Thyme and Apple Cider Pisco Sour

This Thyme and Apple Cider Pisco Sour is a wonderful celebration cocktail.

This apple cider Pisco sour is a wonderful winter cocktail. If you like whiskey sours or side car cocktails, you'll enjoy this one with thyme simple syrup, Pisco, fresh lemon juice, and boiled apple cider.

If you have access to fresh apple cider from the fall harvest, I'm totally jealous.  You can make your own boiled apple cider in this cocktail by reducing your fresh cider by 1/3, bottling it, and keeping it in the refrigerator. If you like to make preserves, you can also preserve your boiled cider the same way you would preserve jams and jellies.

In my case, I used this boiled cider. It's a great ingredient to add to apple pies, cookies, and baked goodies. It just makes everything taste more intensely "apple-y."

I've used the boiled cider in these Iced Apple Drop Cookies, these Cream Cheese Filled Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins, this Cinnamon Apple Twist Bread, and this Apple Brown Derby Cocktail. It lasts forever in the fridge.

"What is Pisco?" you ask! It's a type of brandy made from distilled wine. It's made both in Chile and Peru, and I understand there are some differences between the two. I've only tried Peruvian Pisco, so I can't speak to the differences, but I've used Peruvian Pisco in recipes that would normally call for brandy, such as a side car.

This cocktail also calls for thyme simple syrup, which adds a wonderful dimension. You can make it easily by adding thyme sprigs to just boiled simple syrup.

This cocktail may seem like a lot of work, but you just might earn a little craft cocktail street "cred" by serving it to your connoisseur friends.

Cheers, and happy New Year my dear readers! I really appreciate you.

On New Year's Eve, I'll be posting the Top Ten most visited recipes from 2017, and, on New Year's Day, I'll be posting a bread round up extravaganza of the 47 bread recipes I posted in 2017. If you're a bread head, this one's for you!

Yield: 1 cocktail

Thyme and Apple Cider Pisco Sour

ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Pisco

• 1 tablespoon boiled apple cider
• 1/2 ounce thyme simple syrup (recipe below)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Thyme Simple Syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 bunch sprigs of thyme

instructions:

To Make the Simple Syrup

1. Bring the water and sugar and water to a boil, and cook until all of the sugar is dissolved. 
2. Remove the pan from the heat, add the thyme, and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid and refrigerate in a glass container for up to six weeks. 

To Make the Cocktail

1. In an ice filled cocktail shaker, combine all of the ingredients and shake for about 60 seconds. 
2. Strain the ingredients into a chilled coupe or martini glass and serve. 

http://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2017/12/thyme-and-apple-cider-pisco-sour.html

Recipe adapted from The Charming Detroiter.