Trial by Fire; A Cocktail by Jaime Jackson

Trial by Fire

A cocktail by Jaimie Jackson

Photography by Nico Luerkens.

Trial by Fire

Ingredients:

  • A few sprigs of Fresh Sage

  • .5oz Dolin Génépy le Chamois 

  • .75oz St. George Terroir Gin

  • .5oz D.O.M. Benedictine

  • .25oz Bonal Gentiane Quina

  • .5oz Fresh Lime Juice

  • Matches or a lighter 

Steps:

  1. Start with a shaker and a heavy, heat-resistant rocks glass or mug. Put a few sage leaves the bottom, and pour the génépy on top. Measure and pour all of the remaining ingredients into a shaker tin with ice.

Photo by Nico Luerkens

2. Using a long match or a lighter, light the sage and génépy on fire. Shake your cocktail as the sage burns.



Photo by Nico Luerkens

3. After about ten seconds of vigorous shaking, pour the contents of your shaker without straining (ice and all) over the burning sage to extinguish the flames.



Photo by Nico Luerkens

4. Top with a little bit of fresh ice and garnish your cocktail with a lime wheel and some freshly smacked sage leaves.

5. Sip and enjoy!



Fire is an interesting ingredient in cocktails, mainly due to its volatile nature and ability to rapidly transform ingredients from one thing to another. Fire brings different aromas, flavors, and textures into the picture that are otherwise unavailable. It also adds a sense of adventure, or danger, depending on how you view the flames. The pine from the génépy plays nicely with the aromatic notes in the terroir gin. Slight bitterness from the Bonal balances with herbal sweetness from the benedictine. 


If you don’t imbibe alcohol, you can create a non-alcoholic alternative using the following ingredients: 

  • A few sprigs of Fresh Sage

  • 1oz if your favorite Non-Alcholic Gin Alternative (I recommend Lyres or Seedlip Garden 108)

  • 1oz over-steeped Celestial Seasonings Roastarama Tea

  • .5oz Honey Syrup (1:1 Honey to Hot Water, stir to combine)

  • .5oz Fresh Lime Juice

  • .25oz Pine Tincture Syrup*

  • Matches or a lighter

Steps:

  1. Lightly char some of the sage leaves with a match or a lighter, and put in your shaker.

  2. Measure and pour all of the remaining ingredients into a shaker tin with ice. Shake your cocktail for about ten seconds.

  3. Pour the contents of your shaker without straining (ice and all) into your glass.

  4. Top with some fresh ice and garnish your cocktail with a lime wheel and some freshly smacked sage leaves.

*Pine Tincture Syrup

  • 2 drops Pine Oil

  • 150ml Food Grade Vegetable Glycerine. 

  • 150ml Primitivizia Mugolio Pine Bud Cone Syrup

Dilute 2 drops of pine oil in food grade vegetable glycerine. Mix with 150ml pine cone syrup. Stir until combined. Set aside.

Photo by Nico Luerkens

Hello, my name is Jaime Jackson. I am the Beverage Director for the FNF Restaurant Group in Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa. I have been cocktail bartending for seven years. Previously, I spent a few years as a liquor broker and sales rep in Eastern Iowa. If that seems strange to you, yes, it is a normally the opposite route that bartenders take. Many often aspire to be snatched from their position of slinging drinks to representing a brand and traveling all over the country. I suppose I like buying more than selling, and there’s nothing quite like being in control behind the pine in the weeds on a busy night. My group runs six restaurants (for now), and they are all wildly different concepts. If you ever have the opportunity to drop by LP Street Food, the hip-stir, or Taco Gato, you’ll have the pleasure of choosing a tipple from a carefully crafted menu created by yours truly and my talented team of bartenders. Without whom I could not have created the non-alcoholic version of the cocktail for this issue (thanks a million, Jeff!). 

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