Thyme of the year

To prepare the thyme vodka, simply add the thyme to the bottle of vodka and leave to infuse until suitably strong in flavour - it will have a decent flavour after half an hour, but you can leave the sprigs in there indefinitely

To prepare the lemon cordial, add the lemon juice, sugar and star anise to a pan and slowly heat to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat, strain and allow to cool

To assemble the cocktail, add 50ml of the thyme vodka and 30ml of the lemon cordial to a Boston shaker and shake with ice. Once shaken, strain into the empty section of the Boston glass, discard the ice and shake again with no ice until the egg white is foamy

Add ice to a highball glass and pour in the cocktail. Top with soda and garnish with lemon zest and thyme sprigs