Tangy, fruity and bubbly, this cocktail is made for sunny lunches and warm nights.
About the cocktail
Sometimes, when you’re after a cocktail with a difference, there’s only one thing for it – something sweet but tangy, fruity and fizzy, and with a sour kick. Sound like your kind of cocktail? Meet the Sour Strawberry Highball, which we think is the best way to kick off a catch-up with friends on a sunny afternoon. With our warm summer temps, we like our cocktails fresh, zesty and bloody cold. With this Sour Strawberry Highball, our cocktail experts have balanced the refreshing tartness of strawberries and lemon juice, which get amped up even further by tangy kombucha (ideally a mixed berry flavour, but more on that later). The earthy sweetness of agave syrup and tequila then round it all out. It’s long, bubbly, fruity and sweet, and it gets topped with a sugar-dusted strawberry for the perfect final touch. Of course, the Sour Strawberry Highball isn’t tied to summer, but it does slot in rather nicely, especially alongside more than a few go-to seasonal dishes or, as we mentioned, as an excellent aperitif. Whatever the occasion, this highball works a treat.
Ingredients
1 fresh strawberry, quartered 50mL blanco tequila 10mL lemon juice 10mL agave syrup 100mL wild berry kombucha Glass: highball Garnish: half a strawberry, dusted with icing sugar
Method
Add the strawberry to a cocktail shaker and muddle well Add remaining ingredients, except the kombucha, fill with ice and shake hard until the tin is frosty Double strain the drink into the glass Fill with ice and gently top with the kombucha Garnish with the sugar-dusted halved strawberry
Dan’s top tips
Beyond the shaking, muddling is about the only technique you’ll need to make this highball work. Muddling is basically just mashing or massaging ingredients to help them release their delicious juices or oils, so you want to muddle that strawberry to get it incorporated into the rest of the cocktail. Use a muddler if you have one, of course, but anything blunt and long enough to stick into a cocktail shaker (like the end of a rolling pin or wooden spoon) will work fine. Highballs traditionally need just two ingredients – a spirit and soda water. The twist here is subbing soda for kombucha (a fermented tea drink), which lends everything a sour kick along with the bubbly length of a classic highball. The recipe calls for a wild berry kombucha, but don’t let that stop you if you can find one – any berry or ginger ‘booch will do great. And on the topic of substituting ingredients, go with your heart when it comes to the spirit base here. If you’re not big on tequila or if you’re just in the mood to change things up, go for it – this is a very versatile drink.
Why is the Sour Strawberry Highball a great cocktail for Christmas?
For Australia, a great Christmas cocktail ought to be fresh, long and fruity – exactly what you’ll get from a Sour Strawberry Highball.
What makes the Sour Strawberry Highball taste sour?
The Sour Strawberry Highball gets its sour kick from lemon juice, fresh strawberry (which tends to be a little tart) and tangy kombucha.
- What other ingredients are in a Sour Strawberry Highball?
Besides the strawberry in the name, the Sour Strawberry Highball also includes lemon juice, kombucha, blanco tequila and agave syrup. The garnish is a strawberry, halved and dusted with icing sugar.
image credits: Kayla May (photography), Bridget Wald (styling).
