When it comes to the world of libations, using fresh herbs can add a nice twist — or even a zing — to your favorite cocktail.
Renowned bartender Beth Dixon, beverage director for Pasture restaurant in Richmond, Va., uses fresh local ingredients in her signature drinks, including fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables and edible flowers grown in her garden and on local farms.
Dixon makes homemade syrups and shrubs using herbs and also uses infused spirits with herbs for her mocktails and cocktails. Far from being decorative plants, these shrubs are vinegar-based syrups mixed with herbs or fruits; Dixon likes using champagne vinegar in her shrub recipes.
“Shrubs are a perfect ingredient for a drink for many reasons,” Dixon says.
They have acidity; they have flavor; they have sweetener. They are a good way to preserve herbs, and they are so refreshing.”
Some of Dixon’s favorite alcohol and fresh herb or fruit combinations include: gin mixed with thyme, rosemary, dill, parsley, lavender or honeysuckle; vodka with pear, lavender or peppermint; whiskey with apple, fig, rhubarb, rosemary, chocolate mint, honeysuckle or sage; rum with apple or pineapple sage; and tequila with cilantro, pineapple sage or tarragon.
One of Dixon’s favorite herbs to use in drinks is parsley, and she’s been known to throw some rhubarb in a cocktail.
Joseph Veltre, assistant general manager for Amber Ox Public House, a restaurant and brewery in Williamsburg, Va., also mixes drinks using fresh herbs, such as tarragon. Amber Ox also uses local ingredients and even adds fresh herbs to its beer during the brewing process.
A favorite drink, Uncle Gene’s Velvet Armchair, is named after the proverbial uncle sitting in his armchair with his “juice.” It’s made with sage and thyme.
“There is a trend toward using aromatic herbs,” Veltre says. “When you use herbs, spices or fruit, it adds other balances to a cocktail. It’s a lot of fun.”
