Pineapple Sage Maritini

Yet another cocktail from the Nopi cookbook.  My spouse thought it was too much troube, but my son and I thought it was balanced, complicated, and herbal.

• 1 bottle Tanqueray London dry gin
• 20 sage leaves
• 4 cardamom pods, roughly crushed by hand or in a mortar and pestle
• 1 large pineapple, unpeeled, leaves trimmed and discarded
• 3/4 ounce lemon juice
• 3/4 ounce clove syrup

1. Preheat the oven to  400F.
2. Wrap the pineapple in foil and roast in the oven for 3 hours. Remove and set aside to cool.
3. Peel the pineapple and cut it lengthwise into 4 wedges. Cut out and discard the core, then place the flesh in a blender. Blitz to form a purée and set aside.
4. Add the crushed cardamom pods and sage leaves to the bottle of gin and set aside for at least 3 hours, swirling the bottle from time to time.
5. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discard the cardamom and sage, and return the gin to the bottle.
6. Pour 3 1/2 ounces of infused gin into a shaker with 1 3/4 ounce of the pineapple purée, 3/4 ounce of lemon juice, and 2/3 ounce of the clove syrup.
7. Add ice, shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds, and strain into prechilled martini glasses.
8. Garnish each with a fresh sage leaf and serve at once.

Clove Syrup:
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
4 whole cloves
Place the sugar in a medium saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the cloves and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lift out and discard the cloves, then set the syrup aside until completely cool.