Camomile Sour

Whiskey Sour by Paul Goyette, some rights reserved

There’s nothing better than a delicious accident.  I made camomile bourbon a while back, and, for some reason, decided to use it in a Camomile Manhattan.  Look, I was young, experimenting, and a little obsessed with Manhattans, I didn’t really know what I was doing.

Anyway, some months later, having run out of regular bourbon (shock-horror indeed). I tried the camomile-infused version in a Whiskey Sour.  What a revelation.  The lemon and the camomile sat so well together I now almost despair a little that I didn’t think of this in the first place.

So, making up for lost time, I heartily commend to you the Camomile Whiskey Sour:

1. Add 9 tablespoons of camomile flowers to a bottle of bourbon.  Leave this to infuse for 24 hours and then strain and filter.
2. Shake 50ml camomile bourbon, 25ml lemon juice, 25ml sugar syrup and an egg white with cubed ice for twenty seconds.
3. Strain back into the shaker and then dry shake (no ice) for a further ten seconds.
4. Double strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a slice of lemon and a cherry.

Camomile Manhattan

Having taken delivery of more loose leaf tea from the jolly good fellows at Jeeves and Jericho, I spent my Friday afternoon infusing some bourbon.

This time my order from Oxford’s finest tea-mongers consisted of:

• 65g of Earl of Grey (for Earl Grey Old Fashioneds)
• 75g of Dales Brew (for drinking with my Yorkshire buddies)
• 20g Camomile Blossom
• 20g Mojito Mint

Perhaps counter-intuitively given the name, my first infusion was four teaspoons of Mojito Mint in 200ml of Jim Beam White Label for one hour to create a Peppermint Bourbon for use in Mint Juleps.

At the same time, I opted for the same ratio of Camomile to Jim Beam to create 200ml of a versatile Camomile Bourbon for use in exotic Manhattans and Whiskey Sours.

The Camomile Manhattan I tried last night was a resounding success:

1. Add 50ml Camomile Bourbon, 25ml sweet vermouth and 25ml triple sec to a mixing glass 3/4 full of ice.
2. Add two splooshes of orange bitters.
3. Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a twist of orange.