Spiced Pear Mule

Photographer: Jordan

These past few weeks i’ve been transforming my favorite fruits and vegetables into preserves and syrups for upcoming holiday expeditions. I’ve never been organised enough to do this in my home life, but there is something about going camping that motivates me to make liqueurs or jar pickles. Part of this is how good these things are to trade or gift, but it’s also great to have a few treats stashed for when you are off the grid and muesli bars just aren’t cutting it

Last year I made a salted caramel rum. This year it’s a batch of simple syrups for cocktail making. This recipe is a take on the Moscow Mule with a spiced pear syrup thrown in the mix. I like to use homemade ginger beer, which is more tart, as I find the syrup adds enough sweetness.

INGREDIENTS


For the syrup
1 cup chopped pear
2 tbsp. fresh chopped ginger
1 cup muscovado sugar
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of nutmeg

For the cocktail
45ml vodka
30ml pear simple syrup
30ml lime juice
90ml fresh ginger beer
Ice Cubes
Lime

METHOD

For the syrup
1. Place the pear and ginger in a saucepan on a medium-high heat and cook until tender.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of water, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes.
3. Strain the liquid twice and transfer it to a bottle, allowing it to cool.

For the cocktail
1. Add vodka, pear syrup and lime juice into a glass. Cover with ice and top up with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel.