“Thank you… Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage… I am Saria. The Sage of the Forest Temple…” - The Sage of Forest Saria, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Inspiration
When Link was a young lad seven years ago, he received an ocarina from his fellow Kokiri Saria. Seven years later, he would find that this same Saria had become the Sage of Forest protecting the Forest Temple and waiting for his return. The Spritz of Forest is a sort of ‘next chapter’ in some drink experimentations I did with lime zest and thyme-infused gin. The recipe adds another herb of the forest to the mix, sage, and uses prosecco to match Sarias bright, bubbly, and playful personality.
Workshopping
Infusion of Forest
12 oz (355 ml) Gin
3g Lime Zest
6g Thyme (leaves and branches)
Infuse for 7 days, then strain.
The second sage spritz (following the Spritz of Light) features the flavors of the forest. The infusion I cooked up for this sage spritz was actually an improvement upon the lime-thyme gin infusion that I had worked on for the Ocarina of Thyme cocktail. I had found that the original ratio of lime zest to thyme favored the lime too heavily. The adjusted ratio of 2 parts thyme to 1 part lime zest seemed to hit that sweet spot that felt perfect for this spritz. To get the most mileage out of this infusion, I’d recommend trying it in a gin & tonic, in our Ocarina of Thyme martini riff, or a gin basil smash!
By the way, I prepared this infusion and the others during their own livestream seven days before the cocktails debuted! (Get it? Seven days, for seven spritzes and for the seven years Link was asleep in the Temple of Time! ~ Anyways, if you want a visual guide, watch us make the Infusion of Forest here)
The Spritz of Forest
The flavors of lime and thyme, I found went surprisingly well with prosecco. In my flavor journey, most of the proseccos I’ve had have an offputting metallic flavor to them that is mitigated by citrus flavors. The lime paired with the citrus and thyme immediately remedied the metallic flavors. Even after combining everything, I wanted to add another flavor in there to really bring things together.
Although all of the seven sages are, well sages, only this spritz uses sage, the herb. It's fitting since I imagine sage (or some Hyrule equivalent) would be found out and about in the Lost Woods. I had found a bit of savoriness in the inclusion of the thyme and adding a sage simple syrup really amplified that. By the way, that sage simple syrup is quite simply a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water by weight and I left it to infuse with sage leaves for about 48 hours.
Flavor Analysis
Like a light key lime pie in a glass. An herbaceous flavor combination of lime zest and thyme with a seemingly subtle savoriness.
Spritz of Forest (for Saria)
Spritz of Forest (for Saria)
- 2 oz (59 ml) Lime Thyme Gin
- 0.5 oz (15 ml) Sage Syrup
- 3 oz (88 ml) Prosecco
Method: Build over Ice
Garnish: Lime Wheel
More drinks inspired by: The Legend of Zelda
Guided Recipe in 60 Seconds: YouTube
Watch Us Mix this Recipe Live!
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