Haft Sin
Four of the seven on the Nowruz table, back together with the wine.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Apple brandy (Calvados) | 40 ml | 1⅓ oz |
| Senjed syrup · homemade, P42 | 15 ml | ½ oz |
| Mint sekanjebin · homemade, P06 | 15 ml | ½ oz |
| Fresh lemon juice · homemade, J01 | 15 ml | ½ oz |
| Brut cava or other dry sparkling wine | 30 ml | 1 oz |
| Sumac rim salt · homemade, G02 | half rim |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
flute with a half sumac-salt rim
shaken with ice, served up, topped with sparkling wine
half rim of sumac salt and a thin apple slice
The story
On the first morning of spring, every Iranian house sets a table of seven things that begin with s: sib, the apple, for beauty; senjed, the oleaster, for love; serkeh, vinegar, for patience; somaq, sumac, for the sunrise; sabzeh, samanu, seer. One old story says the table was once Haft Shin, seven things with sh, and that the seventh was sharab, wine, swapped for vinegar in a later age. This glass puts four of the seven back together and pours the wine on top: apple brandy, senjed syrup, sekanjebin for the vinegar, a sumac rim for the sun coming up, and bubbles for the new year.
Method
- Rub half the rim of a flute with lemon and dip it in sumac salt. Chill the flute.
- Shake the apple brandy, senjed syrup, sekanjebin and lemon juice with ice.
- Double-strain into the flute.
- Top with the sparkling wine and let it settle.
- Float a thin slice of apple on top.
How it tastes
Apple and bubbles up front, a soft dried-pear sweetness from the senjed, the clean sour snap of sekanjebin, and the sumac rim bringing a sour, almost cranberry edge to each sip. Festive and quick.
Persian taste: malas (sweet-sour), torsh (sour)
Pair it with
- Food: Sabzi polo with fish, the Nowruz lunch.
- Sweet: Nan-e nokhodchi and a bowl of ajil, the Nowruz nuts.
- Snack: Ajil-e moshkel-gosha
Variations
Alcohol-free
Replace the brandy with 40 ml fresh apple juice and the wine with soda; the table as it is set today.
Pear-date
If senjed is out of reach, use the pear-date stand-in on the senjed syrup page.
Vinegar-forward
Raise the sekanjebin to 20 ml for a more serkeh-like glass.
Balancing tips
- Chill everything; a warm flute kills the bubbles.
- Senjed syrup is gentle; it should read as soft sweetness, not a flavour of its own.
- The rim is the sumac; without it the sunrise is missing.
Allergens
- Sulfites (wine)
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test senjed syrup at 15 and 20 ml; test cava versus soda for the alcohol-free version.
- Sources: Emory Libraries Nowruz guide; Tasting Table on the Haft Shin story.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
Steps light up as the animation plays. Tap a step to jump to it.
across Iran (Nowruz), imagined
