Starboard Sour

This cocktail bridges the seasons when it comes to flavor profile. It’s a great summer refresher, but also has some warm notes from vanilla extract that also make it a great cocktail for the colder months. This is another cocktail featuring Empress Gin, not only for the beautiful color but also the like botanical flavors that marry well with the lime, coconut milk and vanilla. We typically recommend using whichever gin you prefer, but using Empress in this one brings the cocktail to life.

This was one of the first cocktails we tried with coconut milk, and it sparked our intrigue in the ingredient. I always thought to leave coconut milk for the piña coladas of the world, and for anything tropical. The coconut does bring a tropical note, but it’s more about the light creaminess from the coconut milk which adds to the balance of flavors in this drink. Not to mention that the coconut flavor is super fresh with no super sweet artificial flavoring which you can sometimes get from a coconut extract or other sweeteners.

The other surprise in this cocktail is the vanilla. Go very easy on how much you add, as it can go from well balanced to too much very easily. The vanilla here works with the coconut milk to smooth out the sour from the citrus.

Some tips and trixx:

• We suggest double straining to take out any lumps in the coconut milk. Make sure to shake the can of coconut milk before opening to also keep lumps to a minimum.

• If you don’t have an 1/8 tsp measurement you can use a bar spoon. Just fill it about half full and that should be plenty.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz Empress gin

• 1 oz lime juice

• 1 oz simple syrup

• ⅛ tsp vanilla extract

• 1 oz coconut milk

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice

2. Shake for 10-20 seconds

3. Double strain into a rocks glass with ice

4. Garnish with Lime

5. Sip & Enjoy!