Cocktails with Sage leaves
Sage leaves are the aromatic leaves of Salvia officinalis, a perennial evergreen subshrub in the mint family, used fresh or dried as a culinary herb.
Taste profile
Camphoraceous and savoury-herbal, carrying a warm, slightly medicinal, resinous aroma with an eucalyptus-like edge.
How it's used
Contributing aroma more than flavour, the leaf works best bruised, muddled or infused rather than used raw, since whole raw leaves release comparatively little; a leaf or two is muddled or slapped as an aromatic accent and garnish. Concentrated sage extracts and oils contain thujone and should not be dosed like ordinary culinary quantities.
Substitutes for Sage leaves
Where sage is a lone muddled leaf, garnish or minor accent, another woody Mediterranean herb of the same family is a tolerable swap; where sage is the drink's defining aroma, its specific camphor/thujone/cineole profile cannot be rebuilt from unrelated ingredients and it is effectively not substitutable.
Often confused with
Greek sage
Common sage (S. officinalis) always has simple leaves, whereas Greek sage (S. fruticosa) develops trifoliolate leaves at maturity yet is frequently sold in supermarkets as fresh 'sage', so what a buyer receives may not be true common sage.
Other Salvia species
