‘LIFE’S FLAVORS’ 3/10 WITH ALLISON LIBBY-THESING OF THE OAKS BED & BREAKFAST

ByTaylor Nye

PublishedMarch 10, 2022

Sage Germain Sour ~ Herb Infused Cocktail

Hello and welcome back to our herb infused cocktail series, a new month has arrived and with it we have a festive drink to share with you, that dovetails a wee bit with the holiday that comes mid month. In honor of St. Patrick’s day we have selected an Irish Whiskey based drink to make with one of the herbs currently growing in our garden.

Upon a recent visit to Ireland, my husband and I toured the Teeling Irish Whiskey distillery in Dublin. I kind of had to twist his arm to go, because we are not personally whiskey drinkers but we both loved the tour and subsequent tasting, so much that I wanted to feature their whiskey in our drink, instead of another well known Irish Whiskey. We really enjoyed our tour and even brought home whiskey to share with friends and family. The tour was well worth the visit!

Teeling Irish Whiskey via Dominic Lockyear

This cocktail is unique in that it also uses a liquor that is derived from the Elder flower. St. Germain is an artisanal French liquor that can be used in other cocktails, which we might feature at a later point. Over here at the Oaks we are big fans of the elderberry, which grows from the elder flower, and has a myriad of medicinal uses and has been known to help reduce the amount of days a person is ill, while having the flu or a cold, when taken as elderberry syrup.

The herb we are featuring this month is sage. Sage is well know in cooking of game birds, sausage and items roasted in the oven for a long period of time. The slow release of heat, pulls the flavor from this herb, and brings a wonderful taste to the food. There are a few different sage varieties one can plant, and they typically have beautiful purple flowers when in bloom.

We are using sage in two different ways for the cocktail, one is in the honey syrup and the other is fried, and placed as a garish. The Honey Sage syrup is easy to make:

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
3-5 de-stemmed sage leaves

Put everything into a pot and and cook until the honey is dissolved. Once dissolved let it cool and sit over night before mixing into the drink.

Add all the ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a glass and add some fresh ice. Garnish with the deep-fried sage leaf. Enjoy!

We hope that you will try our latest herb infused cocktail. Be sure to let us know if you happen to try this drink. Tag us on social media and remember to always drink responsibly and have a designated driver. Slainté!