I found blood oranges and Meyer lemons at my local farm market. Blood oranges are these very deep dark red fruits that taste more like oranges than one would think. It’s also smaller. A Meyer lemon is a sweeter lemon with a softer skin. These fruits are both really good, but what if these were combined into one drink. Since citrus fruits were given as gifts in Pennsylvania Dutch families I’ve decided this would be a good time to talk about this concept.
We’re going to make what can only be called a sour. A sour is a shaken drink with a really nice foamy head on it. Sometimes people include egg white in these drinks to make a much better foam, but you can get away with using a cocktail framer to make it vegan. Aqua faba is another option, but I prefer a commercially available product like fee brothers.
The following recipe makes 2 drinks.
- Juice one blood orange into a cocktail shaker.
- Juice one Meyer lemon into the same shaker.
- Add 2 tablespoons of simple syrup
- Add 2 dashes of bitters. I used Angostura bitters here.
- Add the foaming agent. Here I used a couple dashes of fee brothers.
- Add your spirit of choice. I used E&J VSOP Brandy in the blue bottle. It’s a nice respectable brandy that is really good for the price point and has the flavor profile I like. Since it’s for 2 drinks I used 4oz of brandy.
- Place the lids and dry shake the cocktail for approximately 10 seconds.
- Remove the lid and add ice.
- Shake again until thoroughly cold. I recommend using a towel around the shaker.
- Strain into 2 glasses over ice.
There’s a couple garnishes that might be really good with this drink. I haven’t tried them. A slice of Meyer lemon or maybe some mint leaves. Both are good options that would enhance the visual appeal of the drink.
I hope you appreciate this recipe. I know I really enjoyed coming up with this riff on a classic sour. I feel that brandy works really well here, and in many ways it’s more flavorful and fits better than whiskey here.