Lavender and Chartreuse Sour

This Lavender and Chartreuse sour is the cocktail that you need to make if you love sweet and sour notes combined with beautiful fragrant herbs. Chartreuse is a favorite liquor of mine because it is very floral. When you combine Chartreuse liquor with another floral like lavender it makes such a great flavor combination.

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This lavender and Chartreuse sour is a wonderful drink to make that you can sip on slowly. It is not overly strong and has a wonderful balance of citrus and floral notes.

This drink is also made with egg whites which really gives it body and a beautiful foam top. The combination of liquors, citrus and the egg whites and is what makes this drink a traditional "sour".

Here are the steps to make this Lavender and Chartreuse sour so you know how to plan:

1. You start by making your lavender syrup. I suggest doing this the day before so it is ready when you want to make this cocktail.
2. Assemble the ingredients for the cocktail.
3. Juice your lemons.
4. Separate your eggs (we are only using the egg whites).
5. Make your drink.
6. Shake it well in a shaker (I'm talking shake for 5 minutes!)
7. Enjoy!

Making the Lavender Simple Syrup

The first thing you want to do is to make the lavender simple syrup for this drink. This is best if you can let the lavender steep for a good couple hours. If you have lavender simple syrup already on hand, you can use that in lieu of this and just skip to the next steps of this recipe.

Once you have made your lavender simple syrup, the drink can be made in minutes. The main make ahead portion of this recipe is really only the lavender syrup although I recommend juicing your lemons and separating your eggs ahead of time as well.

If you prep all of your ingredients ahead of time then you will only have to assemble when it comes time for making your drinks. In thinking ahead, after your first drink you may want a second and you probably do not want to be separating eggs to make that.

So, if you know you want more than one drink, prep ahead! You will thank me.

Shaking the Cocktail:

Now let's talk a little bit about the shaking part of this drink. If you go to a reputable bar and order a drink that is made with egg whites, you should see the bartender shaking that drink in a shaker for a minimum of 2-3 minutes.

I have actually been to bars where they have shaken the cocktails for even longer. Those bartenders know their craft and because of this made some amazing drinks!

How to treat the egg whites to get a perfect foam top:

When you are working with an egg white cocktails you want to make sure you retain the beautiful egg white foam that will be produced from all of the shaking you just did with the shaker. To do this, you are going to do a dry shake first.

The dry shake is when you do not have anything but the liquids in your shaker. I add one ice cube to the dry shake process to really mix up the egg whites.

After the dry shake, you can go ahead and add ice and shake again. The first shake (the dry shake) should have produced lots of foam so the second shake just helps it out more and chills the cocktail.

After this just gently strain the cocktail after shaking. You can scoop out any remaining egg white foam with a spoon and add that to your cocktail glass.

Garnishing the sour:

I always love some sort of garnish on my cocktails, especially if I am making them for guests. For this lavender sour I used a dried lavender sprig. I got these dried sprigs along with my dried lavender from the same lavender farm.

If you do not have dried lavender sprigs, go ahead and use a lemon garnish or a lemon twist. As long as your garnish represents one ingredient that is in the cocktail it should work.

More answers and tips about this recipe:

Are Green Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse liquors the same?

Thees are the same and which color you can find will vary by store. I currently have a very green Chartreuse liquor but I have been seeing more yellow ones in the store recently.

Green Chartreuse liquor is much stronger in flavor and has a higher alcohol content (around 110 proof). The green version is the original version of this liquor.

Yellow Chartreuse liquor is more mellow and not as strong with a lower alcohol content (around 80 proof). This liquor is sometimes called yellow Chartreuse and was developed after the original green liquor.

Do monks make Chartreuse liquor?

Yes they do and they have since the 1600's. The present day monks who make the Chartreuse liquor are still using the original recipe written on an ancient manuscript. The sales of Chartreuse help fund the Brothers today.

Can you drink Chartreuse on its own?

You can but it is very strong. If you are not used to drinking Chartreuse, it has a bite that follows all of the herbal notes when you sip it, especially the Green Chartreuse.

I hope these tips help. This is a very easy cocktail recipe and one that I think you will really enjoy.

Making this cocktail even easier:

Here are a couple suggestions to make this drink even easier so there is less that stands between you and a good drink!

• If you are looking for an easier way to get lavender in the drink, you can use a shot of lavender liquor and a plain store bought simple syrup. Both can be found at liquor stores. Just reduce the amount of simple syrup by the amount of lavender liquor you are adding.
• Another shortcut is you can use store bought lemonade instead of the simple syrup and lemon portion. I will often just make my lavender lemonade earlier in the week which is made with lavender water (not syrup) and lemons with a plain simple syrup. When we are ready to make these cocktails we only need to add the eggs and Chartreuse.