Harvest your herb garden for summer cocktails
Farm to table: a lovely concept, an overused phrase. But garden to glass? That we can get behind. Summer cocktails call for fruity juices and sparkling mixers to wash down the booze, and homegrown herbs add freshness and aroma to the mix. There are dozens of ways to use the herb garden’s bounty at the bar. Herb flowers, seldom seen when buying bunches of precut herbs at the supermarket, add unexpected color and aroma as a garnish to simple highballs.
Homemade herbal syrups deepen in 100-proof vodka or white wine a drink’s flavor — just boil equal vinegar, then splash into soda-based parts sugar and water, remove from drinks and sip liberally. heat and steep with generous handfuls Sara Gasbarra, founder of Verdura, of basil, spearmint or sorrel for a Chicago company that helps restaurants a green taste and color that go great plant and maintain culinary with gin or rum. Tinctures offer easy gardens, creates a gorgeous garden access to herbal tastes as well. Try each year on the 25th floor rooftop of soaking lovage leaves or fennel stalks Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton.
To show it off, Mathew Wiltzius, executive chef, and Leo Enriquez, the restaurant manager at the hotel’s Lockwood restaurant, have collaborated on a summery cocktail menu for the Lobby Bar, featuring herbs from the garden alongside local spirits and seasonal produce.
Their tips for using garden herbs in cocktails show a range of techniques, from freezing blossoms in ice cubes for decorative garnishes to creating housemade shrubs, syrups and tinctures that bring out the flavors of the various herbs. Their simplest method offers a direct hit of bright, herbal aroma: Simply put the whole herb sprigs straight into the cocktail shaker before shaking, and strain out before serving.
Gasbarra’s favorite cocktail herb is anise hyssop, whose licorice aroma enhances the absinthe rinse in a traditional Sazerac. A sprig of the leaves and purple flowers adds color and flavor.
For his favorite make-at-home herb cocktail, Wiltzius uses lemon thyme from the garden, hibiscus flowers grown last season and dried, plus honey from the hotel’s rooftop hives.
Gasbarra offers these tips for successful, flourishing herb gardening:
Provide sunlight: Herb plants need 6-8 hours of bright direct sun each day. If your herb patch isn’t sunny enough, place the plants in a sunny kitchen window.
Water consistently: “It is super important to water every day,” she says. “The soil should never dry out completely; this stresses the plants out and compromises the health of the plant.”
Source wisely: Buy your plants at an established nursery or from your favorite booth at the farmers market for better selection and better quality plants.
Buy good dirt: “High-quality, nutrient-dense soil is worth the extra money,” she says. Look for soil that contains composted material like chicken manure or even bat guano.
Feed your babies: “Remember plants draw nutrients from the soil, and these get depleted over time.” Gasparra recommends adding fish emulsion, organic granulated fertilizer or cold-processed seaweed (she sources it from retailer Brew & Grow) twice a month.