Spring should be in the air by now, but in reality all we are getting here in Verona is cold weather and rain. While we wait for the sunshine to come, we might as well get busy creating a drink or two.
Few months ago I had the idea of starting a little veggie program, meaning that I wanted to come up with some recipes, combining vegetables and booze. Weeks passed by, and although some good new drinks were discovered, I never had “time” to put those recipes in writing. Fortunately, Rowen of the Fogged In Lounge came to the rescue, choosing a great theme for this month Mixology Monday: Drink Your Veggies. Now, there is one thing that makes me sit down and start writing every month, and that is MxMo, so for this roundup I decided to present three veggie-based recipes: two from last year along with a brand new one, because writing a MxMo article without a new drink feels like arriving at a party bringing along half drank bottles of wine…

Let’s start with something I came up with few months ago.

“The Green Wiseman”

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Blackwood’s 2007 gin
0.5 oz. Galliano
0.5 oz. Lemon Juice
1.5 oz Rocket salad juice (Rocket salad extract, blended with salt and lime peel)

Garnish:
Rocket leaves and a walnut.

Prep:
Combine all the ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously for few seconds, double strain on crushed ice, top with soda and garnish with walnut and rocket salad leaves.

This drink is one of the most refreshing and unusual I have had last year. Rocket salad juice has a strange nutty yet bitter flavor that mixes fantastically with the fresh botanicals of Blackwood’s. Unfortunately, getting the juice right is not the easiest of the tasks, and just a pinch of salt too much can make the whole flavor profile sink. Anyway, definitely a great spring time afternoon drink.

“Il Sangue di Maria”

Ingredients:
1.25 oz Cachaca
0.75 oz Tequila Blanco
1 oz Celery sweet and sour mix (Celery juice, lemon juice, black pepper syrup and water)
few drops of balsamic vinegar
4/5 cherry tomatoes (not too ripe)
A pinch of salt
Garnish:
Cherry tomato and lime peel, mixed ground pepper on the rim.

Prep:
Muddle the tomatoes, add the sour mix and the spirits, few drops of vinegar and salt and shake the hell out of the whole thing. Double strain on a chilled coupe with a bit of mixed ground pepper on the rim.

I wanted to make a variation of a Bloody Mary, something less thick and quicker to be drank (don’t get me wrong, I love Bloody Marys and nothing about them needs to be changed), to try to entice my skeptical customers. This drink is definitely flavorful, tomatoes and celery is a proven combination, but the important is to use tomatoes that are not too ripe, because they tend to be more acid, zingy. In the end, it is a tomato based drink, but more on the sour side, which I think is perfect for spring evenings.

And here’s a new one

“Bitter Cup”

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Angostura Bitters
0.5 oz. Pimm’s
1 oz. Cucumber juice
0.5 oz. Lemon juice
0.5 oz. Simple Syrup

Garnish:
Cucumber slices

Prep:
Combine all the ingredients in a shaker, shake for few seconds and pour in a tall glass over ice and cucumber slices. Top with soda water.

This is what i decided to make for this month MxMo, and it’s another mighty refreshing drink, that packs quite a bit of a punch. It’s amazing how much depth Angostura gives when used as a base spirit, but it goes without saying that this is not a drink for everyone: the flavors in this one are intense and there is a strong herbal sensation, tamed by the lemon and the cucumber of course, but still very powerful. Another late afternoon cocktail in my opinion, more summery than springy though. It would certainly work well with a lot of sunshine, heat and a swimming pool nearby.

This is it for this edition of MxMo and I would like to thanx Rowen again for hosting and for choosing a really cool theme, that actually spurred me to officially kick off my veggie program: coming up, a carrot based drink, another celery one and a red pepper daiquiri. Also, my entry for Disaronno Mixing Star and Auchentoshan The Switch… I’m off to try a new Gentian liqueur that I just bought today, happy spring to everyone!!!