Intro

*My first batch of vintage coupes! It’s a little hard to tell but the coupe on the left has a dark red base*

I called this drink Savage Garden because I was in a super nostalgic mood the day I shot this cocktail; I’d just received my order for vintage cocktail glasses, something I’ve been trying to find for years! I was so, so excited to finally get the first two batches. Remember Savage Garden? LOL…The “Garden” part is mostly from the botanicals from the gin and the use of rose syrup to sweeten this. I wouldn’t call this drink a Sour because it’s definitely less sour than the typical Whiskey or Gin Sour. The sweetness of the rose syrup is more rounded out by the dryness and herbaceous flavors of the London dry gin (versus pure sourness).

For this drink I used the Sipsmith brand — I’m really liking how complex its flavors are and it holds its own in a cocktail without overpowering the rest of the flavors. I bought the rose syrup from my local Whole Foods. It’s the Royal Rose brand and I’m not particularly married to it, it was just available and I decided to buy it to try it out in recipes. It has a VERY mild rose flavor and is more similar to the taste of a light honey, so if you want more rose flavor, I’d add a couple drops of rosewater.

IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ:

I use organic and pasteurized eggs since you are consuming raw egg white
Make sure to buy “edible” or food-grade flowers for the garnish (if using)
I’d recommend using a Boston shaker and large 1½” - 2” ice cubes for the wet shake so it doesn’t dilute the drink too much while shaking
Since there is no ice in this finished drink, chilling your glassware is highly recommended
Save your egg yolk for omelettes, to use as an egg wash for pastries, carbonara, or cure them in coarse Kosher salt!

What You'll Need

For each cocktail:

Chilled coupe
¾ oz rose syrup
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1½ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz egg white*
2½ oz London dry gin
Garnish: edible flowers and/or small sprig of fresh thyme

* My average amount from a Large egg

Instructions

For each cocktail:

Remove the thyme leaves and muddle in your cocktail shaker; add the rest of the cocktail ingredients into your shaker (including the egg white!)
Dry shake (i.e. without ice) vigorously for at least 10 seconds; open your shaker and check — it should look VERY frothy already and continue to shake if it’s not thick enough
Add your (ideally one BIG) ice cube into the shaker and give it a gentle shake — the goal here is to just cool down the cocktail ingredients first without building pressure in your shaker
Once the entire shaker is nice and chilly, tighten the seal and vigorously shake again for your final “wet shake” (i.e. with ice)
Take out your chilled coupe from the freezer and double strain into the glass*
Garnish with edible flowers and/or fresh thyme sprig

* Strain with your Hawthorne strainer + a tea strainer; this is optional but it’s meant to catch any stray thyme leaves