Shrubs!
In honor of Thanksgiving, a couple of fabulous shrub recipes from this new book on the subject. We’ll be serving them with soda at our bookstore over the holidays, but shrubs are, of course, also a fantastic cocktail ingredient. This time of year, I’d be splashing them into bourbon and applejack drinks. You really can’t mess up a shrub. Just combine one part sugar with two parts vinegar (apple, coconut, and rice vinegars are favorites, although red and white wine vinegars, as well as balsamic, all have their place in the...
read moreMy Tequila Valentine
So here’s what you’re gonna do: 1.5 oz good tequila, mezcal, or other agave-based spirit. .25 oz Campari .25 oz sweet vermouth .25 oz dry vermouth Fresh juice of one blood orange (about 2 oz). Shake over ice and pour into a glass filled with crushed ice or ice cubes. Garnish with citrus peel if you are so inclined. This is a fantastic drink for people who like tequila but don’t like margaritas. (That’s me.) Also, it’s a great way to use winter citrus–any kind of blood orange, regular orange, or...
read moreCocktail Gardening? You’ve Come to the Right Place.
I created this website to feature the many plants you might want to grow in your own cocktail garden, along with growing tips and cocktail recipes. Use the search box to search by plant or spirit. Cheers!
read moreVisit AmyStewart.com for more of everything
Feel free to visit www.amystewart.com for upcoming events, more books, newsletter, etc.
read moreBuild Your Own Cocktail Garden Collection
OK, here’s the deal: cocktail-friendly plants for your own garden, at your bar or restaurant, or on your farm–we’ve got them. Wholesale grower Log House Plants, based in Oregon, is supplying the plants to garden centers and other retailers on the West Coast. Meanwhile, I’ve put together several pages of growing tips and recipes for the plants in the c0llection. You can find all of that right here, but I’ll also put some individual links below. The Mixologist’s Simple Syrup Collection: Six herbs...
read moreI’ll Have My Aronia Cocktail Now, Please
Earlier this year at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, I was hanging out with Jessi Bloom of NW Bloom (and author of Free-Range Chicken Gardens) in her exhibit booth. She had brought a selection of edible landscaping plants — reliable, hardworking shrubs, vines, trees and the like that would behave in the landscape and provide some food. The star of the show was Aronia melanocarpa, sometimes known as black chokeberry. It’s a medium-sized shrub that puts out white blooms in spring and small dark fruit in fall. Nice enough...
read moreThe Drunken Botanst Goes to Manhattan…and Elsewhere…
…and Buffalo. And Brooklyn. See you there? As always, please check with the venue before heading out to confirm details. Also, there are lots more events coming up around the country–go here to see the complete list. June 06 2013 06:30 PM — The Horticultural Society of New York, New York, NY Doors open at 6 and there will be drinks! June 09 2013 02:00 PM — Sycamore Bar & Flowershop, Yes, it’s a flower shop AND a bar. So naturally, I’m doing an event there! $15 gets you a cocktail, a bouquet of...
read moreThe Drunken Botanist on NPR’s Morning Edition
Listen to the NPR Morning Edition interview here. The next time you’re sipping on a glass of something boozy, consider the plants behind your beverage. Some of them might spring immediately to mind: grapes in your wineglass, rye in your whiskey bottle, juniper in your gin and tonic. But what about sorghum and coriander? Cinchona and bitter orange? An incredible diversity of grains, herbs and fruits goes into the world’s alcoholic drinks, which means that for the botanically minded, a trip to the liquor store is a little different...
read moreThe Drunken Botanist, 1858 Style
Imagine my excitement when this came into our bookstore. The full title of the book is Fermented Liquors: a Treatise on Brewing, Distilling, Rectifying, and Manufacturing of Sugars, Wines, Spirits, and All Known Liquors, Including Cider and Vinegar: Also, Hundreds of Valuable Directions in Medicine, Metallurgy, Pyrotechny, and the Arts in General, by Lewis Feuchtwanger. The actual beautiful old weird creature that is this book is totally worth owning, but if you aren’t going to pick up a copy, it’s available as a free ebook from...
read moreDIY Bitters? Yes, Indeedy.
I’m totally in love with these DIY kits for making your own bitters. The problem with making your own bitters is that some of the spices are expensive and difficult to track down. (You cannot get gentian root in the spice section at Safeway.) So this company called Dash Bitters has put kits together with infusion jars, bottles, funnels, cheesecloth, and assorted spices. You, of course, should feel free to experiment and add your own secret botanical ingredients. I’m particularly intrigued with the 1889 Aromoatic Bitters...
read moreBooks by Amy Stewart
The Drunken Botanist
Recent Comments