Summertime Cocktails and Teas from the Garden

Herbs and fruit and spirits

 

I love to grow herbs in my garden and window boxes. I even have an AeroGarden in my kitchen, which is especially nice for growing fresh herbs during winter months. 

I can grow herbs all winter indoors with this baby.

You don't need to be a real farmer (like me hahaha!) to whip up some goodness from your garden. You don't really even need to garden. Head to your local farmer's market and support your local farmers!

Obviously, herbs are wonderful for cooking. But I also love to be able to run outside with the scissors and bring back an assortment to chop up and add to some sour cream to make a dip, some dressing, add to some olive oil for bread dipping or to lavishly garnish a cheese board. 

But did you ever stop to think of all of the wonderful, fresh cocktails and teas you can make using fresh herbs? Mint, Sage, Rosemary,  and Thyme are all wonderful additions to your drink repertoire. 

Muddling 101. You need to know how to muddle and you will need to own a muddler like this Muddler. 

Muddle: verb. 1) bring into a disordered or confusing state. 2) to gently mash an herb or leaf to release flavor. 

Don't over muddle. The leaves need to be mashed 3 or 4 times, not pulverized. 

Herb Tea

Combine 15 leaves of basil or mint and 2 cups of water in a saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for another 5 minutes. Remove leaves and drink hot or place in frig to enjoy as a cold tea later. Add honey and lemon if you like.

Substitute 5 sage leaves or 5 large sprigs of thyme.

Mint

I have a few different types of mint that grow and spread in my backyard flowerbed aka "The Mojito Garden" and I also use the mint often when making tea. Mint is said to help with stomach and skin problems, relieve allergies and asthma and is a natural breath freshener.

Lemon Mint Tea

Muddle about 10 mint leaves and half of a sliced lemon in a pitcher. Add two family size tea bags (I use Luzianne brand caffeine free iced tea) and add water to the top of the pitcher. Let it sit in the frig overnight to brew and then remove the mint and lemon. Additional mint and lemon can be added as garnish when serving.

 

Classic Mojito 

recipe from Ixchel's Kitchen 2

8 - 10 Mint leaves (extra for garnish)

1 Lime, sliced

3 -4 teaspoons of Sugar or 1 ounce Simple Syrup

1 1/2 - 2 ounces White Rum

1/2 cup Club Soda

Ice

Place mint leaves, half of the lime slices and the sugar (or simple syrup) at the bottom of a glass and muddle. Add ice almost to the top of the glass and then add rum and club soda. Stir and add more sugar if needed. Garnish with extra lime slices and more mint leaves.  

Try it with strawberries and basil and omit the mint and all but one slice of lime. Yum!

Basil

Basil is full of antioxidants, antibacterials and vitamin k and is said to relieve stress and boost immunity. It's easy to grow and pairs with many things from cocktails to Italian dishes and is delicious chopped and used as a salad garnish. 

In addition to Basil Tea (recipe above) try muddling some basil and adding club soda or seltzer, ice and a slice of lime for a summer refresher.

Or why not try a Basil Smash for happy hour on the patio?

Basil Smash

Place 10 basil leaves and 2 ounces of lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and heavily muddle the basil leaves. 

Add 4 ounces of Gin or Vodka and 2 ounces of Simple Syrup. 

Add lots of ice and shake it up! Shake until the shaker is really cold on the outside.

Strain into two glasses full of ice and garnish with lemon slices and fresh basil.

 

Mix it up and try using lime in place of lemon. Try adding a few blackberries or cucumber slices to the cocktail shaker and muddle them along with the basil. Lazy? Use some prepared lemonade in place of the lemon juice and simple syrup. Hey, it's summer and the livin' is supposed to be easy. 

 

Basil Green Goddess Dressing 

• One shallot or one Green Onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cups of fresh Basil Leaves
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• Sea Salt, Red Pepper Flakes and Black Pepper to taste

Whirl it all up magically or in a food processor or blender (I use my immersion aka stick blender because I'm in love with it).  Season to taste. Store in the frig. Or just make a double batch and freeze some. 

Sage

In addition to anti inflammatory properties, sage is full of vitamin k and helps heal skin from sun damage, rashes and irritations. 

 

The Nicholas Sage

• 1 oz Lillet Blanc
• 1 oz Honey Sage Syrup (recipe below)
  
• 1 oz St. Germain liqueur
• Lemon
• Sparkling Wine, Champagne or Prosecco

 

Slice half of the lemon into beautiful slices to reserve for garnish. In a cocktail shaker, combine a squirt of lemon juice, the Lillet Blanc, Honey Sage Syrup and St. Germain with ice and shake it up.

Strain into a coupe glass (or an old fashioned glass or tumbler) and top with sparkling wine to your taste. Garnish with fresh sage leaves and lemon slices.

Honey Sage Syrup

In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup water with 4 large sage leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for just a few minutes until honey is completely dissolved. Cool and remove the sage leaves and store in the frig.

