early October and the air is already doing the work: cold apples, warm grass, thyme crushed underfoot on the path. This glass gathers that walk under a foam as soft as a coat lining. London dry gin keeps the juniper and the spine. Cloudy pressed apple brings the fruit and a faint tannin. Thyme steeped in honey ties the two together, and lemon stops it from turning into dessert. Shaken twice, once dry and once cold, so the surface sets like velvet.