Empress Sour
Empress Sour
2 oz Empress 1908 Gin
3/4 Freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 Simple syrup
3/4 oz Pasteurized egg white
Dry shake all ingredients, then add ice and shake again. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with edible flowers.
For a video on how to make this cocktail, click here.
Not all gins are created equal. But try you must, in creating the most unique spirit possible.
In the last decade, there’s been an explosion of gin varietals. From the tiny back rooms of your local watering hole to craft distilleries on nearly every continent, gin is back – in a big way. For me in the early days, it tasted like vodka (gasp!), infused with juniper berries and not much else. And while there are still brands that lack complexity, I’m beyond thrilled that there’s an abundance of distilleries that treat this as an art form. Many of them located here in Western Canada.
Take Victoria Distillers, for example. One of the oldest artisan distilleries in Canada (although old is relative here as they were established in 2008): their famous indigo-hued Empress 1908 Gin is a collaboration between Victoria Distillers and the legendary Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC, on the west coast of Canada. This gin is handcrafted in small batch copper-pot stills and contains a signature blend of black tea that’s served at the Empress Hotel, and butterfly pea blossom. The latter is a lovely, floral yet citrusy herb known to reduce anxiety while also responsible for the gin’s stunning colour. You can now find copycat versions from other manufacturers, but Empress 1908 Gin is the original and securely holds the top shelf, in my books. If you can’t find Empress 1908 Gin for this recipe, you can certainly use another brand, but I strongly recommend sticking to this original for the best experience.
The beauty of this gin lies not only in its signature hue, but in how the colour changes depending on the pH of other ingredients added to it, like lemon juice. This Empress Sour recipe is not mine but belongs to the Q Bar at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. It was there that I first encountered this beautiful cocktail several years ago.
