Strawberry And Lemon Verbena Mocktail

9 January 2018

A perfect mocktail for Dry January - the strawberries, lemon verbena leaves, and sweet cicely seeds makes this drink a sweet reminder of those hot summer days. This mocktail is grown-up, herbaceous, and with enough sweetness for you to indulge yourself.

Strawberry And Lemon Verbena Mocktail

5 ripe strawberries, washed and hulled

5 lemon verbena leaves

5 sweet cicely seeds

2 tsp (10ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Grind of coarse black pepper

4oz (120ml) sparkling water

Tools:

Cocktail shaker with strainer

Muddler

barspoon/mixing rod

Glass: Champagne/rocks/wine

Ice: Cubes

Garnish: Sweet cicely seeds and leaf, lemon verbena leaf

Serves 1

Fill the serving glass with ice. Place the strawberries, lemon verbena leaves, and sweet cicely seeds in the bottom of the cocktail shaker and muddle thoroughly to release all the juices, essential oils, and fl avors. Add the lemon juice and black pepper. Fill the shaker two-thirds of the way up with ice. Seal and shake hard for 20 seconds to really muddle things up and cool things down. Strain the mocktail into the serving glass. Top up with sparkling water, and stir to combine. Garnish with sweet cicely seeds, if you wish, a sweet cicely leaf, and a lemon verbena leaf.

Recipe extracted from Wild Mocktails and Healthy Cocktails by Lottie Muir. Published by CICO Books on the 9th January and available from all good book retailers.