Lemongrass Sour Recipe

Spring reminds me of the tastes and colors of Easter: neon-hued marshmallow eggs, peanut butter cup eggs, and of course, the gooey Cadbury cream egg. Plain old hard-boiled eggs colored with PAAS dye tablets, and the chocolate-coated potato-filled eggs sold at our Russian market. All nestled in glassy green cellophane grass. For me, Easter time has always been an excuse to eat as many eggs—and candies disguised as eggs—as possible.

Every year of my childhood, Easter also signaled the approaching demise of our cold and snowy New England winters. One couldn't help but feel a bit perked up with all the pastel colors waving about at the drugstore once the seasonal decoration aisle went Easter-crazy.

This cocktail pays homage to both the egg and the colorful arrival of spring. It begins with lemongrass, which offers a more subdued grassy and just-bloomed floral flavor than the punchy citrus we've been eating all winter. Vodka provides a neutral backdrop so the lemongrass can shine.

There are two ways you can go about making your own fresh lemongrass vodka. The longer and more traditional way requires nothing but time. You chop and bruise the lemongrass, cover with vodka, and wait a week or two to extract the full flavor. The second method is quick—seriously quick—but requires some equipment. An instantaneous infusion can be made with a whipped cream canister and two N2O chargers. If you're the type who likes to fiddle with creating your own flavored liquors (and your home bar has space), investing in the canister might be worthwhile for you.

You'll add a hefty dose of freshly squeezed lime juice to punch up the citrus and emphasize the floral notes of the lemongrass. And of course, you need a little Easter egg. An egg white, shaken till foamy, adds an extra-silky texture and softens the drink a little, and curlicues of lime zest recall the bright green grass in the Easter basket that told us it must be spring.