After infusion both vodka and gin with shiso leaf for a couple days, I was excited to see how they tasted. Perhaps I let the infusion go for too long, as both were quite potent. To balance the shiso out, I turned to a recipe that Shingo Gokan of Angel's Share gave me for inspiration. He calls for the shiso infusion plus kabosu juice and tonic water. Unfortunately, the only tonic water I had was flat, and I'm not even sure where to begin looking for kabosu, a Japanese citrus fruit rarely found outside of Japan. Instead, I basically made a rickey with my shiso-infused gin.
1 oz shiso-infused gin
0.25 oz lime juice
Topped with soda
Stirred and served over large cubes.
A rickey is always refreshing, but the infusion lent an extra dimension, an herbal quality. I love the shiso, and it is certainly quite distinct from your average rickey. However, the shiso flavor was quite strong, so perhaps lengthening the infusion with an equal part of plain gin would make the shiso appear more subtly. While this rickey was certainly a simplistic application for now, I certainly am looking forward to playing with this infusion in the future.
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