Summer Peach Old-Fashioned
1.5 oz bourbon .5 oz thyme or tarragon simple syrup (see note) Half of a fresh peach (optional upgrade: Grill the peach first!) Angostura bitters Thyme or tarragon sprig for garnish Note: Make simple syrup by heating equal parts sugar and water until the sugar melts. Add herbs and allow to steep for one hour, then strain. Combine the first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and muddle the peach to release the juice. Shake well over ice, then strain into a short tumbler filled with ice. Add a dash of bitters and garnish with herbs.
Read MoreGrapefruit-Thyme Cooler
1.5 oz gin 1.5 oz fresh grapefruit juice ¼ fresh lime .5 oz thyme simple syrup (see note) Club soda Thyme sprig for garnish Note: Make thyme simple syrup by combining equal parts sugar and water, heating until sugar melts, then adding fresh thyme leaves and allowing to steep for 1 hour. Combine all ingredients except club soda and garnish in a cocktail shaker. Shake over ice and strain into a tall, skinny Collins glass, a short tumbler, or a Mason jar filled with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with thyme sprig.
Read MoreGrow Your Own: The Southern Belle Whiskey Garden
That’s what I like about the south! Whiskey, that is. It was an interesting challenge to work with the people at Log House Plants to put together a collection of plants based around the flavors in whiskey. My top choices, peaches and cherries, don’t exactly fit in a six-pack at the garden center! Anyway, Log House is 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...
Read MoreGrow Your Own: The Old Tom Gin Collection
My cocktail-loving friends at Log House Plants have put together a collection of plants based around the flavors in gin. 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 Tom Gin Garden collection: Cucumber Mexican Sour...
Read MoreHerbalicious
It is with great excitement that I report to you on the arrival of a new gin, a gin that cannot even properly be called gin because its predominant flavor is not juniper but—are you ready? Sage. That’s right. Sage. It comes from the same clever people at Art in the Age who brought us Root, a liqueur inspired by traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipes for root beer and birch bark beer. They also make a ginger liqueur called Snap, and a rhubarb concoction called Rhubarb Tea, made in honor of early American botanist and friend of the founding fathers John Bartram. Intriguing, right? ...
Read MoreThyme
Many varieties of thyme have been bred to work as groundcovers rather than as culinary herbs, so look for Thymus vularis, also sold as common thyme, if you’re after flavor. The citrusy T. citriodorus ‘Aureus’ is another good choice. Both are hardy to about -15F. They prefer sun but will tolerate light shade, and don’t require much water or rich soil. The tiny leaves of thyme can be stripped off the stem, but in a cocktail, you’re better off just throwing the whole sprig in the shaker. Add thyme to any cocktail that calls for grapefruit–they’re perfect...
Read MoreBooks by Amy Stewart
The Drunken Botanist
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