A nifty little twist on the classic plum sour, featuring subtle plum notes from the umeshu sake, a hint of festive spices from the infused gin and a rich, umami undertone from the white miso syrup.
Spiced plum sour
For the spiced gin
175ml gin – we use Suntory’s Roku gin
1 cinnamon stick
¼ star anise
For the miso syrup
15g white miso
100g caster sugar
50ml boiling water
For the drink
20ml infused gin (see above and method)
15ml miso syrup (see above and method)
25ml fresh lemon juice
20ml umeshu sake
5ml (1 tsp) blue curaçao
1 egg white (or 20ml aqua faba)
First, infuse the gin. Put the gin in a sterilised jar, add the cinnamon and star anise, seal and leave to steep for up to 24 hours. Start tasting every hour or so after three or four hours, to check how much stronger you want the spices to show through – you need only a very gentle infusion here. Fine-strain to remove any tiny, loose bits of spice, jar again and seal.
To make the miso syrup, put the white miso in a bowl with the caster sugar, add the boiling water and whisk until the sugar dissolves.
To build the drink, put the measures of spiced gin, syrup, lemon juice, sake and curaçao in a shaker, add the egg white (or aqua faba) and shake hard without ice – this will help create a silky foam. Add ice, shake again, then strain into a wine glass or coupette (chilled, if you like, and we do), and serve.
• Cameron Malik Flynn, Cafe Bao, London N1
