Spring has arrived!!! To celebrate, I’m collaborating with a few other food bloggers, cocktail style. This week has been a tough go with a sick baby and without question, momma needs a cocktail. Not that I really need an excuse, but this weekend this Rhubarb Pisco Sour is happening. Baby is on the mend and Spring is in the air (so rain for us Vancouverites – insert sort of sad-looking emoji here). A Rhubarb Pisco Sour is how I would expect Spring to taste, if Spring had a flavour that is. Fresh and bright from the rhubarb, a tiny slap of sour from the lemon juice (that’s the rain of course), and a hint of sweetness from the Pisco (a gentle reminder of what sweet warm sunshine we can anticipate in the near future).
I have fully fallen in love with rhubarb. It’s one of my favourite “adulting” flavours. I strongly disliked rhubarb as child, quite possibly because I never had it baked or cooked properly, but I am trying to make up for lost time. I recently planted my third rhubarb starter plant in our yard. The third because I’ve somehow managed to kill the 2 previous attempts at growing a rhubarb plant. I know, I have no idea how it happened, but if there’s something easy to grow in the garden chances are I might end up killing it.
My inspiration behind this recipe was actually a Whiskey Sour. I truly love bourbon when it’s mixed with other delicious ingredients (like lemon simple syrup) and I wanted a play on those simple ingredients, but somehow make it a bit more accessible to everyone. Pisco is a Chilean or Peruvian spirit made from distilled fermented grapes. Basically a high-proof brandy if I could liberally sum it up. In the “sour” form, it is mixed with a simple syrup, perhaps rhubarb one might suggest, tart lemon juice, and topped with shaken egg white. Pisco is readily available at most liquor stores. If my local, very tiny suburban liquor store has it, yours just might too.
Raw egg whites aren’t your thing? No worries, there is a stellar VEGAN product made right here in Vancouver, BC called Ms Betters Bitters (say that 3 times fast). I enjoyed a cocktail at a fundraising event with Ms Betters Bitters on it and was the exact frothy goodness you want in a shaken egg white without any salmonella risks. Pasteurized egg whites from the carton are another good resource with less risk.
Be sure to check out all the cocktails in this “Connecting over Cocktails” collaboration, if this Pisco Sour isn’t your thing, I’m sure you’ll find a recipe below that is. Links can be found below the recipe. Cheers!
- 3 oz Pisco
- 2 oz Rhubarb Simple Syrup see below
- 1 oz. lemon juice
- 1 egg white
- 2 cups chopped rhubarb the deeper red the rhubarb, the deep colour the syrup will be
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
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Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of ice and shake vigorously for 30-60 seconds, or until egg white is frothy. Pour into a glass and enjoy!
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Place rhubarb, sugar, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool. Strain liquid through a fine mesh sieve, pressing down on solids. Save liquid for cocktail and set solids aside (really good on vanilla ice cream or yogurt!!!). Place rhubarb simple syrup in a mason jar or another airtight container and chill prior to use. Will keep in the fridge for about a week.
* Simple syrup will make enough for approximately 4-6 cocktails.
Check all the cocktails my fellow bloggers are sipping on:
- Coastal Orange Blossom Gin Cocktail by Justine Celina
- Cucumber Basil Gin Fizz by The Girl on Bloor
- Hopped White Lady by The Hesitant Chef
- Lavender Orange Bees Knees by Mud on her Boots
- Rose Julep by Unassagio of Food, Wine, & Marriage
- Saffron Cava Cocktail by Diversivore
- Spiked Hibiscus Iced Tea by Killing Thyme
Enjoy! xo
Slab Breakfast Pie
