Cocktail of the week: Elements' earth – recipe

The Guardian

23-05-2025

The inspiration behind this drink was a basil sour I had when I was working in Trondheim, Norway. I loved the flavour combinations, and was keen to incorporate similar herbaceous notes into a drink that would represent one of the four elements, as well as our new restaurant. I've used citrus in the form of yuzu to introduce another flavour dimension that blends in harmoniously. At the restaurant, we make big batches of the citrus syrup from spent lemons and limes, to save on wastage.
Serves 2
For the syrup 100g finely chopped mixed lime and lemon peel
50g finely chopped basil
100g sugar
For the drink80ml gin – we use Downpour Original
30ml yuzu liqueur – we use Choya
150ml basil and citrus syrup – see above and method
30ml lime juice
40ml egg white (from about 1 large egg)
4 slices dehydrated lime, to garnish
Put all the syrup ingredients in a medium pan, add 100g cold water and put on a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for six to eight minutes. Take off the heat, leave to cool and infuse overnight or, better still, for 48 hours, then fine-strain into a clean jar, seal and store in the fridge, where it will keep for about three weeks.
To build the drink, measure all the liquids into a shaker, add the egg white, then dry shake to set the white. Add ice, shake again, to chill and dilute, then fine-strain into two coupes, garnish each drink with two slices of dried lime and serve.
Connor Wren, bar manager, Elements, Glasgow