We have this big 60 year old pear tree that out does itself every single year. It leans at a 45 degree angle at this stage of life, shooting new branches to the sky. It’s crazy how far it leans and in all the years we’ve lived here, it hasn’t come close to falling. We thought about cutting it down because we worry about our other juvenile pear tree, but this old girl just gifts too many pears for us to do that. So, we let her do her thing and every season I stress about what to do with all her fruit. Somehow I manage to dry some, freeze some, make jams, shrubs, butternut squash pear soups and bake a few things to make use of the hundreds of pears produced. And we make cocktails. On one of our fabulously sunny fall days, I grabbed a few pears and experimented with a little booze. I remembered seeing a bourbon cocktail with ginger and then another with sage. Both good, but this cocktail ranked as one of the best. We toasted to our old tree and happily sipped. Hope you enjoy this one.
MAKES TWO COCKTAILS
- 6 oz bourbon
- 4 oz pear nectar or pear shrub (we used shrub ~ recipe provided in Cook’s Notes)
- 2 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz sage simple syrup (recipe below)
- 4 oz ginger beer
- 4-6 large ice cubes
- 2 thinly sliced pieces of fresh pear for garnish (optional)
- Sage leaves for garnish
- Sliced lime for garnish (optional)
Combine bourbon, pear shrub or nectar, lime juice and simple syrup in a pitcher. Stir to combine. Fill a shaker with ice, pour in bourbon pear shrub mixture and vigorously shake for 45 seconds to one minute. In two glasses, add 2-3 large ice cubes each. Strain the cocktail mixture equally into both glasses. Top with ginger beer and garnish with pear and sage.
SAGE SIMPLE SYRUP
in a small sauce pan, combine (1) cup of water with (1) cup of white granulated sugar. On medium heat, warm until the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a funnel, carefully pour warm syrup into a glass jar. Add 4-5 fresh sage leaves. Seal jar. Once cooled, remove sage and refrigerate until ready to use.
COOK’S NOTES :
- Sage simple syrup will last for up to two weeks in your refrigerator.
- Additional garnish ideas : thinly sliced fresh ginger, edible flowers, fresh thyme sprig
- For a good pear shrub recipe, please click on this link : https://pepperandsaltkitchen.com/2020/09/16/fall-cocktails-baby-with-homemade-shrubs/