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A Dry Rabbit original · Thanksgiving

Sage and Pear Pitcher

A make-ahead pitcher that isn't one more cider: pear, fresh ginger, sage and lemon, steeped the night before. Makes about 6.

Alcohol-free. Nothing in it has alcohol.

Make it

You’ll need (serves 6)

  • 2 cups (480 ml) water
  • a 3-inch piece fresh ginger, in thin slices
  • 4 fresh sage sprigs
  • 3 cups (720 ml) pear juice, unfiltered
  • ½ cup (120 ml) fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cups (480 ml) sparkling water, chilled, to top (optional)

Garnish: A sage leaf and a thin slice of pear in each glass.

Method

  1. Bring the water to a boil, drop in the ginger and simmer it for 10 minutes.
  2. Off the heat, add the sage and steep it for 5 minutes more, then lift out the sage and leave the ginger in.
  3. Pour it into a pitcher with the pear juice and lemon juice, and chill it overnight.
  4. To serve, take out the ginger, stir, and pour about 7 oz over ice in each glass. Top with sparkling water if you like it lighter.

Make ahead. It's best made the night before, so the ginger has time to warm it through. Covered in the fridge, it keeps about 3 days (our estimate).

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Allergens and caffeine

  • No major allergens, and no caffeine.

Get everything for it

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The tools

From the store

Water, Fresh ginger, Fresh sage sprigs, Pear juice, Fresh lemon juice, Sparkling water.

Buying in person? See where to shop zero-proof around Boston.

How we checked it

Dry Rabbit originals are developed and checked with AI, against the 42 tested recipes in The Dry Rabbit Cocktail Guide: sweetness and acidity per ounce, sweet to sour, dilution and the drink’s size against drinks made the same way, every ingredient’s alcohol, and whether you can buy it. One that falls outside the book’s range is reworked before it’s published.

The check’s notes on Sage and Pear Pitcher

A batch for six, built like the book's punches but still rather than sparkling, and with no added sugar: pear juice brings all of it, and lemon and a long ginger steep balance it. Sweetness 0.11 and acidity 0.11 a finished ounce, sweet to sour 1.05, all inside the book's batches (0.09 to 0.12, 0.07 to 0.14, and 0.80 to 1.57), and about 8 oz a serving over ice by the check's sums. The sage goes in for five minutes only, so it tastes green, not medicinal. The optional sparkling water isn't in the numbers; it only makes it lighter. Pear juice, ginger, sage and lemons are at every supermarket in November. 0.0%.

Made it? Tell us how it was: the best originals come back next season.

More to make

From our book, free on the site: The Burrow, Rabbit Punch, Harvey, Crepuscular, Winter Coat, Bog Hopper.