Recipe: This Blackberry Bourbon Sour From Nightshade Is Made With Chickpea Water

As summer cools into fall, Nightshade’s blackberry bourbon sour is your perfect transitional toast. The sun-kissed blackberries and zesty lemon evoke sunny days, while the smoky bourbon and clove syrup welcome the cozy embrace of autumn. Plus, there’s an innovative (read: vegan) chickpea twist—Nightshade did, after all, earn bronze in the Best Vegetarian category of our 2022 Restaurant Awards (and, more recently, Bib Gourmand status from the Michelin Guide). This sweet bourbon cocktail is an elegant mix that tastes like the season itself. So don’t be sour that summer is fleeting: drink to it!

Blackberry Bourbon Sour

Serves 1

4 blackberries (muddled)

1 oz lemon juice

1 oz clove syrup (try this recipe)

1 oz aquafaba (water from cooked or canned chickpeas, see BELOW for more info)

2 oz bourbon

Garnish (optional)

Lemon ribbon

Blackberries

Tonka bean shavings

METHOD

1. Muddle berries in a shaker.

2. Add liquid ingredients and 4 to 5 cubes of ice.

3. Shake vigorously until you feel the cocktail is chilled.

4. Strain into a glass and garnish.

WTF (What the Faba?)

Raising a glass to your favourite vegan? Meet your cocktail’s secret weapon: aquafaba, or as we like to call it, garbanzo gold! This slimy chickpea juice may seem destined for the drain—but don’t throw this baby out with the bean bath water. It’s a secret froth-master. Just whisk, shake or froth—1 tbsp for a yolk, 2 tbsp for an egg white and 3 tbsp for the whole egg shebang.

Pro tip: Freeze in 1 tbsp portions for easy, chill, vegan-approved cocktails down the road.

Originally published in the September/October 2023 issue of Vancouver Magazine.

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