Hello everyone! Today’s post is brought to you by Andrew Odom – author, designer, community manager, homesteader, and (some would say) dreamer.
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Let’s face it. Herbs can become a bit stale sometimes. And no, I don’t mean tasteless or unpalatable from age but rather stale…as in old from familiarity. Most gardeners begin each spring (or continue in the case of all-season gardiniér) with the usual suspects of basil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, mint, etc. In fact, I wrote about the herb essential here. But it takes a special person to find multiple callings for the flavorful foliages other than culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual usage. And by that I am talking about libational use of herbs (and some spices).
That’s right. When your whiskey has become a bit too sour or your Manhattan has begun tasting a bit more like the Jersey Shore, you can use those same dainty, delicate, redolent, botanicals for something a little more mature, if you will.
I encourage YOU to use the five recipes listed below to add a little garden spice to your already “nice” (reference to sugar and spice and puppy dog tails, etc….okay, it sounded better when I said it) to old recipe classics.
Cucumber Mint Gin & Tonic
SERVINGS
1 drink
INGREDIENTS:
2 slices cucumber
3 mint sprigs
3 ounces gin
4 ounces Q organic tonic water
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
PREPARATION:
1. Muddle 1 slice cucumber and 2 sprigs mint in highball glass.
2. Fill with ice.
3. Add 3 ounces gin, 4 ounces tonic and 1/2 ounces lime juice.
4. Stir and garnish with a cucumber wheel.
Pepper Basil Caipirinha
SERVINGS
1 drink
INGREDIENTS:
1 bar spoon white peppercorns
1 bar spoon sugar
1 ounce lime juice
10 basil leaves
2 ounces cachaça
1 basil leaf
PREPARATION:
1. Muddle 1 bar spoon of white pepper corns and add sugar, 1 lime quartered and basil leaves.
2. Add cachaça and 1 ounce lime juice.
3. Shake the mixture and strain into a rocks glass over ice.
4. Garnish with sprig of basil.
La Vie En Rouge
SERVINGS
1 drink
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 1/2 oz. fresh pressed cranberry juice (can substitute with bottled cranberry juice)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Fresh rosemary needles
PREPARATION:
1. In a tall mixing glass, muddle 10-12 rosemary needles lightly with simple syrup.
2. Add remaining ingredients then add ice and shake vigorously.
3. Strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass with ice.
4. Garnish with a rosemary sprig.
Kiwi and Cilantro Mojito
SERVINGS
1 drink
INGREDIENTS:
3-4 sprigs of fresh cilantro
3-4 fresh spearmint leaves
2 slices fresh lime
1 kiwi, peeled and halved
1 tbsp. sugar (or simple syrup)
1 and ½ ounces light rum
Club soda
PREPARATION:
1. Lightly muddle the cilantro leaves, spearmint leaves, fruit, and sugar together in the bottom of the glass.
2. Add ice, rum, and enough club soda to fill glass.
3. Stir lightly to mix, and garnish with an extra slice of lime.
The Coriandrum
SERVINGS
1 drink
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz Square One Organic Vodka
1/4 oz Cinzano Bianco Vermouth
splash of coriander nectar (recipe below)
splash of orange bitters
coriander seeds for garnish
lemon twist for garnish
PREPARATION:
1. Pour the vodka, vermouth, nectar and bitters into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake for 30 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a few coriander seeds and lemon twist.
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Bigger does not always mean better. Progress does not always mean forgetting our roots in order to forge a new future. Blogger, photojournalist, and hobby farmer Andrew Odom has spent much of the last few years rediscovering the lost art of living, growing, and being truly happy. Visit him online at www.tinyrevolution.us.