Tom Kha Gai
It’s been far too long since I’ve had a food-turned-cocktail post, so I’m really excited to share this one. This drink is my submission for the @bestcocktails @bluestembotanicals contest, where we got to choose three of their awesome products to incorporate into a cocktail. I chose savory-leaning ingredients (lemongrass syrup, savory bitters, and lions mane mushroom tincture), initially not quite sure what I wanted to make.
After some brainstorming, I realized that I had the building blocks to a delicious Thai soup, Tom Kha Gai. This soup traditionally has lemongrass, mushrooms, chicken (savory)— perfect. It also has ginger (brought in via a vodka infusion), coconut milk, lime juice, spice (fire tincture), and dill or cilantro (brought in with aquavit and cilantro garnish). Thai food is so successful in part because it routinely incorporates sweet, savory, spicy, sour, and salty flavors. Translating this into a drink, then, is mostly just changing the ratios to make it more like cocktail and less like soup.
This drink was seriously delicious. I recently had the soup and its influence is very clear. The savoriness is there but it honestly doesn’t read as an overly savory drink. It’s bright and rich and full of flavor and keeps you coming back for more, just like its inspiration.
Recipe
1oz ginger-infused vodka*
1oz aquavit
1oz coconut milk
0.75oz lime juice
<0.75oz lemongrass syrup
<0.25oz Mushroom tincture
2 dashes Savory bitters
8 drops fire tincture
\\\\Whip shake all ingredients, dump into tulip glass and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with lime peel and fresh cilantro.
*12g thinly sliced/peeled fresh ginger for 6oz vodka, iSi infused for 5 minutes using 2 NO2 cartridges.
Brands I used (all gifted):
- Syrup, bitters, mushroom tincture: @bluestembotanicals
- Aquavit: @nordenaquavit
- Fire tincture: @scrappysbitters
