The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail

The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail is dear to my heart for a variety of reasons. A dear friend is getting married this month and she asked me to create a few signature cocktails for her. I have no clue if she’ll select this one, but I know when I drink The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail, I’ll think of her. The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail features smoky scotch, woodsy sage, and chartreuse and is paired unpredictably with pineapple juice- perfect for the marriage of summer to fall. But how did it come about? That’s a story in and of itself. My dad is a gardener extraordinaire and a couple of weekends ago, I came home to three huge boxes of herbs. Lemon verbena, thyme, and sage. I already had very specific plans for the verbena (I make this sheep’s milk lemon verbena ice cream that I’ve shared a version of here, and I served a more complicated version for my pop-up restaurant). The verbena and thyme where well on their way towards dry, so nothing had to be done right away, but the sage was still very fresh and lush and would rot if not preserved or used quickly. I fried some for pizza, I laid some out to dry, and some I wanted to use right away in a cocktail for Labor Day weekend, which is a tricky time for menu planning. I mean, you’re still feeling Summer, but Fall is right there… So I started by making some sage simple syrup. And then I opened the liquor cabinet. I’m not even sure how I ended up at pineapple with sage, but I know it had to do with a flight of chartreuse cocktails I had at Aviary years ago that centered around mint ice cubes. Several incantations later The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail was complete and I wasn’t too much worse for wear. I love the pairing of the intense flavors. This cocktail could be too sweet between the simple syrup and the pineapple juice but I assure you it’s not. The smoky scotch and the woodsy herbs of the sage and the chartreuse cool it off in a marriage of bright tropical summer with woodsy, smoky fall. I loved creating The September Wedding: Pineapple Sage Cocktail and I know you’re going to enjoy making it too. Cheers!

Yield: 1 cocktail or 1 pitcher
Cook Time: 5 minutes active and at least 30 minutes to cool
Prep Time: 3 minutes

2 parts Scotch*
3 parts pineapple juice
1 part sage simple syrup (note- go heavy on the sage leaves for this one)
1 part chartreuse

Making a pitcher? part = 1 cup
Making a single serving? part = 1 tablespoon

Mix the scotch, pineapple juice, simple syrup and chartreuse. Pour over ice. Top with lush, fuzzy sage leaves. *If you’re not already into Scotch, picking one out can be daunting. And expensive. I really like it, so I always have a few on hand. I tried this cocktail out with a few, because I had the time and the wherewithal, but I liked it best with the Oban 14 year, that said, I really liked the Poorman’s version.

Poorman’s version: Use Jameson Irish Whiskey in place of the expensive Scotch and just add a float of good scotch at the end. You get a lot of the effect, without all the cost.