Thyme

Thyme soothes stomach problems, helps arthritis and contains anti fungal properties. It also tastes great and is easy to grow.

 

Strawberry Summer Thyme Cocktail

• 2 oz Strawberry Thyme Simple Syrup (recipe below)
• 4 ounces Vodka, Gin, or Tequila. Pick your poison.
• 2 ounces lemon juice
  
• Club Soda or Seltzer (optional)
  
• Strawberries, lemon slice and Thyme for garnish 

Shake up the simple syrup, liquor and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker and pour into two tumbers over ice. Add a bit of club soda or seltzer if desired and garnish beautifully.

Mix it up! Swap out blueberries or blackberries for the strawberries and try basil or rosemary in place of the thyme. 

Strawberry Basil Cocktail with Vodka

Strawberry Simple Syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup of sliced fresh Strawberries
• 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh Thyme

Combine all of the above in a small saucepan over medium/low heat and bring to a simmer. Stir and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, just a few minutes. Remover from heat and strain the liquid. Store the syrup in the frig for up to a week. 

*** You can use any fruit and/or herb to make simple syrups for cocktails! As a general rule, use equal parts sugar (or honey or maple syrup) and water unless you're using a fruit that will release a lot of liquid like berries, then go half on the water.***

Options~ Experiment! Try:

• Lemon peel and lavender
• Blueberry and ginger
• Cinnamon and peach
• Pineapple and sage

 

And Speaking of Lavender... 

I ordered organic lavender flowers and organic rose petals and infused vodka with them (separately-  one rose and one lavender). Infuse with the flower petals for 3 days, then strain and refrigerate. 

 

Rosemary

Rosemary makes a beautiful cocktail garnish and if you want to get super fancy (and I mean, come on..you're here aren't you? Of course you want to get fancy!) light the top end of the rosemary on fire and then blow it out. Serve the cocktail while the garnish is still smoking.

Rosemary is also delicious chopped on top of bread that you're baking, on potatoes and 

Rosemary Grapefruit Margarita with Hibiscus Rim

from Ixchel's Kitchen 2 

2 oz good quality Tequila

1 oz Cointreau or Triple Sec

1/2 oz Agave Syrup (or simple syrup)

2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

1 1/2 oz fresh Grapefruit Juice

1/4 oz fresh Lime Juice

Grapefruit slice for garnish

Ice

Prepare your glasses with the Hibiscus Sugar/Salt rim. Instructions below.

Muddle the agave syrup with one sprig of rosemary in a cocktail shaker and then add the tequila, Cointreau, grapefruit juice, and lime juice. Fill with ice and shake vigorously until well mixed and chilled. 

Strain into rimmed glass filled with ice, float a grapefruit slice on top and add an additional rosemary sprig as a stirrer. If you want to be super extra, light the top end of the rosemary on fire so that it's slightly smoking when served. 

Hibiscus Sugar/Salt Rim

2 Tbsp coarse salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp dried hibiscus flowers

One Lime

Zest a little of the lime and mix with the sugar, salt and dried flowers. Use a slice of the lime to moisten the rim of the glasses and using a stamping motion (don't twist), press the glass rims into the sugar/salt/flower mixture.

 

Rosemary is also a natural insect repellent. When you're entertaining outdoors, fill individual glasses with water, lemon and lime slices and fresh rosemary sprigs. Add a floating votive candle. Or do multiple candles in a large bowl. 

Use rosemary as a garnish in any drink, tea or just in water. The smell is wonderful and enhances the flavor of the drink.

Parsley

For Goddess sake, plant some parsley. It's not just that weird garnish that no one eats on the side of the plate. Parsley brightens up many dishes by being chopped and sprinkled on top. Whip up a chimichurri sauce for your grilled steak. Sprinkle on potatoes, potato salad, include in a dressing, make tabbouleh, sprinkle on garlic bread.

Choose Italian or Flat Leaf varieties to grow. Parsley aids digestion and it's full of Vitamins A, C and K and it very easy to grow.

 

Ginger

I've never grown ginger, but I buy it in the produce department. Ginger is well known for nausea relief (Considered safe for pregnant women and chemo patients. Check with your doctor!) and for help with all sorts of gastrointestinal ailments including bloating and gas. It aids in digestion and is said to help cardiovascular disease, brain function and a world of other good things.

 

Ginger Tea

This is an easy and delicious way to get more ginger into you body.

 I use a couple of pieces of fresh ginger, about 4" in length each. Cut off the dry, knobby ends and then slice thinly. You don't need to peel the whole thing, but you can if you want. The sliced ginger goes into a large pyrex bowl. Just be sure to use a heat proof bowl that can stand up to boiling temp water in the next step.

 I heat up a tea kettle full of water and when it comes to boiling, I pour the water over the sliced ginger, cover and let it sit for a day out on the counter.

 Strain the ginger out and save the tea in a pitcher. If it's too strong, dilute with more water. Store in the frig. If you want it sweet, add some honey lemon simple syrup to the mix.