Botanical Cocktails: Raising a Glass to the Garden

Next time you hit up the farmers market for fresh veggies, fruits, and flowers, consider turning your farm-to-table goodness into a farm-to-bar cocktail!

Botanical cocktails are garden-inspired cocktails that can encompass a myriad of ingredients relating to a plant. Everything from spices and herbs to oils and tinctures to create a naturally delicious beverage that flaunts your bar skills and your green thumb!

Whether you get your ingredients from the grocery store, farmers market or just pick them out of your garden, we’ve put together a list of 5 fantastic recipes for you to try out!

Botanical Bee’s Knees

Ingredients

• 2 Chamomile tea bags
• 2 oz Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Blossom vodka
• ³⁄₄ oz Fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp honey

Directions

1. Brew the tea bags in 4 oz hot water according to package directions.
2. Remove tea bags and let cool.
3. Add the vodka, lemon juice, honey and tea into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
4. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
5. Garnish with 2 lemon slices.

Pink Peppercorn Botanical Gimlet

Ingredients

• 2 oz Square One Botanical vodka
• 1 oz Fresh lime juice
• 1⁄2 oz Agave nectar
• 1⁄4 oz Pink peppercorns

Directions

1. In a cocktail shaker, lightly muddle the pink peppercorns until crushed.
2. Add remaining ingredients with ice and shake until well-chilled.
3. Double-strain into a highball glass over fresh ice.
4. Garnish with a lime wheel and a few peppercorns.

Lavender Honey Cream Cocktail

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz Botanical vodka
• 1 oz Organic heavy cream
• 1 oz Organic egg white
• 1 oz Lavender Honey Syrup

Directions

1. Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice.
2. Shake gently for 30 seconds.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a few lavender blossoms.

Honeysuckle Vodka Lemonade

Ingredients

Honeysuckle vodka

• 2 cups (approximate) honeysuckle or honeysuckle and jasmine blossoms
• 750 ml bottle of vodka

Lemonade

• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 cups filtered water
• juice of 2 lemons

Directions

1. To make the infused vodka pluck the blossoms from their stems and discard any leaves or other green parts.
2. Swish the flowers gently in cold water, then lay out to dry on a clean kitchen towel.
3. Put the flowers in a large wide mouthed mason jar, or other equivalent container.
4. Fill the container with vodka. Make sure the blossoms are completely covered by the liquid. Cap tightly and keep in a cool dark place for 24 hours, or up to 5 days. Give it a shake now and then.
5. Strain the vodka through cheesecloth that is at least 4 layers thick. Store in a clean jar, tightly capped. The vodka will keep indefinitely.
6. To make the lemonade, stir the sugar into the water until it is completely dissolved. Add the fresh squeezed lemon juice and stir. Taste to adjust the sweetness if you like.
7. To make the cocktail, fill a glass with ice. Add one shot of honeysuckle vodka. Fill the glass with lemonade, garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of honeysuckle.

Note: While honeysuckle flowers are edible, the berries ARE NOT, so avoid them.

Spiked Hibiscus Iced Tea

Ingredients

Iced Tea

• 8 generic hibiscus tea bags
• 8 cups boiling water
• 1 cup blueberry vodka
• 1/2 cup lemon simple syrup
• 1 cup ice cubes

Lemon Simple Syrup

• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3-4 lemons
• 1 TBSP lemon zest avoid the pith

Garnishes

• Edible flowers
• Fresh mint sprigs
• Lemon wedges

Directions

Lemon Simple Syrup

1. Zest the lemon until you have a full TBSP, then juice the lemons until you have approx. 1/2 cup of freshly squeeze lemon juice.
2. Combine the juice, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a light boil over moderate heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until the sugar is dissolved, stirring often, approx. 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and add the lemon zest. Set aside to cool for ten minutes.
4. Once cooled, run the syrup through a sieve or cheesecloth to get rid of the zest bits. Set aside.

Preparing the Tea

1. Put your tea at the bottom of your heat-resistant pitcher.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to a boiling point of 212° F. (If you don’t have a thermometer, you can estimate. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, you should be at your desired temp of 212° F.)
3. Carefully pour the hot water into the pitcher over the tea bags, ensuring that the tea is covered with water completely. Steep for 7-10 minutes.
4. Remove the tea bags from the pitcher.
5. Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup of the simple syrup to the tea, plus 4 cups of room temperature water. (You can adjust sweetness as you go). Stir well. Set any extra simple syrup aside.
6. Allow the tea to cool on the counter, at room temp, for about 10 minutes.
7. After that, add the vodka and stir well.
8. Finally, add the ice, and place the pitcher in the refrigerator. (This allows the tea to cool gradually. Cooling your tea too quickly will result in a cloudy tea, but it doesn’t affect the quality or taste. So, if you do want to quickly cool your tea and you end up with a cloudy tea, don’t fret; sip away!)
9. Prior to serving, you can rim some glasses with sugar (optional), fill them with ice, and toss in some fresh sprigs of mint. Pour in the iced tea, and garnish with lemon wedges; add edible flowers if you have them.