The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Instead of flowers, consider a bouquet in a bottle
Inspired botanicals will add a burst of fresh flavor to cocktails.
People have been gifting flowers as an expression of love for ages, but there is another way to offer up the aroma (and flavor) of blossoms. Consider one of these six ideas for offering a bouquet in a bottle.
Glendalough Rose Gin
Pretty in pink with an infusion of roses, Glendalough Rose Gin is vapor stilled in small batches to preserve delicate flavors. Created to honor distiller Ciarán Rooney’s mom Rose using petals from her rose garden, the distillation also includes foraged wild botanicals and roses from Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin. It’s very much like gifting a stroll through an Irish rose garden with a little spice, some wildflowers and complex depth for building a floral gin and tonic. Find it at Strong Water, Tower and Toco Giant. ($34, 750 ML)
glendaloughdistillery.com.
Citadelle Jardin d’été Gin
Inside the pretty blue bottle of Citadelle Jardin d‘été Gin is a love letter from owner and master blender Alexandre Gabriel to his wife, who cultivated the French garden at Chateau de Bonbonnet. It has fresh juniper from the on-site juniper orchard, and bursts with
fresh lemon. In all, 19 botanicals — flowers, fruit and spice — create an experience for the senses. It makes a lovely French 75. Widely available, $29.99 per 750 ML. citadellegin.com.
Brovo Pretty Floral White Vermouth
Vermouth is having a moment, perhaps for its wide range of flavors or its low alcohol by volume status. This bottle makes for a bloomy vermouth and soda. Made with a base of Wahluke Slope Pinot Gris, Pretty Floral Vermouth is infused with a mix of herbs, spices and floral elements. Elderflower, chamomile, comfrey and Angelica root dance with vanilla bean, cardamom and lemon. It’s beautiful in a 50/50 martini. Widely available, $22.99 per 750 ML. brovospirits.com.
Cappelletti Pasubio Vino Amaro
Whether sipped before or after dinner, neat or in a cocktail, floral and herbal amaro liqueurs truly impart a taste of place. Pasubio tastes like a hike on a mountainside when wildflowers are blooming. Built on a base of aged red wine created by Giuseppe Cappelletti in the early 20th century, it has notes of blueberry, root, herbs, and flowers from Italy’s Dolomite Mountains. It’s sweet and floral with a light and pleasing bitterness. It makes a great Hanky Panky as a replacement for fernet. Widely available, $21 per 750 ML, 17% ABV.
Sorel Liqueur
Sorel Liqueur is microdistiller Jackie Summers’ twist on sorrel, the Caribbean classic “red drink.” The traditional drink with origins in West Africa is made with dried hibiscus flowers and ginger and dates to the spice trade. Summers’ spirited version infuses punchy African hibiscus, Brazilian clove, Indonesian cassia, and Nigerian ginger for a bright red, floral and fruity pour that warms the soul. It makes a wonderfully floral hibiscus mule. Widely available, $35 per 750 ML, 15% ABV.
Barr Hill Gin
We have bees to thank for pollinating the flowers we use to express emotion. Barr Hill Gin is an homage to those buzzing workers. From their custom-built botanical extract still, they produce a gin with the floral depth of a wildflower field. Added just before bottling, pure raw honey carries floral notes in both the flavor and aroma of the flowers they buzz in Vermont. Could there be a better gin for a Bee’s Knees cocktail? Widely available for $35 per 750 ML.