Blackberry Pink Peppercorn Gin Sour

If you love gin cocktails, put this unique Gin Sour on your to do list! This blackberry-forward cocktail was inspired by one of my favorite gin classics, the Bramble.

Gin, blackberry, and lemon are already a great combination, but the addition of pink peppercorn and a smooth foam on top take this simple gin drink to the next level.

Gin sour basics

So what is a gin sour, anyway, and why are sours made with egg whites? The gin sour is a classic cocktail made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and an egg white.

With the right ratios, the drink is perfectly balanced mix of spirits, sweet, and sour. The egg white (or another foam-creating ingredient, like aquafaba) creates a thick white froth on top of the drink from being shaken.

The egg doesn't add any flavor, but it does completely change the texture of the drink. The rich foam makes the cocktail very smooth and silky, and it also tones down the bite of the alcohol and the zing of the citrus.

Do you have to use egg whites?

No. You can make this drink without the egg, and in general, sours are still sours even without foam. However, the end result is quite different without it, so keep that in mind.

A sour with foam is much, much smoother. If you'd like to have the foam on top, but don't want to use eggs, you can use an alternative like aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid in cans of chickpeas and it produces a very nice foam without much added flavor. Other alternatives are Fee Brothers Fee Foam or Ms. Betters Bitters Mirculous Foamer.

Ingredients

This recipe is made with four ingredients. Before diving into the recipe, I like to give a list of the ingredients with my personal suggestions, tips, and ideas for substitutions.

Gin

A London Dry style gin works beautifully in this recipe. I made mine with Bombay Sapphire, which is a staple in my home bar. Some other great traditional gins I recommend for this recipe are Tanqueray and Sipsmith.

If you'd prefer a more citrusy gin, you could try Citadelle, Grey Whale Gin, or the very pretty Empress 1908 Gin. Like floral? Try Uncle Val's Botanical or Nolet's.

Lemon juice

As always, you must use freshly squeezed lemon juice. You'll need about half a lemon per drink. I always squeeze my citrus for drinks with an elbow style squeezer like this one from Zulay. I find the all metal versions last much longer than coated ones.

Blackberry pink peppercorn simple syrup

The magic ingredient in this recipe is this syrup. To make it, you'll need water, sugar, blackberries, and whole pink peppercorns. It comes together in about 5-10 minutes, but you'll need to let it cool, so leave yourself about 30-40 to make the syrup before you can shake up your cocktail. Get the Blackberry Pink Peppercorn Simple Syrup Recipe.

Egg white

Like we talked about above, you can substitute or leave the foam out altogether if it's a problem for you. If following this recipe, you'll need one egg per drink.

What does pink peppercorn taste like?

Pink peppercorns are the dried berries of the Peruvian pepper tree. Although they look similar and are called pepper, pink peppercorns are actually not true peppers like black and white peppercorns.

Pink pepper has a much more mild pepper-like flavor that comes across as slight heat. The flavor is citrusy, a little fruity and somewhat floral. As you can imagine, this flavor profile is fantastic with gin! It also pairs really well with berries like blackberries and strawberries as well as other fruits like plums and apricots.

How to make the cocktail

To make a good quality gin sour, you'll want to carefully measure your ingredients and take your time building a nice foam. There are different schools of thought on how to make the very best or thickest foam, but the dry shake method produces great results every time. To get started, combine all ingredients in your cocktail shaker.

How to dry shake

With all ingredients in your shaker, secure the top and shake hard for at least 30 seconds. This can be a bit tricky because without the ice, the expanding air bubbles inside the shaker want to push the top of the shaker off (and make a bit of a mess in the process).

How to avoid a mess

I like to wrap the outside seal of my shaker with a paper towel to catch any escaping liquid and hold the shaker closed firmly as I shake. Another option is to add one small ice cube (not a true dry shake, I suppose). This small bit of chill is very effective in keeping the top from blowing off.

Once you've dry shaken your drink for at least 30 seconds, you will remove the top of your shaker, add ice as usual, and then shake for an additional 10 seconds or so until the liquid is thoroughly chilled.

Last, strain the cocktail into a coupe glass and garnish with blackberries and a sprinkle of freshly ground pink peppercorn. You can also go a step further and rim the glass with a freeze-dried berry powder, like I did here. It boosts the berry flavors with its aroma alone.

Enjoyed this recipe? Share it on Instagram, Tiktok, or Pinterest and tag me @moodymixologist!

You may also enjoy these other sour-style cocktails:

• Raspberry Passion Fruit Tequila Sour
• Strawberry Basil Gin Sour
• Amaretto Sour
• Mandarin Ginger Gin Sour