Lemongrass
It’s easy enough to start a lemongrass plant: get one here, or buy fresh stalks in the produce section, set them in a glass of water, and wait a few weeks for them to take root. Give the plant rich soil amended with plenty of compost, a good granular, balanced organic fertilizer, full sun, and as much heat as you can provide. Plan on watering it with a nitrogen fertilizer every few weeks throughout the growing season. (I use a mixture of fish emulsion and kelp meal.) You can also grow lemongrass in a container, which makes it easier to shelter in the winter. The plants do well in a...
Read MoreLemongrass Mojito
1.5 oz white rum .5 oz lemongrass simple syrup ¼ lime 3-4 sprigs ‘Mojito’ mint or another spearmint 1 stick lemongrass 4-6 oz club soda Crushed ice Reserve one sprig of mint for garnish. Make simple syrup by heating equal parts sugar and water until the sugar melts, then add the lemongrass allow to cool and steep for one hour. Combine rum, simple syrup, mint, and lemongrass in a cocktail shaker, then squeeze lime juice into shaker and drop the lime in. Using a muddler or a wooden spoon, gently crush all ingredients to release...
Read MoreGrow Your Own: The Old Havana Rum Garden Collection
Is it summer yet? My friends at Log House Plants have put together a collection of plants based around the flavors in rum. They’re a wholesale nursery, so they’re growing the plants for sale at retail garden centers and gourmet grocery stores on the West Coast. Look for them in your local indie garden center/grocery store, or order them online from the Territorial Seed Company, who has joined in this effort and put together a great collection of cocktail-friendly plants and seeds. Here’s what’s in our Old Havana Rum Garden collection: Alpine strawberry ‘Golden...
Read MoreBooks by Amy Stewart
The Drunken Botanist
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