Recipes
Levio-Soooooda!
Tart and tangy rhubarb has a fruity aftertaste that you would expect from candy, so we combined it with ambrosial Grains of Paradise. The spice is peppery and spicy like ginger, although it has a floral quality that keeps evolving. The smell of Grains of Paradise will remind you of cardamom. The flavors combined make for an uplifting and tasty summer beverage.If you grow rhubarb, you know how enormous it gets. You get to the point where you don't know what to do with it! The red rhubarb stems are most desirable for baking, mostly because the color. However infusing the green stems and adding a couple raspberries will result in a beautiful rosy gin. Mix this gin with soda water for an easy summer cocktail that will have people asking what the secret ingredient is. Tastes like magic!
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Pepper and Spruce Tip Dirty Martini
The dirty martini, made by adding olive brine to the traditional recipe, is a well-loved twist on a classic cocktail. For a twist on a twist, we created this concoction which uses pickled spruce tips in addition to the usual garnish.To pickle the spruce tips, we used an infusion of Green Peppercorn, Black Vietnamese Peppercorn, and Long Pepper. The combination adds a spicy and savory punch to the natural flavor of the spruce tips. With so many strong flavors at play, it made sense to opt for a vodka martini over gin, to avoid adding the intensity of juniper to the mix.The final result is a bold martini that combines woody aromatics with rich briny notes and a slight peppery bite. Give it a try!
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Smoky Sunset
This bold cocktail dances in the grey area between sweet and savory. Starting from tequila as the base, we spiced this drink up with chipotle to complement the spirit's slightly earthy sweetness. Next, we added lime and grapefruit as an acidic counterpoint to the smoky heat. As a last touch, we finished the drink in style with a salty rim made of chipotle flake and alderwood smoked salt.All that's missing is a name. Perfect for a slow sip at dusk after a hot summer day, the cocktail tastes exactly like what we decided to call it: a smoky sunset.
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Portuguese Ginjinha
Ginjinha, or Ginja for short, is a liqueur made from an infusion of sour cherries, also called ginja berries. After a friend from Lisbon introduced us to this delicious concoction, we waited almost a year Pacific Northwest cherries to be in season so we could try to make our own. Our recipe for this liqueur is spiced with Cassia Stick Cinnamon and Cloves to add a spicy, aromatic bite.Traditionally served in shot glasses for a slow sip with a tart cherry garnish, Ginjinha is also a great ingredient in other cocktails. Try using some in a batch of sangria, or add a bit to your Manhattan for a sweet and spicy twist. As soon as we tried it, Ginjinha quickly became a bar cart staple for its versatility and unique flavor.
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Mystic Mule
Perfect for a hot summer evening, or anytime, really. The classic Moscow Mule needs no introduction. Fizzy and softly spicy, this delicious cocktail is typically served in a copper mug for instant ice-cold refreshment. For this variation on the drink, we used our Mystic Licorice Tea to complement the traditional flavors. Full of warm spices like licorice, cinnamon, cardamom, orange, coriander, and cloves, this tea blend adds complexity to gentle bite of ginger beer, while including a sweet finish that pairs well with the sour flavor of the lime. We suggest you make a pitcher, because these go down easy. We also used local ginger beer from Timber City, which has a strong ginger kick without too much sweetness to make this cocktail. When making the tea, we recommend brewing a strong batch to stand up to the other flavors. Approximately four teaspoons per cup of water should do the trick.
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Emerald Mojito
We've mixed some Mojito magic here using a simple syrup made with our Emerald Mist tea! Peppermint and spearmint are the main flavors in the syrup, along with with licorice, cloves, and ginger. Combined with fresh lime to make it a Mojito, this drink is delicious virgin or classically spiked with rum. Kick back and enjoy it on a hot summer day. Don't feel up for that much mixology? Emerald Mist makes a fantastic iced tea for summer all on it's own.
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Turmeric & Star Anise Pickles
These sweet pickles are fun-tastic! Gather a basket of your favorite crunchy vegetables and slice them into strips, discs and triangles. For this batch we used half carrots and cucumbers, and half assorted white vegetables to really let the color of the turmeric shine. They were ready to munch on after just one night and the flavors from the spices and fresh ginger just keep getting better with each passing day. Serve them alongside savory or spicy dishes for a nice contrast of flavor and don't waste the brine! Add it to sauces and vinaigrettes or splash in a dirty martini for incredible flavor.
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Saffron Lemonade
We often get asked how to use Saffron, and this is one of our favorite and unique ways. A little goes a long way with this flavorful brew and it is so easy to make. The sunshine in this cup shines all on its own but it also mixes well with all manner of spirits, sweet or savory. Truth be told we've tried it with everything from Mezcal to Vanilla Vodka and they are all fantastic.
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Warm Winter Sangria
Spiced wine? Mulled cider? We say "choose both" with this Warm Winter Sangria. Mulled wine alone can be too harsh, and mulled cider too sweet. Put them together with a touch of honey and orange, and the drink comes out just right.Choose a full bodied wine whose shelf-talker boasts of black or red cherry flavors that will complement the mulling spice, but with a price that won't break the bank. Mid-shelf Pinot Noir or Cabernet are good choices, and an unfiltered and unsweetened cider is the perfect complement. We were lucky enough to have one straight out of the press and it made this Warm Winter Sangria all the more flavorful. Don't forget the Mulling Spice!
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