3 Farm-to-Table Cocktails to Try …

If you’re a fan of fresh, farm-to-table food, then you’re certainly a fan of farm-to-table drinks, too, right? Often called farm-to-cocktail, this hot new craze involves using as many fresh, homemade ingredients as possible. Nothing bad about that, is there? There’s so much you can create yourself, and it tastes ten times better than anything you’ll ever order or buy in a jar. Don’t believe us? Keep reading. You’ll become a farm-to-cocktail convert in no time.

1. A Classic Mimosa with Freshly Squeezed Juice and Ripe Raspberries

How refreshing does that sound? You can’t beat a mimosa, and it lends itself well to the farm-to-table aesthetic. That is to say, it benefits from the use of fresh, home grown ingredients. If you want to go homemade the whole way, opt for a locally grown sparkling wine or bubbly. Technically speaking, you could grow or make all the ingredients yourself.

Recipe:

2 ounces of freshly squeezed orange juice
4 ounces of the chilled bubbly of your choice – champagne, cava, sparkling wine, Prosecco, etc.
2 or 3 fresh raspberries for garnish

Cut the orange in half and either squeeze out the juice or juice each half with a citrus reamer. Juice it over a bowl, so you can strain out the pulp and the seeds—or leave the pulp, up to you.

Now transfer the juice to a champagne flute. Top off the glass with the bubbly, then drop in some raspberries.

Pour the juice into a champagne glass. Top off with the champagne. Float a few raspberries on top and serve.

2. A Walk in the Garden with Fresh Fruit and Veg Juices

This is possibly the most refreshing cocktail ever created. Its ingredients list is enough to make your mouth water. Just so you know, the special gin that the recipe calls for, you can easily make that yourself. Well, not so easily—it takes patience to infuse booze with other flavors, but you just have to give it a little while. It’s worth the effort.

Recipe:

2 ounces of Plymouth Gin infused with wild fennel
¾ of an ounce of freshly squeezed bears lime juice
¾ of an ounce of agave syrup
1 ounce of fresh celery juice
1 starfruit
Pinch of applewood smoked salt

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add all of the ingredients except the salt and the starfruit. Shake vigorously, then double strain the concoction into a coup glass. Toss in the applewood smoked salt, then garnish with a slice of the starfruit.

3. The Reverse Manhattan with Homemade Maraschino Cherries

There are several recipes for this floating around the Internet. In this case, we’ve taken a classic Reverse Manhattan, which is all about the vermouth, and combined it with some easy-to-follow instructions detailing how to make your very own maraschino cherries. You might like those so much that you keep them around for other things—like sundaes or Sundays.

2 ounces of an assertive but sweet vermouth
1 ounce of rye whiskey
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Homemade Amare cherries

Fill your cocktail shaker with ice, add the wet ingredients, then stir them together. Grab an Old Fashioned glass and strain the drink into it, along with a big ice cube. Garnish with one or two maraschino cherries.

As for those cherries, fill up an old Mason jar (you know you have one) with sour cherries, or black cherries in a pinch. Make sure they’re pitted. Cover them up with equal parts maple syrup and bourbon. Add a cinnamon stick, a teaspoon of vanilla, three cloves, and a generous amount of orange zest. Stick it in the fridge to marinate overnight. They’re good for up to two weeks.

Will you ever want another garnish? Aren’t you ready to start a garden yesterday? You might even want to take up wine or beer making yourself.