DRINK
Grow it and drink it: Botanical cocktails
By Elizabeth Licata
Drink photos by kc kratt.

A blooming martini
(adapted from Chicago’s perennial)
A Basil mojito
(adapted from the Water St. Café)
A lot of us are focusing on what we can grow for the dinner table this summer, but it is equally (some would say more) satisfying to grow your own cocktail ingredients. You may not realize it, but you have the makings for some great drinks near at hand in your garden and window boxes. I find that using real herbs, spices, and flowers to create your own refreshing summer drinks is much more interesting than relying on flavored vodkas or bottled mixers.

The alcohol you use is the most important element. For martinis, remember one thing: gin is the new vodka. Unless you really hate gin, you need to try one of the newer gins on the market. TRU gin, which is loaded with botanicals and is a pleasing amber color, plants a tree for every bottle sold, but the main thing is it tastes great and will pair beautifully with other botanical flavors. G’Vine, distilled from grape vines, is another elegant choice, and Hendricks has long been a favorite for those who really love the taste of cucumber in their gin.

The other big summer alcohol is tequila, but please, I beg you, leave that big chartreuse bottle of margarita mix on the shelf. Instead, choose an interesting tequila—we’ve been liking Corzo and Azul Siembra—and throw some out-of-the-box ingredients into the mix. Your guests will thank you. Nobody really likes that bright green stuff (unless they’re also using fake ID to get into Cozumel, in which case I doubt they’re reading this).

To get you started, here are a few recipes that use flowers, floral liquors, vegetables, and herbs. (Yes, the tomato is technically a fruit.) I’ve also included a very intriguing margarita recipe from the makers of Corzo. One of the ingredients in the Perennial martini, St. Germain (a liquor made from elderflowers), is now commonly available; you can’t miss the gorgeous Belle Epoque bottle. Check out their recipe booklet for more ideas.

Now, if only there was a cocktail that would use up a pound of zucchini …


Blooming Perennial martini
(adapted from Perennial, a restaurant in Chicago)
1 part gin
1/2 part St Germain
1/2 part lavender/lemon simple syrup (rub sugar with lemon peel and steep some lavender sprigs—unsprayed!—in the syrup as it cools)
Squeezed juice of half a lemon

Shake with ice, strain into a martini glass, garnish with some fresh coriander or an edible flower.
Simple syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups water

Heat until sugar is dissolved; chill
Variations: rub grated lime zest into the sugar before adding for a lime syrup, or add a handful of basil to the syrup as it chills for a basil syrup.
Basil mojito
(adapted from a Connecticut bartender’s verbal instructions)
1 big sprig basil
1/4 lime
1 part basil-infused simple syrup
1 part rum
ice
splash of soda
lime slice and basil sprig garnish

Muddle the lime, basil, and syrup in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add the rum (white Bacardi is just fine here). Add a few cubes of ice and the splash of soda, garnish and serve. It’s easiest to make a whole bunch of these at once. When they ask for seconds, switch them over to wine or beer.
Sample’s lavender martini
(This Allentown restaurant makes fabulous botanical cocktails;
here’s one that skips the St. Germain.)
1 part gin
1/2 part lavender simple syrup (made with 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 water, and 2 teaspoons lavender—with 1/2 lemon juice added after it made)

Shake with ice, strain into a martini glass
Tomato water vodka martini
Make the tomato water by crushing 5-6 good-sized tomatoes and letting them drip through a sieve lined with cheesecloth for a day or so in the fridge. Then stir equal parts vodka and tomato water with ice, strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a cherry tomato. No, this is not just like a Bloody Mary—tomato water has a delicate flavor that is very different than tomato juice. Make sure you have guests who appreciate subtlety for this one. Or just throw up your hands and pour a couple shakes of hot sauce into it.
Amy’s Garden Party
(from garden writer/gin lover Amy Stewart)
Take a tall, skinny clear glass. Drop in a good-sized fresh sprig of either cilantro or basil. Add cucumbers, preferably cut into pencil-shaped sticks with the skins on. Add a couple slices of fresh jalapeno. Fill with ice cubes. Pour in the tonic, and then the gin, in your preferred ratio. Stir vigorously to crush the herbs and jalapeno. Garnish with a couple cherry tomatoes on a toothpick.
(Stewart recommends Hendrick’s or TRU gin for this drink.)
Corzo Mayan Margarita
(by mixologist Dale Degroff)
1 1/2 parts CORZO reposado
1 tablespoon red pepper jelly or half red pepper half jalapeño pepper jelly
1/2 part agave nectar
1 part fresh lime juice
Orange slice
Unsweetened chocolate powder mixed with ancho chili powder; 2 parts chocolate powder to one part chili powder to dust the rim of the glass.

Prepare the rim of the glass with a dusting of the chocolate /chili mixture by wetting the rim with an orange slice. Fill the glass with cracked ice. Assemble the ingredients in the glass half of a Boston shaker and shake very well with ice. Strain into the prepared glass. Serve immediately.

Elizabeth Licata is editor of Buffalo Spree.


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